Call For Papers: Interdisciplinary Conference, Duke (January 2010)

Call for Papers

Taking Up Space: An Interdisciplinary Conference

Hosted by Duke History Graduate Students with Support from the Sociology Department, Latino/a Studies, and the Women's Studies Program January 29, 2010 (Abstract Submissions due November 1, 2009)

A central feature of Western scientific thought originated by René Descartes and elaborated further by physicists and mathematicians has been a notion of space as a container within which objects exist and actions take place. Despite the widespread acceptance of all-encompassing mathematical and physical space as part of our inherited common sense, scholars have increasingly questioned its relevance for the spaces of human activity. They have explored other spaces, including literary space, social space, mental space, the space of the body, racialized and gendered spaces, cities, regions, oceans and the globe. They have drawn attention to the production of spaces, the power relations imbued within them, and various ways in which space can be productive, prohibitive or instrumental for human actors. There has also been renewed attention to scholarly spatial methodology regarding scale and the appropriate distance between the research and the researched.

We invite scholars across disciplines to submit papers for a one-day conference during which we will place into dialogue a wide variety of approaches to questions of space and consider their application to historical inquiry. We specifically encourage with works in progress or at an early stage in their research, including pre-dissertation graduate students, to apply. Drawing on diverse traditions, we hope to explore how to understand the production and productive capacity of sites, locations, scales, and geographies.

Submissions to the conference could address, but are by no means limited to, the following topics:

     o The production and erosion of particular spaces.

     o Lived spaces and hegemonic spaces.

     o Landscapes and their meanings.

     o The spatial constitution of identities, politics and knowledges.

     o Relations between Mathematical, physical, mental and social space.

     o Capitalist structures, creative destruction and alternative or oppositional 
       economic spaces.

     o Money, capital and the trend toward eliminating spatial differentiation.

     o Fixed investments in space.

     o Modern, premodern and postmodern spaces.

     o Mobility, territory, nationalism and community.

     o Geographic scales, social topography, cartography and globalization.

     o Ideologies of space.

     o Racial, class and gender power relations embodied in landscape.

     o Social movements and public space.

     o Environmental histories of natural and built environments and ecosystems.

     o Uneven development and disruptions of historical periodizations.

     o The history of science and technology.

     o Scholarly distancing and other spatial methodologies.

The conference will consist of panels organized around specific questions with a commenter. Please submit an abstract of no more than 350 words by November 1, 2009, to Patrick McElwee at pmm21@duke.edu. Those selected will be notified
by November 15, 2009. The conference will take place at Duke University on Friday, January 29, 2010.

Patrick McElwee
Duke University
Department of History
http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/history/grad/specialty.html

Ph.D. Application Workshop Tonight: 10/9

Ph.D. Application Workshop
Led by Professors Mrinalini Rajagopalan and Nina Hien

Friday, October 9th 5-7 PM
Draper Map Room

This workshop is a mini-orientation session geared towards students who are either considering a Ph.D. or those who are already in the early stages of the application process. It is also relevant to students who are interested in general information regarding doctoral degrees and those who need some guidance as to what they should be prepared for in terms of the application process. Some general issues that will be tackled are:

• How do I know if a PhD is right for me?
• Setting realistic expectations of the PhD process and future career trajectories.
• Choosing a department as well as a university that is a good fit for me. -What to expect in terms of the contents and deadlines for a PhD application.
• Using Draper as a resource for making decisions about a PhD and a career in academia.

We encourage all Draper students who are interested in future doctoral studies and have questions regarding the same to attend this workshop.

Draper Alumnus Non-Profit: Organization for Visual Progression Event, Tonight: 10/8

When Ben Foley graduated from Draper in 2008, he and a colleague began a Nonprofit called the Organization for Visual Progression (OVP), which is "dedicated to providing social justice organizations with opportunities to create and utilize visual media in their advocacy efforts." Though OVP is still only composed of its two founding members, they've been able to accomplish a lot over the last year: conducted video advocacy training in the Southern Philippines, collaborated with a Filipino NGO to produce a video documenting labor violations, and worked with a nonprofit law firm in NYC to produce an instructional DVD for people leaving prison to help them overcome employment discrimination against people with criminal records.

Tonight, OVP is hosting their first "friend-raiser/fund raiser" at the BRIC Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn Heights. More information is below:

(also see interactive info on the OVP site)

Thursday, October 8th from 7 to 10pm

BRIC Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn Heights

33 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

(718) 875-4047 (map).

We are presenting some of our latest video projects; there will be a private viewing of “Status Report,” an exhibition of contemporary artists that highlight Mexican immigration, the border, and labor rights injustice, music mixed by Ben Tausig, and … free wine!

Publication: Former Global Histories Faculty Fellow, Anupama Rao

Anupama Rao, a previous Draper faculty fellow in Global Histories, has published a new book. The Caste Question: Dalits and the Politics of Modern India (University of California Press) combines anthropology and history in a study of how India's Dalits (once known as untouchables) worked to overcome their stigmatization.

Call for papers - Sixth Annual Graduate Student History Conference at NC State

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Sixth Annual Graduate Student History Conference
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Riddick Hall, on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh, NC

The NC State History Graduate Student Association welcomes proposals
from graduate students for individual papers on any historical topic,
including public history, and any time period. Presentations will last
approximately fifteen minutes each, and each panel will be followed by
comments from area faculty, as well as a general discussion. Selected
papers will be published electronically in a conference proceedings.

If interested, please submit a 250-word proposal and a current CV.
Email submissions are preferred. Please send an email to
hgsaconference@gmail.com with your name, institution, and field of
specialization, and with the proposal and CV attached. Email submissions
are preferred.

Hard copy submissions may be sent to:

   North Carolina Graduate Student History Conference
   Dept. of History, Box 8108
   North Carolina State University
   Raleigh, NC 27695-8108

All proposals must be received by November 30, 2009.

Lunch will be provided for attendees that have preregistered at the
Conference website.

For more information, visit
http://history.chass.ncsu.edu/graduate/hgsa/conference.php, or send an
email to hgsaconference@gmail.com.

Best,
Laura Hepp Bradshaw
North Carolina State University Graduate Student Association Co-President