Southern Labor Studies Association
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
September 20-21, 2024
Submission Deadline: March 15, 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 a member of the conference committee
listed below.
Submission Deadline: March 15, 2024
Special Thanks to our Sponsors!
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of New Orleans
Texas A&M University
Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA)
University of Georgia
and more - email us to ask how!
SLSA Conference Committee
Thomas J. Adams, University of South Alabama
Thomas Alter II, Texas State University
Shannon C. Eaves, College of Charleston
Sarah Fouts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Joshua Hollands, University College London
Justin Jolly, Texas Christian University
Robert Korstad, Duke University
Max Krochmal, University of New Orleans
Sarah McNamara, Texas A&M University
Iliana Yamileth Rodriguez, Emory University
Jarod Roll, University of Mississippi
Bryant Simon, Temple University
Jermaine Thibodeaux,University of Oklahoma
Michael D. Thompson, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Additional Notes on the Conference Theme
We invite participants to riff on our theme of “Crossroads of Resistance,” building upon and
beyond the following dimensions:
● Temporal crossroads (then and now/future)
● The crossroads of disciplines and subfields
● Geographic crossroads within the region and beyond it (transnational, etc.)
● Intergenerational crossroads
● Crossroads in forms of organizing, between formal labor organizations and new models
● The present as a crossroads between fascism and resistance
● Crossroads of scholarship and activism
● Crossroads of labor systems and types of work (from enslavement to the gig economy)
and/or imagining futures of guaranteed incomes or without work
● Crossroads of work, academic freedom, and the donor class in higher education