Conferences and Seminars
The following events sponsored by other organizations might be of interest to ACH members. If you would like to propose an event for posting, please contact the ACH Secretary-Treasurer at achsecretary@gmail.com.
“Diasporas, Cultures of Mobilities, ‘Race’,” a series of four conferences from 2011 to 2013.
EMMA (Etudes Montpelliéraines du Monde Anglophone, Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier 3, France) in partnership with CAAR (Collegium for African-American Research); the Department for Continuing Education (the University of Oxford); the Centre for Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS, the University of Oxford); the Institut de Recherche Intersite Etudes Culturelles (IRIEC, Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier 3); the International Institute of Migration (IMI, the University of Oxford); the Centre de Recherches Littéraires et Historiques de l’Océan Indien (CRLHOI, University of La Réunion); the Centre of South Asian Studies (CSAS, University of Edinburgh, UK); Wake Forest University (North Carolina, USA) and Wesleyan University (USA), is organizing a series of four events around the notions of race and diaspora. Co-convenors: Dr Sally Barbour (Wake Forest University, USA), Dr David Howard (Oxford University, UK), Dr Thomas Lacroix (IMI, Université d’Oxford, RU), Dr Judith Misrahi-Barak (Montpellier 3, France) and Pr Claudine Raynaud (Montpellier 3, France).
Over the last decade “Diaspora Studies” have become a full-fledged discipline: numerous conferences have taken place, specialized publications have emerged and centers have been created around this field of research. The aim of our initiative is to identify and assess the different evolutions of this field to better understand: 1) how socio-economic and political changes have affected diasporic communities; 2) how literature and the arts, the social sciences and cultural studies have seized that question. This reflection entails a redefinition of terms and concepts, some of which have at times been used in a loose way, and the confrontation of different, but not necessarily divergent, perspectives. Four conferences address these themes and more over the next three years.
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1. Preparatory Symposium: Diasporas and Cultures of Migrations, June 20-23, 2011, Université Paul-Valéry — Montpellier 3
In a global and increasingly trans-national context, numerous terms, such as “diaspora,” “migration,” “displacement,” “dispersion,” refer to populations of refugees, displaced persons, exiles, migrants and immigrants. Why has one term been preferred to another at a certain period of time or in a certain place? Why has one concept dominated when another was rejected? What are the specificities of and the common points between these diaporas? Specialists of these questions from various disciplines (anthropology, sociology, political science, literature, comparative literature), will be asked to assess the state of the debate in their field, to share reflections and to put them in dialogue in round tables and discussions in preparation for the following event.
It will be our pleasure to welcome:
Pr Deepika Bahri (Emory University, USA) ; Pr Shaul Bassi (Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy) ; Pr Crispin Bates (Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies, Edinburgh University, RU) ; Pr. Elleke Boehmer (Oxford University) ; Pr Aïda Boudjikanian (chercheur indépendant) ; Dr Louise Cainkar (Marquette University, USA) ; Pr Bella Brodzki (Sarah Lawrence, USA) ; Pr Robin Cohen (Directeur de l’IMI, Oxford University, RU); Dr Corinne Duboin (CRLHOI, Université de La Réunion) ; Pr Karen Fog Olwig (University of Copenhagen, Danemark) ; Pr Kathleen Gyssels (University of Antwerpen, Belgique); Dr Indira Karamcheti (Wesleyan University, USA); Dr Thomas Lacroix (IMI, University of Oxford, RU); Pr Benedicte Ledent (University of Liege, Belgium) ; Dr Typhaine Leservot (Wesleyan University, USA) ; Pr Françoise Lionnet (UCLA, USA); Dr Anthony Mangeon (IRIEC, Montpellier 3, France) ; Pr Adlai Murdoch (Universiy of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA) ; Pr Ato Quayson (Directeur du Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Toronto, Canada) ; Pr Alan Rice (University of Central Lancaster, RU) ; Pr Mireille Rosello (The University of Amsterdam, Pays-Bas) Pr Ashraf H. Rushdy (Wesleyan University, USA); Pr Ronnie Scharfman (Prof. Emerita, Purchase College, USA) ; Pr Shu-mei Shih (UCLA, USA) ; Dr Eric Soriano (Centre de recherches sociologiques et politiques de Paris, CRESPPA; UMR 7217, Équipe CSU) ; Pr Khachig Tölölyan (Wesleyan University, USA) ; Pr Janet Wilson (University of Northampton, UK); Pr Louise Yelin (Purchase College, USA).
