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CfP: „East/Central European Cultures Inside and Out: Local and Global Perspectives“

Conference, 10 – 13 May 2017, Hotel Meta, Szczyrk (Poland), organized by

The Department of American and Canadian Studies, Institute of English Cultures and Literatures, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland
&
The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies, University of Alberta, Canada

The first of the intended series of conferences dedicated to the exploration of the complexity of East/Central European cultures — both at home and in diaspora — is a joint project of the Wirth Institute, University of Alberta, Canada, and the Department of American and Canadian Studies, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. As we initiate our cross cultural academic discussions in a year marking Canada’s 150th  anniversary of Confederation, this conference focuses on topics relating to Canada and East/Central Europe.

For many decades the cultures of East/Central Europe have been either underrepresented or conspicuously absent from Western critics’ discussions. Comparative perspectives on East/Central Europe and Canada have been even scarcer. The discourse of “otherness” has been imposed on East/ Central European literary and artistic productions denying them significance and legitimacy. Citizens of these countries have experienced intense national, cultural and linguistic identity dilemmas. Both East/Central Europe and Canada have been historically multicultural although for many years the governments of these countries denied such representations.

We are interested in this historical multiculturality and the co-existence strategies that evolved or did not evolve within these ethnic mosaics.  We cordially invite interested scholars, writers and artists to submit paper proposals on topics pertaining to  the cultures of the region and its diasporas in Canada, as well as to the intercultural and transcultural dialogues between/among  these cultures. Analyses of literary and artistic representations and enactments of these complex cultures are encouraged.

We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers from all disciplines, including literature, culture, film, history, anthropology and politics. Interdisciplinary perspectives are encouraged. Comparative papers will be given priority. Submissions from graduate and postgraduate students at any stage of their research are welcome.

The following list of topics should be regarded as neither exhaustive nor prescriptive:

  • Multiethnicity in East/ Central Europe: Diachrony and Synchrony
  • After 1989:  East/Central European Cultures at Home and in East/Central European Diasporas in Canada
  • East/Central European Cultures After 9/11: Local and Transatlantic Perspectives
  • East/Central European and Canadian Models of Multiculturalism: Comparative Perspectives
  • National,  cultural and linguistic identity dilemmas in East/Central Europe and Canada
  • Minor Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe/Central European Cultures as Minor Cultures in Canada
  • Indigenous cultures of East/Central Europe
  • Dialogues between East/Central European Diasporas and Indigenous cultures of Canada
  • Aesthetics, Ethics and Politics of Representation of East/Central European Cultures at Home and in Diaspora/Aesthetics, Ethics and Politics of Representation of the Cultures of Canada  in East/Central Europe
  • Postcolonial, Decolonial and Postdependence Perspectives: Comparative Approaches to East/Central Europe and Canada
  • East/Central European Contribution to Canadian Cultural Canon/The Impact of Cultures of Canada  upon East/Central Europe
  • Intercultural, Transcultural and Crosscultural Dialogue Inside and Out of East/Central Europe
  • Representations of Race and Gender in East/Central Europe and Canada
  • Between the Idea of the Open State and Nation State Xenophobia: East/Central Europe and Canadian Models
  • East/Central Europe, Canada, and Representations of Islam
  • Religion and Identity Discourses in  East/Central Europe and in East/Central European Diasporas in Canada
  • Literary and Artistic Responses to the Radicalization of Central Europe in the Face of Humanitarian Crises

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (alphabetically):

University of Silesia: Paweł Jędrzejko, Eugenia Sojka, Jolanta Tambor
University of Alberta: Wacław Osadnik, Joseph Patrouch

Deadline for abstracts:  February 1st ,  2017

Notification of acceptance:  February 15th 2017

Proposal submission website.  

(i) Individual proposals should be 300-400 words.

(ii) For panels, in English, French or Polish, please send the title of the panel and a 250-word presentation explaining the overall focus together with a 300-400 word abstract for each participant.

(iii) Please attach a short bio to your conference paper proposal.

All files should be clearly marked with the applicants’ name.

