call for papers 2009

Migration and Mobility

The 2 (2009) issue of will be organized around concepts of migration and mobility. We encourage submitters to investigate these in the fields of literary studies, cultural studies, history, political science, and all other subfields of American Studies, as well as to explore them in art, poetry, photography, and other forms of creative expression. Please see the following Calls for Papers for details.

academic contributions due 31 October 2008 html
open submission section contributions due 12 December 2008 html

Please pay attention to the different deadlines for the academic and the 'open' Call for Papers. Please also see our submission guidelines and FAQ section. Submissions should be directed to submit@aspeers.com (or aspeers@uni-leipzig.de).

Call for Papers On Migration and Mobility (academic)

: emerging voices in american studies
calls for submissions by 31 October 2008

American Studies has always been interested in different notions of migration. Publications and course catalogs around the world testify to the role it has played and continues to play in both scholarly research and academic teaching. Recent concepts of 'mobility' can contribute to a new and richer understanding of the movement of people. Thus, we are calling for submissions scrutinizing migration and mobility, their relation to cultures and identities, and the narratives, fictions, and plots they generate. We invite contributors to engage areas such as old and new groups of migrants, the various directions and scopes of ‘mobility,’ different spaces of migration, or any other theme relating to the topic.

Permanent migration has long been established as a site of exciting scholarship. Focusing on more recent phenomena, temporary migration (tourism, student exchanges, internships, and up-scale labor migration) is a field deserving more attention; as is the emergence of ‘the mobility class’—a global elite of high-skilled workers and artist cosmopolitans who are equally at home in metropolises around the world. How do these new forms of mobility challenge (or complement) familiar notions of migration?

Secondly, inquiries into transatlantic migration, certainly a core interest of European American Studies, can meaningfully be expanded by looking at transpacific, intra-continental, and even regional movements of people: What are the different factors shaping them? How do economic or ecological push and pull factors vary between individual kinds of migration?

Thirdly, we are interested in the spaces of migration and mobility. American Studies has always been attentive to spaces of arrival and ‘borders’ as places of cultural encounters. This interest prompts us to ask for close readings also of places of departure, of transit spaces, and contact zones. What narratives do such transit spaces (as, for example, the airport lobby) accommodate in contemporary fiction?

, the first and currently only graduate-level peer-reviewed journal for European American Studies, invites fellow graduate students to reflect on these issues. We welcome contributions by students in European MA (and MA-equivalent) programs by October 31st.

Call for Art Contributions on Migration and Mobility

: emerging voices in american studies
calls for contributions to its Open Submission Section by 12 December 2008

American Studies has always been interested in different notions of migration. Publications and course catalogs around the world testify to the role it has played and continues to play in both scholarly research and academic teaching. Recent concepts of 'mobility' can contribute to a new and richer understanding of the movement of people. Thus, we are calling for submissions scrutinizing migration and mobility, their relation to cultures and identities, and the narratives, fictions, and plots they generate.
For its open submission section, aspeers calls for contributions exploring the topic of migration and mobility. A list of possible contributions includes, but is not limited to:

  • photography focusing on spaces of departure, arrival and/or transit
  • collages (text, audio, or any other material) on the notion of mobility
  • journals or videos of journeys to, from, or within the United States that focus on moments of mobility, transition, border crossing, or more temporary ‘migration’
  • poetry or fiction on immigrant (or exile) experiences relating to ‘America’
  • any other artistic exploration of the topic: the open submission section is an experimental space.

We will consider for inclusion all submissions (poetry, photography, collages, etc.) regardless of the author's institutional affiliation, geographic location, or level of study. Non-printable material selected for publication will be included on the journal homepage. Plastic art will be on display in Leipzig at the issue’s launch ceremony and will be presented as still image in the paper and online edition.

To be considered, contributions to this section must be in by December 12.

About aspeers

is the first and currently only graduate journal for American Studies in Europe. Embedded into the American Studies Leipzig MA Program, it appears annually. The 2 (2009) issue is scheduled to be available online and in print in April 2009. Please refer to our mission statement for more information on .

If you consider submitting your work, please make sure to check out our submission guidelines, our editorial timetable, as well as some additional tips, and a list of possible topics at www.aspeers.com/2009.