100 Years in America

Abstract
The aim of the conference is twofold: firstly, it will celebrate the centenary of the St. George’s Hellenic Benefit Society of Tsamanta[s] in Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as to acknowledge the society’s contribution to social and philanthropic causes, both in Europe and America; secondly, it aims to develop our historical and cultural knowledge about the movement of individuals, ideas and values, and the desire of migrants to preserve their identity and culture during their gradual integration into their adopted societies. Notwithstanding the work already undertaken on transatlantic migration from southeastern of Europe, the topic is yet to be explored in depth. This interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary conference intends to bring together specialists from a variety of fields (history, economics, politics, anthropology, sociology, ethnology and cultural studies) in order to fill this gap by promoting a collective reflection of this important phenomenon, which has influenced societies in both sidesΤσαμαντιώτες μετανάστες στην Αμερική στην αρχή του περασμένου αιώνα of the Atlantic.

Broadly, the conference will seek to examine issues of identity and belonging, and the relationship between past and present in the context of cultural globalisation. It is thus intentionally left wide open to a range of possible contributions. Papers dealing with any aspect of migration, re-migration, and trans-national and cross-cultural interconnections that shape the identity of diasporic communities will be welcomed. We hope, however, that papers based on research undertaken by academics in New England and Atlantic Canada will be the focus of the conference, since these regions, and Worcester in particular, have received continuous waves of immigration from Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and Latin America. It is hoped that the conference will make a significant contribution to public understanding about the identity and culture of diasporic societies and inspire future research in this area.

Proposals for papers (in English), together with an abstract of no more than 250 words, should be sent electronically to the Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, PDF or RTF formats and must arrive no later than 1 February 2008. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by 1 June 2008. All papers accepted for and presented at this conference will be published in an ISBN electronic publication. We also hope that selected papers will be developed for publication in a themed hard-copy volume.

Organising Chairs
Dr Dimitrios Konstadakopulos
Senior Research Fellow at the School of Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies
University of the West of England, Bristol, Coldharbour Lane
Bristol BS7 0UT, United Kingdom
Email: Dimitrios Konstadakopulos
Tel : 00 44 (0)117 3282386

Dr Soterios Zoulas
Associate Professor and Chair
Communication Arts Department
Eastern Nazarene College
23 East Elm Street
Quincy, MA 02170, USA
Email: soterios.c.zoulas@enc.edu
Tel: 617-745-3610

Scientific Committee

Sarah Blowen
University of the West of England, Bristol
Dimitrios Konstadakopulos
University of the West of England, Bristol
Paul Frederic,
University of Maine at Farmington
Soterios Zoulas
Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA
Antonia Sagredo
Universidad Nacional de Educaci?n a Distancia (UNED), Madrid