Call for Contributors

>From Bourgeois to Boojie: Black Middle-Class Performances

We seek engaging papers/writings for an edited book collection. The essays are being compiled in recognition of the golden anniversary of E. Franklin Frazier's controversial monograph __Black Bourgeoisie__ (1957), and must discuss both class and blackness as expressed in film, literature, media, music, autobiography/biography, theatre, or the performance of everyday life. The publisher for the collection will be announced at a later date.

We are particularly interested in narratives, intellectual arguments, and other kinds of writings that connect class and race to gender/sexuality, religion, the media or region (e.g., the South).

You are also invited to attend our symposium at the University of Iowa on October 24 and 25, 2007. Confirmed speakers include: writers Amiri Baraka and Greg Tate, cultural critic Michele Wallace, Performance Studies scholars E. Patrick Johnson and Keith Bryant Alexander, literary critic and playwright Lisa Thompson, theatre artist Nancy Bellamy, anthropologist Signithia Fordham, and sociologist Mary Pattillo. Please direct queries about the symposium to Dr. Bridget Harris Tsemo (bridget-tsemo@uiowa.edu) and Dr. Vershawn A. Young (vershawn-young@uiowa.edu).

Submission Procedure
Authors are requested to submit an abstract of 250 words (in plain text or word format) by June 15, 2007 together with a CV and short bio. NOTE: Only electronic submissions will be accepted.

The abstract submission should contain the names and institutions of the author's contact information (name, e-mail, postal address, phone and fax numbers), and the working title of the proposed essay/writing. Submitted manuscripts should be original work, not concurrently submitted to any other venue.

Submitted papers will be carefully reviewed. The length of a submitted paper should typically be between 20-25 pages and formatted in the proper publication style. A submission can also be accompanied by supplementary material (e.g. photographs).

Important Dates
Electronic abstract submission deadline: June 15, 2007
Author notification: July 30, 2007
Electronic paper submission deadline: November 15, 2007
Symposium: October 24 and 25, 2007

Please send abstracts to Dr. Bridget Harris Tsemo (bridget-tsemo@uiowa.edu) and Dr. Vershawn A. Young (vershawn-young@uiowa.edu).

Bridget Harris Tsemo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Rhetoric and African-American Studies Program
University of Iowa
160 English-Philosphy Building
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
(319) 335-0177 (office)
(319) 353-2392 (fax)