Call for Papers

  New Bulgarian University and Ferdinand I Military Technical Academy are pleased to announce MCWE 2019: The 1st International Conference on Military Culture and War Experience which will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 11 - 12 October 2019.

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    War involves a cumulation of traumatic multilevel experiences with strong individual and collective implications that pass from one generation to another, being impossible to forget but also mandatory to be remembered in order not to be repeated. While the whole world is affected by it, the "soldier  above all others prays – as Gen. Douglas MacArthur says – for peace, for it is [he] who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war” (qtd in Donnithorne, 2009: 173). A military career is more than just a job. Prepared to face the danger, the men and women who serve in the armed forces of a country are constantly exposed to a unique set of pressures that derive from the responsibilities they assume, but also to a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours and artefacts meant to help them and their families cope with the world they live in. Like any other social group, the military have a culture of their own, with deep roots and ramifications – one that may be difficult to understand by ordinary civilians; one that may raise admiration or hatred; one that cannot be ignored.

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      In this vein, we suggest the following topics; however, papers on other aspects of the conference theme are also welcomed:

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• War in literature, biographies and visual arts

• Important military leaders and events

• Types of warfare, military tactics and strategies

• Multinational coalition operations

• Challenges of military engineering

• Military technical vocabulary

• Humanitarian assistance

• Migration and globalization

• Media coverage of war and terrorism

• Psychological effects of war

• Education and adjustment to military / civilian life

• Implications of military culture and stereotypes

• Military career field management

• Veterans and their problems

• Impact of deployment on military families

• Gender, age, disability, etc in the military.

 

   This conference aims to create a multinational and multidisciplinary forum for discussions on changes in the perception of military culture and war experience. We invite scholars as well as practitioners from different fields including military science, literature, visual arts, history, cultural studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, management, science and technology, and all those interested in exchanging theoretical and practical approaches to these phenomena and processes.

 

   We welcome proposals for individual 20-minute papers, panel sessions where 3 or 4 speakers address a shared topic, and workshops where contributors address questions of practical activism. The official language of the conference is English, though presentations may also be delivered in any other language provided they are accompanied by a PowerPoint in English.

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     Important Dates:

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• Deadline for submission of abstracts: 30 April 2019. (New: 31 May 2019)

• Abstract Acceptance Notification: 31 May 2019.

• Registration Deadline: 30 June 2019. (New: 30 September 2019)

• Deadline for submission of full papers: 1 October 2019. (New: 29 February 2020)

• Conference Date: 11 - 12 October 2019.

• Conference Dinner: 11 October 2019.

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    For more information on the conference, please contact us: militaryculture2019@gmail.com.