In an online format over the course of three evenings on March 22, 23, and 24, Fairfield University’s 8th Annual American Studies Conference will bring together undergraduate and graduate students as well as guest speakers to reflect on democracy and citizenship in the United States — past, present, and future.

The interdisciplinary conference is open to students, the University community, and the general public. Evening sessions, each followed by audience Q&As, will feature: student scholarly presentations in panel format, a roundtable discussion of the 2020 election with local officials from Fairfield and Stratford, Conn., and a keynote address by Crystal A. Parikh, PhD, professor of social and cultural analysis and English at New York University.

Dr. Parikh's lecture, "They Chose, Are Glad, Etc.: Privilege, Precarity, Democracy, and Citizenship in the U.S.," will consider how cultural citizenship wielded by 20th-century and contemporary artists and writers in the United States illuminates the limits of legally conceived belonging and protection. 

“The conference underscores that Fairfield University’s American Studies Program is committed to the common good by cultivating civil, thoughtful, deeply informed inquiry and critical discussion about all things “America,” both in the Fairfield University community and the public,” said Peter L. Bayers, PhD, professor of English and director of the American Studies program. 

For more detailed information about the conference and to register (for individual sessions or for the entire conference), please visit the event site at fairfield.edu/asconference.

For any questions in advance of the event, please contact Dr. Bayers at pbayers@fairfield.edu

Learn more about American Studies at Fairfield University or apply to the undergraduate or graduate programs here.