New York Metro American Studies Association Conference on Dirt (Dec. 4)

The New York Metro American Studies Association (NYMASA) is delighted to announce our annual conference

DIRT

8:30am-6pm
December 4th, 2010
St. John's University in Lower Manhattan
41 Murray Street

Dirt is among the most material but also the most metaphorical and expressive of substances. This conference will explore how people imagine, define, and employ the various concepts and realities of dirt. What does it mean to call something dirty? How do we understand dirt and its supposed opposite, cleanliness? How do we explain the points at which we draw the line between clean and dirty, what we embrace and what we refuse to touch? Drawing on multiple disciplines we will uncover and foreground the (often unconscious) centrality of the metaphors and actualities of dirt to U.S. cultures, values, and lived experiences.

Registration forms can be found at www.nymasa.org. Registration is $20, $10 for students/unwaged. For more information contact nymasadirt@gmail.com.


Sarah E. Chinn
English Department
Hunter College, CUNY
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065

sarah.chinn@hunter.cuny.edu
(212) 772-5178