Instructions for Making Proposals for SDHS Annual Conferences

The program committee for SDHS annual conferences welcomes proposals for scholarly papers, panels, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, working groups, roundtables, and alternate formats. All presenters must be members of SDHS.

Individual Papers must be based on unpublished research or interpretation and must be designed for oral delivery within twenty minutes, including use of audiovisual aids. (Papers running eight double-spaced pages are ideal.) Three individual papers are grouped on each panel, with a moderator. If you are interested in presenting an individual paper, please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words that describes your focus and approach, with a bibliography of sources no longer than one page. On the submission form clearly indicate your audio/visual and equipment needs.

Panels: Three or four applicants may propose a panel of papers on a related topic. We also welcome panels that take a delivery-response format, in which formal respondents comment on one or two presenters’ work. If you are interested in proposing a panel, please submit a 250 word summary of the larger topic in addition to individual paper proposals as outlined above. A submission form must accompany each proposal, and all the proposals should be sent together.

Lecture-Demonstrations may run from 45 to 90 minutes. If you are interested in presenting a lecture-demonstration, please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words that describes the topic, approach, and sources. On the submission form clearly indicate your requirements for space, for time, and for audio-visual and/or electronic equipment. If two or more applicants are involved, each must fill out a submission form.

Workshops: Movement workshops may not exceed 90 minutes. If you are interested in offering a workshop, please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words that describes your focus, approach, and sources. On the submission form clearly indicate the type of space required and the recommended attire for participants.

Roundtables: One applicant may propose a roundtable discussion on a particular topic. If you are interested in this option, please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words that outlines the topic and identifies participants. Each participant must fill out a submission form, and these forms should be sent together with the roundtable proposal. All proposed participants must fill out a submission form.

Ongoing Working Groups: At each SDHS conference, ongoing working groups meet around the topics of: Students in SDHS, Dance History Teachers, Early Dance, Ethnicity and Dance, Strategies for Doctoral Education, Practice-as-Research, and Reconstruction. Ongoing working groups may propose topics or circulate readings to SDHS membership ahead of the conference meeting, at the discretion of the working group conveners. Proposals for new working groups are welcome and should outline, in 500 words or less, the focus for the group, and attach the proposal to the submission form.

Alternate Formats: SDHS also welcomes submissions of collaborative presentations and other formats that enable the active participation of conference participants. These might include Ad-Hoc Working Groups, where applicants propose a one-time working group that brings participants together to discuss materials (scholarly papers, published books, dance practices or productions) read and/or viewed prior to the conference. If you are interested in this or another alternative format, please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words that outlines the topic and plan, and identifies an organizer and participants. Each participant must fill out a submission form, and these forms should be sent together with the proposal.

SDHS GUIDELINES:

• All presenters must be members of SDHS or join before the conference. For membership information, please contact Ashanti Pretlow, SDHS Account Manager; 3416 Primm Lane; Birmingham, AL 35216. Phone: 205-978-1404. Fax: 205-823-2760. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Please note that all SDHS members may pay their membership dues by check or money order in US funds, or with a VISA, MasterCard, or American Express.
• You may submit only one proposal to the Program Committee, and your name may appear on the conference program only once as a presenter. However, you may also serve as a session chair, although not for your own panel.
• If you wish to be notified that your proposal was received, please either include your email address or a stamped, self-addressed postcard
• Please do not submit videotapes, slides, or photographs. Remember to state your needs for audio-visual and electronic equipment on the submission form. If relevant, also indicate amount of time requested, space requirements, and recommendations for attire.
• If a paper is accepted for presentation at the conference, only the author of the paper may deliver the presentation.
• Except for winners of the Selma Jeanne Cohen Award, all presenters must pay the registration fee for the entire conference in which they will be presenting.
• Presenters are encouraged to rehearse their presentations in advance to make sure they adhere to the time limits. Time limits will be enforced.
• For lecture-demonstrations and workshops, the Program Committee reserves the right to make adjustments in the time requested in order to fit the overall scheduling of the conference. While the Program Committee respects the conception of panel proposals, it reserves the right to judge each submission independently and to coordinate with other paper proposals when and where appropriate.