Conference fee  – covering welcome reception, all conference materials, coffee breaks, and conference banquet

100,00  Euro – full time faculty

50,00 Euro – students and part-time faculty

 

 

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Conference Announcement: „Citizenship and Literature: Past Concerns, Present Issues, Future Trajectories“

Feb 20 – 21, 2017, English Department, University of Münster (Germany)

Since political theorists Will Kymlicka and Wayne Norman observed a “return of the citizen,” an “explosion of interest in the concept of citizenship” in the political and social sciences in 1994, the concept has been heatedly debated as a tool of critical analysis not only in the social sciences but also – and increasingly so – in literary and cultural studies. In contrast to political theory, we might however speak not so much of a ‘return’ of the citizen in literary and cultural studies, but of an arrival of the citizen and of citizenship in the early 2000s: Questions of representing and reconceptualizing the relationship between individuals, groups, and the nation (as well as the nation state) found citizenship increasingly a productive term to negotiate questions of belonging, affiliations and membership and to reflect on the ways in which literatures negotiate, question, envision, or deconstruct notions of citizenship in a variety of historical and geographical contexts.

This conference takes this ongoing debate as a starting point for a reflection on the past, present, and future of citizenship both in literature and in literary studies. By bringing together scholars well established in literary citizenship studies and related fields such as law-and-literature, diaspora studies, literature and nation, and literary sovereignty, it will provide a platform for critically exploring potential future trajectories, both thematically and with regard to ‘citizenship’ as a concern for literary studies. Thematically, it looks at the role and function of citizenship in literature – as a topic, as a metaphor of belonging, or as a concept capturing the function of literature as part of societal discourses. At the same time, it also critically re-evaluates the theoretical discussion of citizenship as a concept in literary and cultural studies. Thus, the conference sets out to reflect both on the ways in which literatures negotiate, question, envision, or deconstruct notions of citizenship in a variety of historical and geographical contexts and on the question of the analytical benefit of citizenship as a category of scholarly inquiry.

In order to leave ample time for discussion, the number of speakers has been kept deliberately small. The following scholars will present at this conference:

  • Brook Thomas (University of California at Irvine): “The Citizen-Soldier in 19th-Century US Literature”
  • Beth Piatote (University of California at Berkeley): “Sound, Sonic Warfare, and Citizenship: Notes from Standing Rock and The Surrounded”
  • David Chariandy (Simon Fraser University, Burnaby): “Black Writing and the Limits of Citizenship”
  • Mita Banerjee (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz): “Writing the Citizen: Citizenship, Life Writing and Disability in Jason Kingsley’s and Mitchell Levitz’s Count Us In”
  • Peter Schneck (Osnabrück University): “Natural Law and Civil Savages: Early Modern Conceptions of Colonial Civility and Citizenship”
  • Carol Fadda-Conrey (Syracuse University): “Narrative Cartographies of Citizenships and Rights in the Age of US Empire”
  • Tamar Hess (Hebrew University, Jerusalem): “Dystopia and Citizenship in Contemporary Israeli Fantasy Literature”
  • Mark Stein (Westfälische Wilhelms-University, Münster): “‘Remember the Ship in Citizenship’: Migrant Writers, Porous Texts”

Further Information and Registration
About the program and other relevant information, please consult the WWU American Studies homepage. To register, please send a short e-mail with the header ‘registration literature and citizenship’ stating your name and affiliation to this email address. There are no conference fees but in order to facilitate our planning, please register at your earliest convenience.

Travel Bursary for Doctoral Students
For doctoral students working in literary citizenship studies or related fields who would like to attend this conference, a limited number of travel bursaries are available. If you are interested, please send your CV and a short abstract of your project to this e-mail address by January 30, 2017.

Contact
Prof. Dr. Katja Sarkowsky
Chair of American Studies
English Department
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
E-Mail.

