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“Crossroads of Resistance”

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

September 20-21, 2024

Deadline Extended to April 5, 2024

In 2024 SLSA will convene in Chattanooga at a pivotal moment for Southern workers, a crossroads between rising reaction and potential for radical change. The combination of Chattanooga’s history as a strategic transportation junction and a locus of Southern labor resistance inspires our conference theme of “Crossroads of Resistance.” 

At this site of convergence and departure, SLSA seeks explorations of geographical, generational, and organizational exchanges in the lives of Southern working people—past, present, and future. SLSA’s mission is to bring together a broad, diverse array of scholars, thinkers, organizers, and other activists working at the crossroads of academic disciplines and beyond the ivory tower, including dialogues among folks in the labor movement, community organizing, journalism, and the arts. We welcome scholars whose work engages many Souths– Black, white, people of color, Indigenous, Queer, and recent migrants. 

We invite proposals in a wide range of formats, including traditional paper presentation sessions, individual papers, roundtable discussions, workshops, skillshares, and other nontraditional formats. In addition to our customary program, we are excited to announce our “New Directions” Workshop Series on the morning of Friday, September 20, in which graduate students and early career scholars can pre-circulate article-length essays and engage in focused seminar discussions in small groups. Presenters in this category will also be considered for the SLSA Robert H. Zieger Prize as well as conference travel grants for early career participants, all of which will be announced at the conference.

Most conference activities will take place on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), located just blocks from the Tennessee Riverwalk, the Bluff View Art District, downtown restaurants, and historic MLK Blvd. The Guerry Center, home to UTC’s Honors College, will host breakout sessions, film screenings, and performances, and attendees will convene for a plenary and reception at the university’s newly renovated Fine Arts Center. Discounted hotel accommodations will be available at Chattanooga’s historic Read House, where we will gather for a buffet dinner and keynote address. Known as the Scenic City, Chattanooga offers conference attendees opportunities to hike, bike, kayak, and rock climb, as well as abundant restaurants, breweries, shops, and historic sites. 

To submit a full session or individual proposal, visit https://bit.ly/SLSA2024

Questions? Email SouthernLaborStudies2024@gmail.com or contact an SLSA Officer or Board Member.

Deadline Extended to April 5, 2024

Past Conferences

2022 | Chapel Hill, NC

Putting Workers First Conference Program

2018 | Athens, GA  

Dirty Work Conference Program

2017 | Tampa, FL  

Biennial Conference Conference Program

2015 | Washington, DC  

Slavery, Law, Legacy, & Beyond Conference Program

2013 | New Orleans, LA 

The Many Souths Conference Program

2011 | Atlanta, GA  

Memory and Forgetting: Labor History and the Archive Conference Program

1991 | Atlanta, GA Conference Program

1982 | Atlanta, GA Conference Program

1978 | Atlanta, GA Conference Program

1976 | Atlanta, GA Conference Program



CONTACT Southern Labor Studies Association 

c/o Max Krochmal

Department of History, LA 135

University of New Orleans

2000 Lakeshore Dr

New Orleans, LA 70148

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