https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698018811992 Memory Studies 2019, Vol. 12(1) 91–94 © The Author(s) 2018 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1750698018811992 journals.sagepub.com/home/mss MSA forward: Memory studies moving onward and upward Hanna Teichler Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Rebekah Vince University of Warwick, UK Abstract This article serves as both an état présent of emerging scholarship in the interdisiplinary field of Memory Studies and a conference report following the first MSA Forward interactive workshop which preceded the second annual conference of the Memory Studies Association (MSA) in December 2017. MSA Forward is the postgraduate arm of the Memory Studies Association and offers a platform for exchanging ideas amongst a cohort of emerging scholars engaging with recent developments in Memory Studies and interacting with key academics in the field. The idea of engagement, with its political undertone, draws attention to the political valence and ethical sensitivity of emerging research as evidenced in this article, which contends that if Memory Studies is to be moving forwards as well as looking back, then it is important for emerging scholars as well as established academics to be at the forefront of the field. Keywords interdisciplinary, emerging research, moving memories, forward-looking, dialogic memory The purpose of this MSA Forward article is to provide an état présent (literally a present state or a current state of affairs), but of course the very nature of Memory Studies is that it is always moving forward, even when it is looking back. No more is this evident than in emerging research by gradu- ate students working within the field of Memory Studies, tilling the ground in preparation for a fruitful harvest. MSA Forward, the postgraduate arm of the Memory Studies Association, offers a platform for exchanging ideas with a cohort of emerging scholars learning about recent develop- ments in Memory Studies and interacting with key academics in the field. A day before the second annual conference of the Memory Studies Association in Copenhagen (14–16 December 2017), MSA Forward provided a forum for PhD students to explore the connection of their research to Memory Studies in the form of an interactive workshop. Through flash presentations, PhD students had the opportunity to discuss the specific ways their doctoral research connects with Memory Studies and to receive feedback (and feed-forward) from established scholars, including Jeffrey Olick, Ann Rigney, Stef Craps, and Sarah Gensburger, among other key figures. Corresponding author: Rebekah Vince, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Email: rebekah.vince@warwick.ac.uk 811992MSS 0 0 10.1177/1750698018811992Memory StudiesTeichler and Vince research-article 2018 Article