 

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Aktuelles Call for Papers Veranstaltungen

CfP: „Queer Canada“

30th Annual Two Days of Canada Conference, 2 – 3 November 2017, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario (Canada)

People of Colour have already begun a body of writing and scholarship engaging with the meaning of Canada as a „queer place in Diaspora“ (Walcott 2005: 90). „Queer Canada“ will be a two-day conference of scholars, students, community members, artists, and activists at Brock University coming together to examine the various intersections between implications of nation-state identity and queerness. In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marched in several Pride parades across Canada. This occurred against the backdrop of the „Black Lives Matter“ protest at Toronto Pride Parade as well as the decision of several groups not to march in Pride in Vancouver. Notably, there was also the mobilization of Alternative Pride events with aims of creating „a new kind of inclusivity“. Also, in 2016, in the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis, it was announced that the Trudeau government would accept 25.000 refugees into Canada, but only if they came as whole families, lone women, or children. Excluded were unaccompanied men as part of this resettlement, except for those who were gay, bisexual, or transsexual. These events demand that we revisit and reconsider the relationship between queerness and nation at our current historical juncture.

The organizers invite proposals for critical and creative presentations. Possible themes include, but are not limited to:

  • writing and rewriting the nation
  • queer diasporas
  • homonationalism
  • queer art and literature
  • queer theatre in Canada
  • politics and resistance
  • queer histories
  • archives and representations
  • queer time
  • queer space
  • trans-subjectivities
  • trans families, groups and affiliations
  • queer indigeneity
  • bodily transformation
  • law and the body
  • embodied queer thought
  • utopias and dystopias
  • decolonizing time
  • queerness on TV
  • philosophies and queerness
  • queering feminism
  • international and transnational connections and activism
  • future visions

Proposals for individual papers, presentations, or panels from all disciplines, covering any aspect of Queer Canada’s past, present or future are welcomed. Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words and may be sent to Natalee Caple, Department of English Language & Literature before May 1, 2017. Please attach a 50-word biography to your submission.

Hardcopy proposals should be sent to:

Professor Natalee Caple
c/o The Department of English Language & Literature
Brock University
1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way
St. Catharines, ON
L2S 3A1

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Aktuelles Call for Papers Veranstaltungen

CfP: „The Geotechnical Politics of Ocean Frontiers: The Canadian North and the Indo-Pacific“

Interdisciplinary Workshop, 27-28 April 2017, York University, Toronto (CA)

Organized by the Ocean Frontiers Research-Working Group of Science for Peace (Canada) in collaboration with York Centre for Asian Research, Robarts Center for Canadian Studies, and the Department of Science & Technology Studies, York University, Canada.

Ocean frontier politics is part of the earthly politics of using science, technology and international law to construct maritime boundaries. This techno-politics includes ways and means of asserting a nation’s freedom of navigation, and making national claims of exploratory rights in the global commons. Such politics also involves marine and maritime infrastructural development, and is furthermore interrelated systematically to the science and technology of how space above and below the waterways are constructe, i.e. how national airspace is understood, bordered, and governed above maritime boundaries, how national land areas below the water is understood; and how the seabed resources below waterways are envisioned and exploited as national economic resources.

The Workshop’s Objectives are:

  • to share comparative analyses of heterogeneous factors, geotechnical, techno-political and techno-legal issues influencing regional and international security
  • discuss pragmatic resolutions; i.e. policies and strategies that could be the subject of further research and discussion on resolving peace and security issues; and
  • establish a cross-sector network (engaging academic-corporate-government sectors) to explore inter-disciplinary curricular frameworks for teaching and researching our planetary frontiers, as ‚Frontier Studies‘ with ‚Peace‘-‚Collective Peace‘ as the central focus.

The workshop papers for sessions on Day 1 (April 27, 2017) are expected to address geotechnical issues, resource developmental ideals and problems, contested governance, policy challenges, and sec urity concerns of militarized and industrialized ocean frontiers in the Canadian North and in the Indio Pacific.

Topics and thematic analyses are not limited to the following:

  • politics and policies of maritime boundary delineation
  • geo-spatial mapping of competitive boundary claims
  • techno-political systems of ocean frontiers surveillance and governance
  • politics of Ocean Space Grabbing
  • politics of air defense zones and how they are linked to maritime boundaries
  • geotechnical aspects of militarized frontiers that threaten human security
  • socio-political and historical claims over maritime boundaries
  • the efficacy/inefficacy of international law in maritime peace-making/peace-building
  • UNCLOS and the legitimization of maritime expansion
  • environmental politics of geo-engineering/sand-dredging and artificial islands
  • corporate actors in knlowledge production/aerial and satellite imagery production
  • national and international organizations effective/ineffective in ocean governance

