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FELIX MARTIN DOCTORAL SEMINAR

The Spanish Association for American Studies invites graduate students engaged in Ph.D. research to participate in the Félix Martín-Doctoral Seminar to take place every two years during the celebration of the SAAS biennial conference. The workshops of the seminar are held simultaneously in conjunction with the SAAS conference.

The seminar aims to provide a space for Ph.D. students to present and discuss their current research in a more relaxed session than that of a full conference panel and in dialog with other doctoral students in a highly-stimulating and collaborative environment. Participating students must be enrolled in a doctoral program and at least in their second year of doctoral research.

Student presentations at the Doctoral Seminar should deal with the issues addressed or hypotheses tested in the dissertation, the results so far obtained, and above all the methodology applied, with the purpose of gaining specific feedback from peers and established scholars in the field. Each presentation will last 10 minutes, followed by additional time for discussion.

The Seminar will be organized in separate workshops, depending on the number of participants, and will be chaired by a Doctor nominated by the organizing committee. Presentation at a Doctoral Seminar session will not exclude participation in and presenting at other seminars at the Conference. Ph.D. students who participate only in the doctoral sessions may attend the full SAAS Conference at a very reduced fee. Those who also participate in a regular SAAS panel will be required to pay a total fee equivalent to 50 per cent of the regular conference fee and to become members of the association.

Proposals should be sent electronically, using this form and following the same procedure and deadlines as for the submission of paper proposals. The deadline for submitting proposals is October 15, 2024. When submitting the proposal, the student is required to include a letter from his/her Ph.D. supervisor giving the (working) title of the dissertation and confirming that the student is working under his/her supervision and has completed at least his/her first year of Ph.D. studies. The Proposal should also include a summary of the project (of no more than 500 words), indicating:

1. The main topic and issues, including the thesis proposed/hypothesis defended

2. The methodology (theoretical tools and standpoints)

3. Where relevant, the corpus under consideration

4. The results so far obtained.

Additionally, if there is a significant number of participants in the Seminar, the SAAS Board and the Organizing Committee will organize a workshop with a guest speaker with suitable experience in Ph.D. supervision to discuss issues of special interest to doctoral students (namely, issues to do with theory, methods, publication of results, submitting manuscripts to journals, international graduate research networks, job opportunities, postdoctoral research grants, etc.)