[We have the following call for papers, presentations, and panels.]
“Rights and Wrongs: A Constitution and Citizenship Day Conference at San Francisco State University,” 16-17 September 2019
We welcome proposals for papers, presentations, panels, roundtables, teach-ins, and workshops at “Rights and Wrongs: A Constitution and Citizenship Day Conference,” which will take place on Monday and Tuesday, 16-17 September 2019.
Over the last few years, people living in the United States have participated in far-reaching debates and discussions about the U.S. Constitution. Many of these conversations have focused on democratic governance and its relationship to state and federal elections, foreign collusion and domestic conspiracy, political and ethical corruption, voting rights, legislative redistricting, and presidential impeachment. Some have addressed core constitutional principles related to the separation of powers, checks and balances, and federal-state relationships. Others have concerned specific constitutional provisions such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, separation of church and state, privacy rights, rights to bear arms, protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, birthright citizenship, due process rights, and rights of equal protection. Meanwhile, some of the most polarizing national discussions of 2017, 2018, and 2019—about racialized policing, immigration restriction, sanctuary cities, health care, sexual harassment, LGBT rights, hate speech, and gun control—have been framed as matters of constitutional meaning and significance. Just as important and revealing are the constitutional topics that much of the country has not been considering, including the rights of indigenous, colonized, incarcerated, and institutionalized peoples on lands currently claimed by the United States.
What have we thought about the Constitution in the past and what do we think of it today? When, how, and why have we thought about the Constitution? How has the Constitution been used as a legal and cultural touchstone in the past and present? Has the Constitution supported the expansion of citizenship, democracy, and equality or has it produced, preserved, and promoted social hierarchies? What does the Constitution reveal and obscure? Is the United States experiencing constitutional crises? Have the country’s recent political troubles exposed longstanding problems with or new threats to the U.S. constitutional order? Can the history of the U.S. Constitution serve as a resource for people troubled by today’s uses and abuses of U.S. power and politics? For those seeking social change, is the Constitution an opportunity or obstacle? Can and should it be followed, changed, modified, or abandoned? Who makes meaning out of the U.S. Constitution and what meanings are made? What are the implications of our interpretations and transformations of the U.S. Constitution?
Please join us to discuss these and other issues at “Rights and Wrongs.” San Francisco State University has a proud tradition of sponsoring Constitution and Citizenship Day conferences. Last year’s event was sponsored by the College of Liberal and Creative Arts and cosponsored by fourteen other colleges, schools, departments, centers, and campus organizations at SF State. More than 1000 faculty, students, and community members attended the event, which featured two keynote presentations and approximately forty faculty, graduate student, and community-based presenters, representing fourteen colleges, universities, and non-governmental organizations. As was the case last year, the 2019 conference will provide multiple opportunities to reflect critically on the past, present, and future of constitutional rights and freedoms and larger questions about equality, democracy, and justice.
Proposals for papers, presentations, panels, roundtables, teach-ins, and workshops (maximum 250 words) should be submitted by 20 June 2019 to marcs@sfsu.edu. We welcome individual and group submissions. Please submit short vitas/resumes for all participants.
[Lists of recommended topics and the members of Organizing Committee appear after the jump.]
Recommended topics include but are not limited to:
Academic Freedom for Faculty and Students
Affirmative Action and Anti-Discrimination Law
Amending the Constitution
Asian American Legal Histories: Colonialism, Exclusion, and Internment
Asylum, Migration, and Law
Black Lives Matter and Racialized Policing
Business, Religion, and the Freedom to Discriminate
Campaign Finance, Citizens United, and the First Amendment
Citizenship’s Inclusions and Exclusions
Citizenship, Immigration, and the Census
Civil Liberties in Times of War
Colonies and the Constitution: Cuba, Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Samoa
Comparative Constitutionalism in World History
Corporate Power and Constitutional Personhood
Criminalization of Homelessness, Mental Illness, Drug Use, and Sex Work
Disability Rights to Life, Liberty, and Equality
Dreamers, Deportation, and the Constitution
Educational Rights, Equal Protection, and Local Democracy
Equal Protection, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Expression
Executive Orders and the Imperial Presidency
Free Speech at Colleges and Universities
Gender, Law, and Justice
Gentrification, Displacement, and Housing Rights
Gun Control and the Second Amendment
Immigration Law and the Politics of Exclusion
Impeachment and Presidential Politics
Indigenous Treaty Rights and Political Sovereignty
Islamophobia and the Muslim Ban
Jewish-Muslim Constitutional Coalitions
Jim Crow: Past, Present, Future
Labor Law and the New Economy
Nationalism, Populism, and the Constitution
Palestine, Israel, and Campus Politics
Police Powers and Constitutional Law
Press Freedoms in the “Fake News” Era
Prisons, Prisoners, and the Carceral State
Privacy and the Constitution in the Social Media Era
Restorative Justice
Sanctuary Cities, Federalism, and the Politics of Immigration
Sexual Harassment in the Me Too Era
Slavery, Freedom, and Reparations
Socialism and the Constitution
Student Activism and Constitutional Rights
Supreme Court Appointments
Surveillance, Security, and Constitutional Law
Trans Rights and Freedoms
Voting Rights and Legislative Redistricting
War Powers and International Law
White Supremacy, Race Privilege, and the Constitution
Women’s Suffrage: Approaching the 100th Anniversary
Organizing Committee:
Conference Coordinator: Marc Stein, History Department
Rabab Abdulhadi, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative
Soumyaa Behrens, School of Cinema
Deb Cohler, Women and Gender Studies Department
Robert Keith Collins, American Indian Studies Department
Nick Conway, Political Science Department
Marc Dollinger, Jewish Studies Department
Mali Kigasari, Paralegal Studies Program
Eric Mar, Asian American Studies Department
Blanca Maria Missé, Modern Languages and Literatures Department
Charles Postel, History Department
César "Ché" Rodríguez, Criminal Justice Studies Department
Wendy Salkin, Philosophy Department
Clare Sears, Sociology and Sexuality Studies Department
Kendra Van Cleave, J. Paul Leonard Library