Workshop papers for the session on Day 2 (April 28, 2017) should focus on the following:

  • interdisciplinary research frameworks and pedagogy for frontier studies; particularly on peace-making and peace-building in frontier conflict zones
  • constructionist/constructivist apporaches to understanding and analyzing ‚peace‘ as part of exploratory studies on planetary frontiers
  • analytica approaches to frontier imaginaries
  • critical approaches to the constructions of spatiality
  • analytical approaches to the governance of the global commons and national maritime zones
  • analytical frameworks on knowledge production about the natural vs. architected planet

Since national maritime boundaries are the basis on which national airspace is constructed above waterways, and how the land below waters are understood, ocean frontiers and disputed sea boundaries are significant points of research and starting points for broader inquiry into planetary frontiers, and critical areas of inquiry within conflict and peace studies.

Participants of this 2-day workshop come from a range of disciplines including Science & Engineering disciplines, Environmental Studies, Law, Political Science, History and Geography, and will involve representatives from the government and corporate sectors.

Submission guidelines: Please email your abstracts to this email address no later than 1 February 2017 using „Abstract – Ocean Frontiers Workshop – York U“ in the subject line. The abstract should be no more than 350 words. Authors should include name, designation and workplace below the abstract title. Authours could also indicate preference for Day 1 or Day 2 of the workshop.

Notification of accepted abstracts will be send out by 7 February 2017.

Submission of completed papers: 7 April 2017. Papers accepted for this workshop will be published as  part of an edited volume of essays.

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Aktuelles Call for Papers Veranstaltungen

CfP: „The World Needs More Canada“? Changes and Challenges in Contemporary Canadian Culture and Society

International Cofnerence, North American Studies Department, Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands), June 15-16, 2017

From booksellers and rock artists to diplomats and the President of the United States, many people have echoed the sentiment that Canada has something important to offer to the world. The 150 anniversary of Confederation in 2017 represents an excellent occasion to consider and highlight current social, cultural and political developments and critically explore the ways in which Canada defines itself and its place in the world. Can Canada be a blueprint for the world? To what extent can Canadian policies and solutions be transferred to other continents and cultures? Does the world indeed need more Canada?

With the election of Justin Trudeau, Canada seeks to move in different political, social and economic directions from the ones initiated and implemented by former president Steven Harper. At the same time, the legacy of Harper and his predecessors, including Pierre Trudeau, needs to be (re)negotiated and adapted to the realities of the 21st century.

For this conference, the organizers call for proposals that seek to critically examine Trudeau’s emphasis on change and the promise of revision. Specifically, they seek papers that explore continuities and disconinuities in Canada’s approaches to the following subset of themes: immigrations, justice and security; issues of indigeneity; the theory and practice of Canadian multiculturalism and the ideal of the „inclusive society;“ Canada in global perspective.

Proposals may include but are not limited to the following topics:

  • New (transcultural) perspectives on Canadian national identity: still “our famous problem” (Northrop Frye)? Identity and issues of language, immigration and integration.
  • Canadian multiculturalism: the legacy of Pierre Trudeau, (dis)continuities in Justin Trudeau’s present-day policies, theory and practice.
  • Canadian culture: revision and change in the production, reception and study of Canadian literature, film, art and music, especially as related to multiculturalism and recent developments in transnational literary and cultural studies.
  • Being indigenous in Canada Canada’s relation to indigeneity: First Nations and the world; the plans and policies of Justin Trudeau to wield change and bridge continuing social, economic and cultural gaps; “Idle No More” and related activist initiatives involving visibility, land claims and the protection of the environment; outcomes of and follow-ups to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee; contemporary indigenous literature, film, art, music.
  • Canada and the world: Canada’s response to the international refugee crisis; CETA: curse or blessing? The Canadian North as conflicted space; Canada and the US; Canada and Europe: partners in peace?; The legacy of WWII: memory, memorialization, and the prospect of global peace.
  • Canada and (inter)national issues of security, justice and human rights.

Please send your proposals (300 words) and a brief CV to the conference organizers Prof. Dr. Hans Bak and Dr. Mathilde Roza at this email address.

Deadline for submissions: February 1, 2017.