Conference Guidelines

i) Arrangement and rotation

The NAAS Conference is arranged biannually and it rotates from one Nordic country to another. The conference is organized in collaboration with the responsible national association and a local organizing institution. The conference organizers are responsible for raising the necessary funds.

Should the location of the next conference be known by the time of the previous conference, a written invitation from that organization may be presented to the NAAS during the conference.

ii) Plenary speakers

Conference organizers invite and fund one or more international American Studies scholars to address the audience at the NAAS conference.

iii) Nordic Plenary speakers

- The conference organizers fund a plenary speaker representing the host association and a plenary speaker representing ONE of the other associations on a rotational basis. These speakers are selected by the national association and their names are forwarded to the conference organizers by a stated deadline. They are expected to be members of a national association or otherwise exceptionally merited scholars.

The sequence of speaker rotation, beginning with Copenhagen 2009, is Sweden (SAAS) - Finland (FASA) - Denmark (DAAS) - Norway (ASANOR) (see below). Should this prove impossible, the organizers are expected to contact the representatives of the national association and the NAAS to discuss the situation.

Year Organizer Invited speaker from

2009 Denmark Sweden

2011 Norway Finland

2013 Sweden Denmark

2015 Finland Norway

…

With this sequence each national association is guaranteed a speaker at exactly every other conference (and yet may send a speaker to every single conference).

- Each of the two national associations not receiving funds from the conference organizers for a plenary speaker is welcome to but not obliged to send a plenary speaker if it itself provides the funds. The name of such a speaker is to be forwarded to the conference organizers by a stated deadline.

- In case the conference receives more funding than initially expected, the conference organizers may offer the associations that were not guaranteed a plenary speaker in the first place a contribution toward coverage of such speaker, but possibly on short notice. If an association declines the offer, the money offered for that associations plenary speaker will not be paid to that association or to any of the other national associations.

iv) Workshops and individual papers

The conference organizers prepare and distribute a call for workshop proposals, panels and individual papers in good time (usually ca. one year before the conference). The CFP is published in the NAAS Newsletter and on the NAAS website, and it is distributed as widely as possible, including the EAAS Newsletter. National associations are expected to recruit participants actively to guarantee a Nordic presence at the conference.

These proposals are scrutinized by the organizers and, in the case of individual papers, organized into panels. Notification of acceptance should be sent as soon as possible.

The conference organizers may also accept workshop proposals. A list of such proposals is published in the NAAS Newsletter and/or on the NAAS website. Members responsible for organizing such workshops are responsible for recruiting participants and are expected to submit a full of list of participants and their contact information to the conference organizers by a stated deadline.

v) Other practical matters

Conference organizers should have a website where conference information is made available to interested participants.

The call for papers is published in the NAAS Newsletter. Similarly, registration materials and the advance program should also be published in the NAAS Newsletter and on the NAAS website.

Conference participants are expected to be members of national associations or any of the constituents associations of the EAAS or the ASA. Other academics may also participate and present papers at the conference but should be charged a higher conference fee.

When preparing the schedule, the conference organizers are expected to book a place for the NAAS General Meeting.

In case of any unforeseen problems, the organizers are expected to contact the NAAS Board to discuss the matter.