"Dame dame dame, que te voy a dar ... una guayabita de mi guayabal."

3.06.2007

Cultural Studies Conference in Jamaica / Conferencia sobre Estudios Culturales en Jamaica


7th International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference

Cultural Studies Initiative
University of the West Indies
Kingston, Jamaica


CALL FOR SESSIONS

Proposals are invited for SESSIONS at the 7th International
Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference, scheduled for July 3 to 7,
2008 in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean could well be regarded as one of the first
crossroads of the modern era, where Africa and Asia met Europe on
Amerindian soil. The conditions were a forced and bitter crucible. The
results of that encounter contributed not only to the making of the
modern western world but also to the dynamism that is central to all
the cultures of the Western Hemisphere.

Of Sacred Crossroads
Being a site of conquest, dislocation, crossings, enslavement
and rebellion, but also of memory and survival, hope of return,
culture-building, in-between-ness, and immense creativity and heritage,
the Caribbean is a relevant site for hosting the 7th International
Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference, under the theme Of Sacred
Crossroads.
Contemporary emphasis on materialism and consumerism as
measures of our humanity, arising from the unbridled excesses to which
science and technology have been sometimes put, is of growing concern,
putting under duress the intangibles embodied in the values by which we
live as human beings. Out of these concerns has sprung deepening
dialogue at the interface between science and spirituality. UNESCO?s
celebration of the intangible heritage of humankind is a timely
reminder that civilizations rise not only on great edifices, monuments
and artefacts that defy time, but also on those moments of ?livity?, or
human relationships, that last only as long as they are lived, without
which human life would have little meaning.

Of Sacred Crossroads captures many of these concerns in a
manner that allows for the broadest of interpretation and accommodation
across disciplines and forms?religion, art, dance, song, orature,
healing, re-creation, performance, ritual, belief systems, ethics,
globalization, communication, among others. Key themes for the
Conference include: Rituals of arrival and contact; Crossings?the art
of the crossroads; Spirituality and identity; Language rituals;
Globalization and the spirit; Indigenous spiritualities; Rituals of
conflict - rites of rebellion; Virtual realities; virtual
spiritualities; (Spiritual) Tourism; Rituals, substances and sacred
geographies; The spirit of music; Cultures of reconciliation;
Storytelling; Crossroad deities and divination; Geographies of the body
and spirit.


General areas of interest include:

- Body
- Identity and difference
- Media
- Gender and sexuality
- Popular culture
- Cultural industries
- Performance and gender
- Youth culture
- Religion and culture
- Nation states
- Power and knowledge
- New information technology
- Globalization and diaspora
- Nationalism and locality
- Consumerism and fetishism
- Culture and economy
- Fundamentalisms
- Cultural Studies pedagogy
- Policing the crisis
- Culture and ethics
- Critical methodologies
- Politics of opposition
- Cultures of everyday life
- Social and cultural theory
- The city
- Cultural policy
- Centre and periphery
- Space and culture
- Imagined communities


GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
The deadline for submission of session proposals is June 30,
2007. Please see the Session Organizer's Manual posted on the website
for information on length, format and guidelines for submission of
proposals. Please submit you session abstracts on our website at
www.crossroads2008.org.

THE VENUE
The 7th Crossroads Conference will be held at the University of
the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica, the largest of
the three UWI campuses. The Campus is situated in a suburb of the city
of Kingston, itself a cultural magnet, with excellent communications
and telecommunications systems, accessibility through two international
airports, and a highly developed road network.

The campus, with a student population of over 15,000, has a
rich tradition in hosting international conferences. Nestled in the
Hope Valley under the Blue Mountains, the campus is itself culturally
diverse, drawing on regional as well as international students and
boasting its own choir, steel band, dance group and rich nightlife.
There is accommodation in student Halls of Residence as well as the
Mona Visitor's Lodge, and interconnectivity including an extensive
wireless network is a feature.
Given Jamaica's appeal as a tourist destination we encourage
international participants to plan a vacation which can include
excursions to famous beaches in Negril, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay or
Portland. Various cultural and natural sites of interest include, in
Kingston, the Bob Marley Museum and the National Gallery of Art, and
elsewhere in the island the spectacular Dunn?s River Falls, the Blue
and John Crow Mountains National Park, Seville Heritage Park, and
Treasure Beach, among many others.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration information will be available by summer 2007.
Note: To avoid no-shows and guarantee the quality of all sessions, all
paper presenters will be asked to register before April 30, 2008.

CALL FOR PAPERS
- A General Call for Papers will be Issued in July 2007

For further details on the Conference
or on the Cultural Studies Initiative and Programme
at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus,
please email: crossroads_2008@yahoo.com



Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 2008:
www.crossroads2008.org
_________________________________

No comments: