[Bilimsel Haber] CfP: The Annual Fatih University Conference on Literary and Cultural Studies (May 16-17, 2008)

[Onur Inal]

- Call For Papers -
The Annual Fatih University Conference on Literary and Cultural Studies
E-motion: Sentiment and Technology
May 16-17, 2008
Istanbul, Turkey

Keynote Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Paula Bennett,
Southern Illinois University and Harvard University

emotion (noun): a strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or
relationships with others. [
] instinctive or intuitive feeling as
distinguished from reasoning or knowledge [
] ORIGIN mid 16th cent. 
(denoting a public disturbance): from French émotion, from émouvoir 
'excite', based on Latin emovere, from e- (variant of ex-) 'out' + movere
'move'. The current sense dates from the early 19th century. (The Oxford
Dictionary of English)

Why do we cry at the best and worst moments of our lives? Do men and women
laugh and cry over different things? Do humans have the same emotional 
reactions in hot or cold climates? Does the internet and cyperculture
influence our emotions? How is the neuroscientific fact that e-motion is
inextricably linked to physical movement and action translated into
technological progress, medicine and entertainment? How are emotions
managed, controlled, and manipulated?

Happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, anger, and fear: These six core
emotions that are biologically driven responses to stimuli are evident
across all cultures. Together with our feelings, which are culturally
reinforced interpretations of our emotions, they structure our daily
experiences, and are part of our personal and professional lives. But
emotions have also been the focus of scholarly interest in fields as varied
as sociology, psychology, anthropology, theology, ethics, neuroscience,
metaphysics, cultural studies, literature, arts, and technology.

Whereas William James tied emotions back to different bodily experiences,
and Charles Darwin believed in the cross-cultural universality of emotions,
sociologist Jack Katz defines emotions as "dialectical tensions between
doing and being done by interactions with others." Extending and questioning
such theories, we might inquire into the alleged universality of emotions as
well as into the link between the cultural work of sentiment and the impact
of technological motions.

The conference seeks to transcend both disciplinary boundaries and national
borders in a cross-cultural understanding of the theory and practice of
emotions. Fatih University's English Language and Literature and American
Culture and Literature departments invite speakers from a broad range of
disciplines to send proposals of 500 words for narrative, visual, and
theoretical presentations to either of the following organizers by 7 March
2008:

Verena Laschinger: vlaschinger at fatih.edu.tr
Ralph Poole: ralphpoole at fatih.edu.tr

Verena Laschinger
Assistant Professor of American Literature and Culture
Fatih University
Istanbul, Turkey