[Bilimsel Haber] 2008 ACS Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference, Jamaica

[Gonul Pultar]

*Final Call – _Deadline Extended to January 15, 2008_*

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*_7^th Association for Cultural Studies_*

*_International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference_*

*_University of the West Indies _*

*_Jamaica_**__*

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*Date: July 3-7, 2008*

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*CALL FOR PAPERS*

Proposals are invited for *PAPERS and a limited number of panel 
proposals *at the 7^th 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 7^th 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

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*GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF PAPERS*
Proposals on any key, general or related theme will be considered. 
Please submit abstracts of no more than 150 words in length via the 
website. *All abstracts are being accepted via the website at 
www.crossroads2008.org <http://www.crossroads2008.org/>. *The absolute 
deadline for submission of abstracts for consideration by the programme 
committee is *January 15,** 2008*.

 

Please note that accepted *SESSION* proposals can be viewed on the 
website. Potential participants are invited to view the list of accepted 
sessions and send abstracts to the Organizers of open panels if there is 
a fit with your paper. Additional sessions will be created based on the 
papers proposed.

 

Be sure to include the following information on the website where 
indicated: author(s), affiliation, email address, title of abstract, and 
body of abstract. We will acknowledge receipt of all paper proposals 
submitted.

If your paper proposal is accepted you will receive notification no 
later than February 1, 2008. Papers for presentation should be no more 
than 8 or 9 pages long and ready for a 20 minute (maximum) presentation 
during the conference.

 

*THE VENUE*

The 7^th 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.

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*REGISTRATION INFORMATION*

Registration information is posted on the website at 
www.crossroads2008.org <http://www.crossroads2008.org/>.

*_Note_*_:_ To avoid no-shows and guarantee the quality of all sessions, 
all paper presenters will be asked to register before April 30, 2008.

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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 at yahoo.com*

 

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