Identities in Transition

The Enkidu Summer Conference 2007

June 1 - 5, 2007

Mexico City

in:

Villalongin 24 Col. Cuauhtemoc (in front of "Monumento a la Madre" - The Monument to Motherhood)

 

Photos from Identities in Transitition, Mexico City, June 2007

Call for Papers

The primary focus of this inclusive and interdisciplinary conference organized by Enkidu Magazine and the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in Mexico City is to interrogate storytelling, memories and identity constructions from a wide range of perspectives, definitions and in their manifold cultural and social manifestations. This year the conference will have a special focus on Identities in Transition and spaces and narratives of identities. Papers addressing remembering and forgetting of the past as well as translations between cultures and re-negotiations and re-constructions of cultural identities in one one way or another are particularly welcome.

"Identities in Transition" continues the tradition established by the previous held events in this conference cycle which has developed into an annual academic tradition in Mexico City, bringing together participants from all over the world to share and exchange their research, experiences and ideas in a truly multicultural, multilingual and interdisciplinary academic environment: Masculinities: New Perspectives (2004), Competing Diversities (2005), and Testimonial Texts: Stories, Lives and Memories (2006).

We welcome submissions from all branches of the social sciences, humanities, as well as the arts.

Graduate students are encouraged to participate.

The program will be organised in a large number of special thematic sessions and subconferences covering a highly diverse series of topics extending from "Conquest and Political Memory in late colonial Nahuatl texts from Central Mexico", "Migrations and Diasporas: Displacement Heritage, Global Spaces and Cultural Memories", "Imaginary Homelands", "‘Memory’ and ‘Nostalgia’ in cultural texts" to "Cyber-identities in movement" and "Slave Narratives from the Archives of the Spanish Inquisition".

Papers will be considered on related themes and topics from a wide range of perspectives. 500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in English, Castilian, German or French by 28th of February 2007. The conference languages will be English and Castilian.

Interpretations of the conference theme ranging from the predictable to the surprising are encouraged.

The conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and dialogue.

CHICS' academic conferences are characterized by traditional paper presentations in panel sessions with three speakers each, followed by lively exchange, dialogue and interaction between speakers and audience in many small groups, workshops and seminars rather than by formal plenary sessions. Our conferences provide a forum for diverse voices from all over the world, to come together and make connections across linguistic, cultural and academic barriers.

The conference sessions will be conducted in Spanish and English. Some sessions will be bilingual and conducted in both languages with interpreters. Other sessions will have simultaneous translations. Many sessions will be conducted with interpreters for sign language (on request).

Among the themes of interest are the following:

- Narrative and Linguistics

- Linguistic borders and translation

- Narrative and Myth

- Storytelling in rituals, customs, and fetishism.

- Storytelling and Visual/Performing Arts and Music

- Oral Tradition and Contemporary Chronicle

- Postmodernity and its narratives

- Voice and reflexivity in oral and written texts

- Colonial and Postcolonial Narratives

- Globalization and indigenous cultures

- Story, Dialogue and Discourse

- Memory and truth-telling

- Testimonial Narratives

- Memory and Written Record

- Text, Context and Intertext in Storytelling and Performance

- Children’s Stories

- Language, Authority and Silence

Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome since all these topics in themselves stretch across several disciplines: history, literary studies, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, pedagogy, ethnology, anthropology, sociology...

Paper and panel proposals

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in English, Castilian, German or French by 28. February 2007. The conference languages will be English and Castilian.

Papers should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10 pages). Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and poster sessions will be considered on request.

Proposals for panel sessions

Typically, a panel of academic papers should include 3 (maximum 4) speakers and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2 hours allowing for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes for questions and discussion.

Proposers should submit:

(1) Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words),

(2) Paper titles,

(3) Abstracts for each paper (500 words),

(4) Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150 words),

(5) Institutional affiliation and address for each participant,

(6) Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in finding speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers for your panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would like us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please send us a proposal by e-mail to info@enkidumagazine.com

Proposals for individual papers

Abstracts are to be submitted by 28. February 2007, along with the presenter’s name, short bio, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. It is recommended to use the form here, when submitting an abstract. However, abstracts will also be accepted as e-mail attachments to info@enkidumagazine.com.

All correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email. You will be notified by the 15th of March 2007 whether your proposal has been accepted or rejected.

Disabled Participants

We are pleased to announce that printed conference materials that will be distributed during the conference, also will be available in large print or Braille on request. If you require sign language interpretation during your session, or you would like to distribute handouts or other materials in Braille during your presentation, please indicate this in the registration form.

Registration Form for Participants with disabilities

Participants with disabilities are recommended to fill in this form if they require any special support or assistance during the event or during social and cultural activities before or during the conference.