Deadline for Submissions: February 15, 2018
Call for Papers
New Directions in Critical Theory Graduate Conference, 2018
Love & Monstrosity: What Have We Done/What Are We Going to Do
The University of Arizona, Department of English
April 20-21
Tucson, Arizona
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.”
—from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818)
The graduate students of the University of Arizona’s Department of English invite proposals for the annual New Directions in Critical Theory Graduate Conference. Held every spring, New Directions is an interdisciplinary conference organized for and by graduate students as a way of drawing together scholars, artists, and activists across diverse disciplines.
This year’s conference, entitled “Love & Monstrosity: What Have We Done/What Are We Going to Do,” invites papers and performances that explore the limitless potential and fraught relations between love and monstrosity. We hope that presenters will consider the ways in which their interests dovetail with this theme and use it as a means for exposing and interrogating the current, often monstrous, state of the world as well as a means for finding and spreading hope through a praxis of radical love. As bell hooks suggests, “an ethic of love” emerges from the periphery as scholars, artists, and activists use it to shape the direction of their “political vision” as well as their “radical aspirations.” We hope that our conference will provide an inclusive model that welcomes not only traditional academic scholars from the humanities, but also scholars in other fields and nontraditional scholars, artists, and activists who would like to engage in a dialogue about the potential for love to inspire hope in an increasingly precarious world.
Possible topics for critical and creative presentations include but are not
limited to:
Women Firsts, Queer firsts, POC firsts, monstrosity, radical love, queer theologies the entangled bank, ecology, environmental criticism, climate change, the Trump presidency, trauma and recovery terror, horror, revulsion, hope, sadness, exhaustion, community resilience, collective resistance, activism, running for office, the politics of aesthetics, aesthetic politics, ethno-nationalism, cosmopolitans, beginnings of histories, biopolitics, births, hybrids, binaries, polarization, healing, the mythic, archetypes, stereotypes, tyrants
Special Interest Sections
1.) The EGU Committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity is hosting a special interest section that will address issues and opportunities in academia and beyond. We invite papers that share empirical research, pedagogical approaches, and narrative inquiry on topics such as mental health, gender/sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, culture, ethnicity, citizenship, language, age, and/or non-traditional student status (including veterans, formerly incarcerated students, returning students, and firstgeneration college students). Dialogue about such issues is a necessary step in enacting meaningful changes in our communities, and we look forward to hearing your contributions to these critical conversations. Please follow the submission guidelines below and add “EDI Special Interest” in the subject line. Formats that are welcome include traditional presentations, workshops, projects in progress, posters, round-table discussions, and virtual presentations.
2.) Second, we are hosting “A Provocation from the Margins.” For this special interest section, we’re looking for creative, poetic, and/or artistic performances that ask: what exactly have we done? And what are we going to do moving forward? Proposals from both inside and outside the academy are welcome. Submit a proposal of 300-500 words for a 10-15 minute performance with the subject line “A Provocation.”
Submission Guidelines
All proposals must be submitted by email to arizonanewdirections@gmail.com by 11:59 MST on February 15, 2018. We will respond with decisions by mid-February. Please use the following format for the subject line of your email: “Proposal [Last Name] [First Name]” (e.g., Proposal Sims Rachel). Please attach a single document in .DOC(X) format with the following information in the order listed below:
1. Paper title; name; institutional affiliation; any degrees and granting
institutions; email address; and phone number
2. Abstract of the content and rationale for the paper, 300-500 words (presentation time for papers is 20 minutes maximum)
3. Two to three-sentence scholarly biography of presenter, with personal pronouns indicated
4. Indicate any audio/visual needs or special accommodations
For future updates, including speakers, find us on our website at 2018newdirections.weebly.com and follow our instagram account @love.monstrosity.2018.