Open Call: ASA Online Presidential Biographies

The Committee on ASA Presidential Biographies (CAPB) seeks contributions for a revision of the biographies of the Association’s more than one hundred former presidents, available on its website: https://www.asanet.org/about-asa/asa-story/asa-history/past-asa-officers/presidents 

The Online Presidential Biographies are one of the tools that the Association uses to remember the history of the discipline and to present it to the public. In order to close gaps in the existing record and to bring the biographies up to date with recent scholarship, the Committee seeks single- or co-authored biographies that meet scholarly standards, while written in a publicly accessible style. Contributions shall not exceed 900 words, plus a select bibliography of original and secondary sources.  

The revision of the biographies will be carried out in several waves. For the current inaugural wave, proposals are solicited for biographies of the presidents serving from 1906 to 1938. Prospective authors are asked to submit a short letter of interest and a CV by November 9, 2020. If available, although not absolutely necessary, previous publications dealing with the president in question or the relevant time period should be highlighted. Applicants will be informed about the decision by January 22, 2021. 

All contributing authors will be provided with publication guidelines in order to ensure consistency in style. The completed biographies are due nine months after the receipt of the acceptance letter and are subject to a final editorial review by the committee prior to publication on the ASA website. All biographies will list the name of the author(s). 

You can read the Footnotes article detailing the genesis of this project here

For further questions and to submit proposals, please contact the chair of the Committee, Stefan Bargheer: bargheer@soc.ucla.edu 

Committee on ASA Presidential Biographies (CAPB): 

Stefan Bargheer (chair) 

Kevin Anderson  

Kerby Goff 

Bradley Nash, Jr. 

David Swartz 

Joyce E. Williams 

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