Graduate Student Symposium – Call for Papers

Call For Papers: The Decline of Democracy

We invite paper proposals for the inaugural Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Global Studies, and TransAtlantic Masters Program (TAM) joint symposium on Friday, March 3^rd 8am to 12pm. The theme of the symposium is The Decline of Democracy. There will be a keynote given by Professor Urban Strandberg from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Professor Strandberg has a longstanding conviction to spanning the boundaries of academic disciplines, with the overall aim of contributing to lifelong learning and the maintenance of public spaces for open deliberation around democracy and pressing societal matters. He organizes innovative cross-disciplinary projects, in which young scholars and artists from numerous disciplines come together to explore the complexities of humanity and democracy.

This first joint symposium’s theme aims to address the global crisis of liberal democracy. It seems that across the world liberal democracies are struggling to respond to manifold crises, and authoritarian forces are seeking to exploit these struggles to seize power. Can we identify trends or common threads across these events? Are there historical or contemporary case studies that can enlighten those of us trying to make sense of our current moment? What can be done to retake the ground lost to authoritarians and extremists? How can we better understand and address the challenges of the current day: climate catastrophe, skyrocketing inequality, and far-right extremism? What strategies are resistance movements employing in the defense of democracy? What alternative political systems or communities are emerging?

We welcome papers from TAM, Global Studies, and DAMES master’s students that address any of these questions. We invite papers from all perspectives, time periods, and geographical context and encourage submissions that take a creative approach.

When you submit your abstract, please indicate if you’d like your full paper (15-20 pages) to be considered for the best paper award after the symposium (to be submitted at a deadline to be determined soon after March 3, 2023).