[Discussion] The Power and Persistence of Stereotyping

[Gonul]

Proposal  The Power and Persistence of Stereotyping 11/27/03-11/28/03

In the early months of 2003, with international tension increasing and
opinion polarising, there has been a significant and fresh recourse to
the practice of national stereotyping.  This may be described as
additional recourse to and not return to because stereotyping has never
gone away and probably never will, all the time that difference exists
and identities are affirmed.  This conference proposes to address the
question of the persistence and persuasiveness of stereotypes and their
role in demonizing opponents and in the reductive presentation of
complex issues.  Although there have been many recent studies and
expos=E9s of the form and function of stereotyping in the modern world,
it is arguable whether they have had much effect outside academic
domains.  The places where public opinion is formed and democratic will
expressed still seem to trade in the same old (or slightly modified)
perceptions, under circumstances of pressure and conflict.  It is
therefore proposed to invite two keynote researchers of renown to give
45-minute lectures in their areas of established expertise, and to
organise the conference theme into three subsections.


  1.. Stereotyping : Theoretical and Historical Perspectives

In this section, the Conference will look to review and critique many of

the ideas circulating with respect to the representation of other
peoples and other nations. In addition various strategies of
stereotyping in the past may be analysed to establish continuities and
investigate fissures, articulations that mediate material practices and
impact directly upon the policies of governments and the imaginaries of
peoples.

      2.  Stereotyping in the Media

In this section, we will look at contemporary practices in the newsprint

and electronic media as they deal with an increasingly contested new
world order. Religious, racial, political and ideological differences
have widened alarming fault-lines in international relations, and the
media have at times struggled to accompany these changes, at other times

have appeared to be promoting them.  We will also focus on stereotyping
in the productions of the entertainment and culture industries,
activities at which the charge of promulgating simplistic images is most

often directed.


  3.. Stereotyping in Education

One of the front lines in the battle to develop a discerning and
informed citizenry is the classroom.  As educators, we must concern
ourselves with the messages that are being imparted in culture-teaching
and the foreign language classroom.  This involves looking at the texts
and course books currently in use to see what they have to say about the

values of others.  Are the things we study and set to study challenging
old ideas or merely repackaging them in a way that simplifies them and
is an enemy to real engagement with the issues?




Conference Enrolment Fee:            60 Euros

Conference participants are invited to submit abstracts of not more than

250 words outlining their proposals for papers and specifying which
section they wish to give it in, to arrive not later than 15th September

2003.  The closing date for enrolment in the conference is 31st October
2003Conference Languages:  English, French and Portuguese.



Presentations should not exceed twenty minutes. Abstracts should be sent

to:



Dr. Anthony Barker, Department of Languages and Cultures, Universidade
de Aveiro,

                                  3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal


E-mail: abarker@dlc.ua.pt

Fax: 00 351-234-370940