[Discussion] CFP: American Multiculturalism After 9/11: Transatlantic Perspect ives, 2006 Conference, Netherlands American Studies Association (NASA), J une 7-9, 2006

[gpultar@cstgroup.org]

From: Jaap Verheul <Jaap.Verheul@let.uu.nl>

2006 Conference

Netherlands American Studies Association (NASA)

American Multiculturalism After 9/11
Transatlantic Perspectives

June 7-9, 2006
Roosevelt Study Center
Middelburg, The Netherlands

Call for Papers

Within a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks Lynne Cheney, the wife of the
Vice-President and former chairwoman of the National Endowment for the
Humanities, publicly attacked educators who wanted to promote more multicultural
teaching and internationalism as a response to rising anti-Americanism. The
notion that Americans needed to learn more about other cultures in the world,
she argued, was tantamount to admitting "that it was our failure to understand
Islam that led to so many deaths and so much destruction." Instead of teaching
diversity and tolerance, teachers from kindergarten to the top colleges and
universities would do better to concentrate on the classics of world history
and, most of all, the history of the American nation. The best way to understand
the world in a time of national crisis was to read On Plymouth Plantation, the
writings of the founding fathers, or the heroic histories of the American
soldiers during World War II by Stephen Ambrose.

By unapologetically promoting national history over diversity and tolerance,
Lynne Cheney not only advanced her long-standing agenda to steer the national
curriculum clear of multiculturalism, but in the wake of national disaster she
also sounded the opening shots in a new battle in the culture wars. American
multiculturalism as a concept for understanding and promoting American diversity
had always been controversial. It had been forcefully attacked from the right by
conservative authors such as Allan Bloom and Dinesh D'Souza. But it had also
drawn friendly fire from more left-leaning intellectuals such as Todd Gitlin and
Lawrence Levine. Indeed some liberal scholars, such as David Hollinger and the
so-called multi-racial theorists, had begun to seek new, alternative models for
American society that went beyond multiculturalism. And in the field of literary
studies champions of multiculturalism, such as Emory Elliott, had begun to
explore the possibility of introducing a new aesthetics into the hitherto highly
politicized debate about the multicultural canon.

Yet, in spite of these earlier challenges to multiculturalism, the horrific
bombing of the twin towers changed the dynamics of the multicultural debate
in important ways. As America was forced to navigate between a heightened
concern about national security and a longstanding commitment to civil
liberties, the debate between liberals and conservatives within the US
polarized. More than ever multiculturalism became a key term in the age-old
struggle to define America. Significantly, moreover, multiculturalism entered
the international arena in ways it had never done before. The contentious issue
of cultural diversity that had long concerned American intellectuals and
politicians became acutely relevant in many European countries as the threat of
terrorism mounted and large-scale attacks were launched in Madrid and recently
in London. Indeed America itself has had to contend with the implications of
abiding by the multicultural ideal as it has struggled to define its stance
toward American Moslems and the Arab world amidst the ongoing threat of Islamic
fundamentalist terrorism.

This conference aims to explore the many ways in which the multicultural debate
has evolved since the cataclysmic events of 9/11. We invite proposals for papers
that deal with political, social, cultural, and literary aspects of the
multicultural debate in the United States and in Western and Eastern Europe in
the aftermath of 9/11. How have perspectives on the national past, the national
canon, and national identity in the United States and Europe changed in the
aftermath of 9/11? In what ways have the earlier challenges to multiculturalism
by American conservatives and/or liberals been shaped by the events of 9/11? 
How does the transatlantic debate about multiculturalism figure in the shifts
that have taken place in the multicultural debate in the United States? What are
the similarities and differences between the American and European concepts
of multiculturalism before and after 9/11? How has multiculturalism become a
lens through which Americans and/or Europeans perceive the role of America
in the world? To what extent has the American concept of multiculturalism
informed European debates about integration and diversity within European
nations themselves and as reflected, for example, in the contentious issue of
the expansion of the European Union and the ratification of the European
Constitution? How has the debate about the multicultural curriculum been
affected in the United States? Can we detect changes in the formation of the
literary canon? If so, what are the issues governing the debate, and which
literary works are being contested for inclusion in or exclusion from the canon?
 Similarly, can we detect changes in the historical constructions of national
identity? Has the American multicultural ideal been incorporated into the
curriculum of European countries? If not, what are the reasons for this? If so,
what form has this taken and what political, social, and cultural factors have
played a role in this process?

Given that "transatlantic perspectives" are best explored in a dialogue between
scholars from both sides of the ocean, we encourage colleagues equally from both
Europe and the US to submit proposals for papers dealing with these and any
other relevant aspects of the multicultural debate in the aftermath of 9/11.

Conference participants are expected to cover their own travel and hotel
expenses. The conference is organized by Derek Rubin and Jaap Verheul of Utrecht
University. A selection of the papers will be published in the series European
Contributions to American Studies (VU University Press, Amsterdam). Those
interested in presenting a paper are kindly requested to submit a one-page
proposal for a 20-minute presentation and a brief curriculum vitae before
December 8, 2005 to:

Jaap Verheul, History Department, Utrecht University, Kromme Nieuwegracht 66,
NL-3512 HL Utrecht, the Netherlands, <mailto:jaap.verheul@let.uu.nl>
jaap.verheul@let.uu.nl
or
Derek Rubin, English Department, Utrecht University, Trans 10, NL-3512 JK
Utrecht, the Netherlands, derek.rubin@let.uu.nl <mailto:derek.rubin@let.uu.nl> .


Jaap Verheul
<Jaap.Verheul@let.uu.nl>