• Diasporic Imagination (2004-2005)
• Feminist Historiography (2003-2005)
• National Identity / National Culture (2003-2005)
• Queer Research Group (2004-2005)
• Teaching of History and Historiography (2004-2005)
• Theatre and Performance of the Americas (2004-2005)

Because the three-year pilot program for Research Groups has ended, the Executive Committee decided not to host them at the 50th Anniversary conference in order to evaluate their effectiveness. In their stead, “Reading Groups” will be held in which significant books in the field can be discussed in a specialized context, where scholars can share interpretations and new research questions related to the book. In some cases, the book’s author may be able to attend some portion of the group’s meeting to respond to specific questions. Official reading group participants will be listed in the program.

The Reading Groups below have been formed to discuss a variety of topics and will be hosted concurrently at the 2006 conference. If you are interested in participating in a reading group, please email a proposal – including title, one-paragraph description of reflections on the book(s), and contact information – to the group's chair(s) by May 31, 2006.

• Arnold Aronson's Looking into the Abyss, Marvin Carlson's Theatre Places & Una Chaudhury's Staging Place
• Daniel Belgrad's The Culture of Spontaneity
• Martin Puchner's Poetry of the Revolution: Marx, Manifestos, and the Avant-Gardes & W. B. Worthen's Print & the Poetics of Modern Drama
• Joe Roach's Cities of the Dead
• David Roman's Performance in America: Contemporary US Culture and the Performing Arts