The Southern Labor Studies Association will convene the 2018 Southern Labor Studies Conference in Athens, GA, at the Richard B. Russell Library on the University of Georgia campus, May 17-19, 2018. The conference will gather academics, activists, archivists, and students for three days of panels, roundtables, book discussions, and other sessions organized around the theme of “Dirty Work.” The conference program and registration information will be available shortly.

The “Dirty Work” theme encompasses southern industries (mining, timber, turpentine, farming, chicken processing, catfish, etc.); the service economy (trash collection, domestic service, nursing, food service, etc.); bound labor (slavery, indenture, and prison labor); as well as work deemed morally “dirty” – from sex work and drug-selling to policing and overseeing. Panels will engage public history, archival projects, teaching, oral history, important works in progress, and digital history. The Southern Labor Studies Association defines southern labor and working-class studies broadly, including both historical and contemporary topics from multiple academic disciplines, and regional, comparative, and transnational approaches.

The conference will also include a Dissertation Prospectus Workshop at which doctoral students working in any related discipline, selected through a competitive application process, will meet with a committee of scholars who will provide feedback on their work.