Kategorie: Aktuelles

in the Journal for Open Cultural Studies

guest editors: Dr. Katharina Gerund (Erlangen/Nürnberg) und Dr. Stefanie Schäfer (Jena)

In contemporary popular culture, black womanhood frequently takes centre stage. It occupies an increasingly central place and articulates new and renewed dimensions, prompting questions about the status of black women in the cultural imaginary of the US and beyond. Most prominently, Michelle Obama’s First Ladyship has sparked scholarly and media discussions around the significance of stereotypes associated with black women, the possibilities and limitations of public figures to create new images and anchor them in the cultural imaginary, and about the subject positions and images that express and shape constructions of black womanhood (cf. Harris-Perry 2011, Schäfer 2015, Spillers 2009). Further examples include the pop singer Beyoncé, who has proclaimed her commitment to feminism and designed an already iconic celebration of black motherhood (concerning Afro-futurist tropes), wildly popular TV shows like „Scandal“ or „How to Get Away with Murder“ which feature black female protagonists, or literary works and feminist manifestos such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s „Americanah“ (2013) or „We Should All Be Feminists“ (2014) and „Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions“ (2017).

Our special issue aims to examine the multifaceted ideological implications of this proliferation of black womanhood in popular culture. We understand popular culture as a site where “collective social understandings are created” (cf. Stuart Hall 2009) and as a marketplace governed primarily by economic interests, but also trading in symbolic capital, identities, and collective fantasies. Popular culture thus may model new subject positions, unsettle cultural authorities, and question cultural ideals – intentionally or inadvertently so. The contributions to this special issue discuss representations and performances of black womanhood in the transatlantic sphere. They raise issues about the genealogies of these images and their empowering and limiting qualities, about the “affective agency” (Rebecca Wanzo) and subjecthood that black women claim and/or are assigned in these cultural productions, and about the signifying functions of the black female body in visual economies.

The full CfP is available on the publisher’s website.

Deadline for Proposal submissions: Jan. 15, 2018.

The 2018 Center for Great Plains Studies symposium will examine tourism and conservation on the Great Plains in Kearney at the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska Nebraska on April 18-20, 2018.

For those who have experienced it, the Great Plains’ rolling grasslands, charismatic wildlife, and boundless scenery fill the heart with wonder. The Plains are filled with fascinating biodiversity and wonderful opportunities for exploration while also harboring critically endangered habitats. The people who live and work on the Plains have created diverse cultures and communities. We argue that conservation that works with, instead of against, business, landowners, and communities is a way forward in preserving our rural communities and dwindling wild places. For many locations around the globe, nature-based tourism has provided a way to enrich human communities while protecting cultural heritage and natural areas. It’s already happening in the Great Plains here and there, as events like the Sandhill crane migration gain popularity and efforts like the American Prairie Reserve gain footing. The Center’s ongoing ecotourism project seeks to explore, promote, and strengthen these operations.

This conference will explore how tourism on private lands can be a force for conservation in the Great Plains as well as empower landowners and build thriving rural communities. It will feature sessions for business leaders, ranchers, conservationists, community partners, and governmental organizations as well as wider-ranging discussions about how to preserve and sustain the stunning bounty of Great Plains ecology. We invite proposals for paper presentations, roundtable discussions, workshops, chain-reaction panels, lightning-round sessions, or other formats. Topics include but are not limited to: Social implications of nature tourism (health, values, stewardship); Economic impacts; History of nature tourism; Scientific value of nature tourism; Case studies / reports; Conservation on public and/or private lands.

Proposals must be received electronically using the form at go.unl.edu/2018-ecotourism by Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017.

Les migrations au départ du et vers le Canada: dynamiques spatiales et identitaires entre continuité et rupture

Université d’Avignon, 13-15 juin 2018

Les mouvements de population constituent un aspect essentiel de l’histoire de l’Amérique du Nord et du Canada en particulier. Selon l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE), les personnes nées à l’étranger représentent aujourd’hui environ 20 % de la population canadienne. Les migrations internationales (au départ du et vers le Canada) et interprovinciales témoignent d’une dynamique spatiale qui a profondément marqué et qui continue à façonner l’image de ce pays. Qu’ils soient saisonniers, temporaires ou permanents, imposés ou choisis, anciens ou récents, les mouvements migratoires suscitent l’intérêt des chercheurs en sciences humaines et sociales, ce dont témoignent les nombreuses études parues ou en cours qui abordent ce phénomène sous un angle historique, géographique, politique, économique, social, littéraire ou linguistique.

Appel à communications.

Date limite de remise des propositions de communication: 31 octobre 2017.