Call for Papers: Salmon P. Chase Center Conference on Civic Thought

The Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society invites submissions for its second annual Conference on Civic Thought, to be held at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on September 23 and 24, 2026.

The Conference on Civic Thought is an annual national scholarly conference on civic thought in higher education. It draws scholars from across several disciplines, institutions, and career stages to present research on citizenship and self-government. It is as much an occasion to form new collaborations as to present finished work.

The 2026 meeting features keynote addresses, plenary sessions, and concurrent panels. We now invite participants to propose the work they would like to present. The 2026 program will feature a keynote address by William Inboden, Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Texas, Austin. A second keynote will be announced soon.

The conference takes its bearings from a remarkable year. In 1776, within months of one another, there appeared Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the first volume of Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and the Declaration of Independence. Together, these works frame enduring questions about rights, self-government, empire, commerce, and the conditions of a free people.

Proposals may engage these texts directly or take up the wider tradition of civic thought they helped to shape. Submissions are organized into six lanes:

• Rights and Self-Government (the Declaration)
• Empire, Corruption, and Decline (Gibbon)
• Revolution and Popular Sovereignty (Paine)
• Commerce and Political Economy (Smith)
• 1776 and Its Legacies
• An open Other category

The organizers strongly encourage complete panel proposals. A complete panel brings together three or four papers on a shared theme, with a chair and, where possible, a discussant. Coordinated panels make for the most coherent sessions and the strongest program, and proposals that arrive as full panels will receive priority. They also welcome individual paper proposals, which the organizers may assemble into panels.

A complete panel proposal should include the panel title, a description of 250 to 500 words, the panel format, and the name, affiliation, and paper title of each participant. An individual paper proposal should include the paper title and an abstract of 250 to 500 words. Please indicate your preferred thematic lane on the form.

The submission deadline is Friday, July 17, 2026.

Travel funding is available to help offset costs for participants who need it. Priority will go to graduate students, early-career scholars, and presenters without access to institutional travel funds. If you would like to be considered, please indicate so on the submission form. The organizers will support as many participants as the budget allows and will confirm awards after the program is set.