2. International conference: Diasporas and “Race”, October 25-27, 2012, Wake Forest University (North Carolina, USA)
Diasporas have always had to negotiate new articulations of ethnic/racial identities while individuals had to make do with contexts already defined by certain types of racial relations and certain evolutions of racial transnational references. The emergence of new racisms and of new racialized identities reconfigures class hierarchies, which often results in violence against migrants. Does the prism of diaspora allow for a clearer conceptualization of the concept of “race” as a socio-historical construction and a surface of projection that depends on context? How can the concept of “race” be imposed, but also how have populations appropriated it? What role does the mediation of art and literature play in these evolutions? A call for papers will be handed out in the Fall 2011.
3. International conference: African-Americans, “Race” and Diaspora, June 13-15, 2013, University Paul-Valéry, Montpellier 3
The diverse uses of “diaspora” have helped to redefine and renew the field of “African American Studies” and to rethink African American identity in relation to a subject more broadly defined as both racialized and diasporic. The reflection on “race,” central to the field, will be articulated with that of diaspora to envision the links, the breaking points and the articulations between the two notions. Participants will be asked to interrogate this redefinition of “African American Studies” and to formulate the questions and the new objects of study that this transformation has generated. Conversely, what has been the impact of “African American Studies” on the fields of “Diaspora and Race Studies” or “Postcolonial and Race Studies”? The term “post-race” stands at the core of heated debates among scholars of the field. Have the different disciplinary fields (social sciences and the humanities) vested interests in preserving one concept over another through such and such a paradigm or certain combinations? Finally, are the arts (literature, the visual arts, popular culture, the Internet) privileged markers of these evolutions: notions of avant-garde, of globalization, utopias? A call for papers will be handed out in 2012.
4. Concluding symposium: October 25-26, 2013, Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, UK
With its three international centres of research addressing matters of diaspora and migration, the University of Oxford will be the ideal venue for the final meeting to take place. It will attract a wide international audience and provide an important point at which to disseminate the initial findings and conclusions for the programs as a whole.
“9th International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference,” Association of Cultural Studies, Paris, France (July 2-6, 2012).
The Association for Cultural Studies is very pleased to announce that the 9th International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference will be held in Paris, France, from July 2nd to 6th, 2012, hosted by Sorbonne Nouvelle University and UNESCO.
The city of Paris has a long and complex history as a crossroad between cultures and peoples. Paris has played an important role in the development and circulation of the works of authors and thinkers that have shaped the postcolonial imagination in a significant way. Drawing on their tradition of comprehensive and critical thought, the organizers seek contributions in the form of papers and panels that will continue to examine the intersection between culture, power and knowledge from within the framework of Cultural Studies.
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The conference will also be hosted by UNESCO, the international organization that has always championed cultural diversity and difference. Given the long association between Cultural Studies research and UNESCO, this conference should be an occasion for Cultural Studies to look back on its own evolution as well as explore new scholarly insights.
* 12 World-class Keynote Speakers from all over the world will address the conference at keynote and plenary sessions. Among them, Sarah Ahmed, Marie-Hélène Bourcier, Jeremy Gilbert, Achille Mbembe, Walter Mignolo, Bobby Noble, Phaedra Pezzullo, Françoise Vergès. With the participation of Stuart Hall and Jacques Rancière (to be confirmed).
* State of the art conference topics. All topics relevant to Cultural Studies, especially new and innovative areas of research are welcome.
* Submit your proposal now! The call for papers and organized panel proposals is now open. Check the submission guidelines and submit before September 30, 2011. Submission forms for both papers and sessions can be found on the conference website:http://www.crossroads2012.org
* ACS Assistance Scheme for Crossroads 2012. The Association for Cultural Studies will offer a small number of grants to assist participants from ACS under-represented regions with travel accommodation or registration expenses.
* Attractive and convenient accommodation in the heart of the city of Paris and close to the conference venues. Cheaper campus accommodation will also be available close at hand at the International Paris University Campus.
* Spread the news. Please forward this message to your colleagues and friends! We look forward to seeing you in Paris in 2012!