Call for Papers
Anti-Popery: The Trans-Atlantic Experience, c.1530-1850
Philadelphia, September 2008

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies and the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, in cooperation with the School of Arts and Sciences of The Catholic University of America, will hold a conference in Philadelphia September 18-20, 2008, on the uses of anti-popery in the early modern world. Antagonism towards the pope and his co-religionists was nearly universal in the Protestant societies of Europe and colonial America. In recent years historians on both sides of the Atlantic have begun to realize that anti-Catholic fears represented more than blind prejudice or ignorance. Instead, anti-popery was a powerful set of ideas that early modern Europeans used to understand their world and their place in history. This conference will explore the diverse uses of anti-popery in the Protestant Atlantic – whether religious, social, legal, economic, or political – from the time of the Reformation to the era of massive Catholic migration to America in the mid-nineteenth century.

We invite proposals for papers on any aspect of anti-popery in Europe or the Americas from approximately 1530–1850. Presenters will be expected to complete a 20-30 page essay by the end of May 2008, for pre-conference circulation among registered attendees. We welcome submissions from advanced graduate students as well as more senior scholars. Support for travel expenses will be available.

To apply, please send a 500-word synopsis of your proposal along with a short c.v. to Anti-Popery Conference, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, 3355 Woodland Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4531, or e-mail to mceas@ccat.sas.upenn.edu by September 15, 2007.