Call for submissions: Oregon Humanities--Deadline Sept. 22

Oregon Humanities magazine invites submissions for its Spring 2009 issue
on the theme of “Nostalgia”

Whether used to describe fondness for a bygone time or homesickness
for a place, nostalgia involves longing for an idealized past. Historian
Christopher Lasch writes, “Nostalgic representations of the past evoke a
time irretrievably lost and for that reason timeless and unchanging.
Strictly speaking, nostalgia does not entail the exercise of memory
at all, since the past it idealizes stands outside time, frozen in unchanging
perfection.” What are the benefits of and problems with recalling our
personal and political histories in this way? How can nostalgia
motivate us to or prevent us from imagining a better future?

For the Spring 2009 issue of Oregon Humanities, which coincides with
Oregon’s sesquicentennial, we are looking for essays and articles that
explore the theme of nostalgia. Writers may wish to explore nostalgia in
literature, art, media, and consumer culture; nostalgia as a
narrative tool in politics and policy-making; the role of nostalgia in public
discourse; the phenomena of commemorations and cultural tourism; the use of
nostalgia in constructing our identities as Oregonians and Americans.

We welcome all forms of nonfiction writing, including scholarly essays,
personal essays, and journalistic articles. We accept proposals and
drafts of scholarly and journalistic features, which range between 2,500 and
4,000 words in length. We accept drafts only of personal essays, which should
consider larger thematic questions and run no longer than 2,000
words. All contributors receive an honorarium. Currently the magazine is
distributed to 12,000 readers. Essays from Oregon Humanities have been reprinted in the
Pushcart Prize anthology and the Utne Reader.

If you are interested in contributing to this issue, please submit a
proposal or draft by September 22, 2008, to Kathleen Holt, Editor,
Oregon Humanities magazine, Oregon Council for the Humanities, 812 SW
Washington Street, Suite 225, Portland, Oregon, 97205, or kholt@oregonhum.org .

Oregon Humanities is the triannual magazine of the Oregon Council for
the Humanities, an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). We believe that knowledge and ideas are
fundamental to the health of our communities. You can learn more
about OCH’s programs, which include Oregon Chautauqua, Humanity in Perspective, and
Commonplace Events, and read the contents of the current issue of Oregon
Humanities at www.oregonhum.org .

--
Kathleen Holt
Communications Director/Editor of Oregon Humanities magazine
Oregon Council for the Humanities
812 SW Washington, Suite 225
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 241-0543 x15
http://www.oregonhum.org

You can now use your credit card to make a donation to OCH online.
Support
your favorite humanities programs in Oregon and, when you make a
matching
contribution to the Oregon Cultural Trust, receive a tax credit. Visit
http://www.oregonhum.org for more information.