Call for Papers: 2018 Junior Theorists Symposium

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

August 10, 2018

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 22, 2018 by 11:59 PST (EXTENDED)

We invite submissions of extended abstracts for the 12^th Junior Theorists Symposium (JTS), to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 10th, 2018, the day before the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA). The JTS is a one-day conference featuring the work of up-and-coming sociologists, sponsored in part by the Theory Section of the ASA. Since 2005, the conference has brought together early career-stage sociologists who engage in theoretical work, broadly defined. We especially welcome submissions that broaden the practice of theory beyond its traditional themes, topics, and disciplinary function.

It is our honor to announce that Alford Young (University of Michigan), Nina Eliasoph (University of Southern California), and Margaret Somers (University of Michigan), will serve as discussants for this year’s symposium.  In addition, we are pleased to announce an after-panel entitled “Getting out of our heads: Taking theory from the cognitive, into the body/space/place/time,” to feature Ellis Monk (Princeton University), Rebeca Hanson (University of Florida), Rene Almeling (Yale University), and Vanessa Ribas (University of California, San Diego). We will conclude with a talk by 2017 Junior Theorists Award winner Larissa Buchholz (Northwestern University).

We invite all ABD graduate students, postdocs, and assistant professors who received their PhDs from 2014 onwards to submit up to a three-page précis (800-1000 words). The précis should include the key theoretical contribution of the paper and a general outline of the argument. Successful précis from recent year’s symposium can be viewed at this location. Please note that the précis must be for a paper that is not under review or forthcoming at a journal.

As in previous years, in order to encourage a wide range of submissions, we do not have a pre-specified theme for the conference. Instead, papers will be grouped into sessions based on emergent themes and discussants’ areas of interest and expertise.

Please submit your précis via this Google form. Allison Ford (University of Oregon) and Linsey Edwards (Princeton University) will review the submissions. You can contact them at juniortheorists@gmail.com with any questions. The deadline is February 22, 2018 (extended). By mid-March we will extend up to 12 invitations to present at JTS 2018. Please plan to share a full paper by July 21, 2018. Presenters will be asked to attend the entire symposium and should plan accordingly.

Finally, for friends and supporters of JTS, we ask if you consider donating either on-site, or through PayPal at this link or to the juniortheorists@gmail.com account. If you are submitting a proposal to JTS 2018, we kindly ask that should you wish to donate, you only do so after the final schedule has been announced.