CALL FOR PAPERS

The American Studies Graduate Committee at the University of Texas at Austin calls for papers for its upcoming graduate conference: "Division Street, U.S.A."

When: September 24-25, 2009.
Where: University of Texas at Austin
Abstract and CV Deadline: July 10, 2009

Our keynote speaker will be Eric Lott, Professor of American Studies and Cultural Studies at the University of Virginia.

Barack Obama's campaign and subsequent election as President of the United States have triggered a renewed rhetoric of national "unity" that has not been common political currency since the era of civil rights expansion. However, the nightly news broadcasts have highlighted some of the visible fissures in this rhetoric, from California's passage of Proposition 8 outlawing homosexual marriage, to Attorney General Eric Holder's comments regarding the status of African Americans in a "post-racial" America, and from the criticisms of President Obama himself regarding the freshly minted Council on Women and Girls in light of the dropoff in male high school graduation and college attendance rates, especially among working class men all ethnicities, to the continued tension regarding immigration and citizenship. Although this conference encourages submissions dealing with all manner of subjects, this theme of unity and division in American culture is one under which a great deal of scholarly work can be mobilized, utilizing multiple disciplinary approaches and covering any historical period. Consequently, we encourage proposals that explore the myriad conflicts and contradictions in America's past and present. We also encourage proposals that not only explore the the explicitly political realm, but also the geographic, cultural, social, and economic conditions that have defined the American experience, from "Main Street" to "Division Street."

In addition to standard conference papers, we also invite other presentation formats and creative works, such as short films and poetry/fiction/drama readings.

Though our conference program committee will primarily be assembling the panels out of individual submissions, we also will consider pre-formed panels. Jointly-authored presentations are acceptable. We also invite any graduate students collaborating with community partners on service, activist, educational, artistic, or other projects to present in conjunction with those partners.

To propose a presentation, please submit an abstract of no more than 200 words and a brief CV of no more than one page to the American Studies Graduate Committee by email at utamst09@gmail.com no later than July 10, 2009. Submission text may be embedded in the email or included in a Word attachment. If accepted, each graduate student presenter will be asked to pay a registration fee of $20 to help cover conference expenses. Those registering by August 15, 2009 may register at the early-registration discount rate, which is $17.

PROGRAM IN LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

“Unsettling Decadence: Crisis and Creativity in Latin America”

When: Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Where: Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus, Baltimore, Maryland
Deadline for Abstracts: September 15

How can Latin American historical, social, political and artistic processes contribute to rethink notions of “decadence” and “crisis”? Decadence has been associated with ideas of decay, immorality, loss and excess. It conveys a temporality haunted by immanent death and decline, in which the traces of the past –and its abuses, struggles or glories– saturate the present. Intimately related to the contradictions and impossibilities of progress and the corruption of social orders, decadence invites us to think about the modalities of colonialism and imperialism in the region, and the excesses and debaucheries of those in power. Most recently, decadence has also been invoked to describe the crisis in global capitalism, and the forms of excessive expenditure, corruption and profiteering that contributed to the crisis. This crisis marks the limits of an economic order and a certain project of modernity, and enables forms of disorder, disinhibition and anarchy, usually associated with decadence. At the same time, it opens up spaces of political, cultural or economic creativity and experimentation that generate possibilities for the new.

For its Spring 2009 Conference “Unsettling Decadence”, the Program in Latin American Studies at Johns Hopkins University invites papers from across the social sciences and humanities to reflect on these topics. Possible questions can be (but are not exhausted by):

• In which ways have tropes of decadence gained force to describe the specific experiences of economic and political crisis in Latin America? How are forms of imperialism and neoliberalism being reconfigured in the region and what economies of illegality, disorder and corruption are emerging?
• How has the decadence of modern state forms given raise to the emergence of self-managed communities, autonomous places, social movements, public protests and alternative forms of political struggle? What kinds of political imaginations are being created in these contexts?
• What forms of domesticity, community and political belonging are created in decaying or “decadent” urban areas? How have notions of decadence informed and legitimated ongoing private and state projects of urban ‘revitalization’ and ‘rescue’?
• How has the decadence of European ideals of ‘high-culture’ been re-appropriated or transformed by Latin American elites? How does decadence look like from the perspective of elite’s cultures, political practices, forms of expenditure, and social relations?
• How are aesthetics of artificiality and decadence expressed in different artistic and literary movements and personal styles? In which ways were nineteenth century decadent movements in Europe re-appropriated, modified or rejected by Latin American artists and intellectuals?
• What forms of traffic, sexuality, disorder and creativity emerge in the Latin American border zones and frontiers?

Please send title and a brief (200 word) abstract indicating the applicant’s academic status, affiliation and contact information to plas@jhu.edu.

Undocumented Hispanic Migration: On the Margins of a Dream.

When: October 16-18, 2009
Where: Connecticut College, New London, CT 06320

A multidisciplinary conference featuring presentations by Peter Andreas, Linda Bosniak, Leo R. Chavez, Jorge Duany, Nancy Foner, Judith Adler Hellman, Juan F. Perea, Alejandro Portes, Saskia Sassen, Carola Suárez-Orozco, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, and Silvio Torres-Saillant. Also includes panel presentations by more than a hundred scholars, health and social-service providers, educators, attorneys, immigrants, and government personnel from across the United States and from Mexico.

Please see the preregistration flyer at: www.conncoll.edu/AcademicsDocs/ConnCollConfPreRegistration.pdf.

For further information, please contact Prof. Frank Graziano, fgraz@conncoll.edu.

Coloquio Internacional «La Europa de los veintisiete y sus lenguas». Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7. París (Francia), del 10 al 12 de diciembre de 2009.

Ejes temáticos:
1) Situaciones lingüísticas en los países de la Unión Europea.
2) Política lingüística en la Unión Europea: consecuencias en el campo de la interpretación y en el de la traducción.
3) Oficialización de nuevas lenguas en el seno de la Unión Europea: lenguas regionales o minoritarias.

Lenguas de trabajo: francés, español, inglés y alemán.
Enviar formularios de preinscripción y propuestas de comunicación antes del 30 de abril de 2009 a José Carlos Herreras (jch+colloque @
eila.univ-paris-diderot.fr) con copia a Elizabeth Navarro (Elisabeth.Navarro @ eila.univ-paris-diderot.fr) para los trabajos en español.<
La inscripción definitiva y el pago de matrícula tendrán que efectuarse antes del 30 de septiembre de 2009.
Más información:
http://e27l.eila.univ-paris-diderot.fr/
Convocatoria en español: http://www.hispanismo.es/documentos/0004/UE27-09-ES.pdf

Tijuana Jazz Jam - Every Tuesday
When: Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m.
Where: Revolver Cafe on Madero, one block east of Revolution between 5th and 6th Street, Tijuana, Mexico

Jazz Pianist Turiya Mareya and Tijuana Guitarist and Producer Alejandro Perales are hosting a Tijuana Jazz Jam session every Tuesday night in one of Tijuana's hippest spots- The Revolver cafe. It is walking distance from the Border or a $5 cab ride. Tijuana is blessed with many exciting Jazz artists who are coming together to play exciting music. Artists and guests from the USA are welcome. For more information, visit Turiya Mareya's website at http://www.mareya.com/.