Call for papers: Queer Studies Easter Symposium

9 April - 14 April, 2009
Mexico City
Conference Languages: English, Castilian, German, French and Nahuatl
Conference Homepage:
http://enkidumagazine.com/eventos/qses/intro_en.htm
Deadline for submission of paper proposals: 15. November 2008

The International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS), AIDSinCULTURE.org and Enkidu Magazine in Mexico City invite the global community to a vibrant and exciting multi-disciplinary, multi-lingual and multi-cultural Queer Studies Easter Symposium in Mexico City in April, 2009. In 2009, the Queer Studies Easter Symposium will take place for the third time. The conference continues the tradition established by the previous held events in this cycle which has developed into an annual academic tradition in Mexico City, bringing together scholars from all over the world to share and exchange their research, experiences and ideas in a truly multicultural, multilingual and interdisciplinary academic environment.

The conference aims at exploring recent developments in theory and method in Queer studies as well as the broad themes of sexual diversities through time and space, gender constructions, sex-gender subjectivities, and sexual identity constructions from a wide and diverse range of perspectives.

More than 250 scholars from more than 30 countries have participated in the previous editions of the Symposium and the conference promises to be equally diverse, multi-cultural and multi-lingual in 2009.

The program will be organized in a large number of special thematic sessions and sub-conferences covering a highly diverse series of topics extending from, for example, a special session on "Sexual Diversities in the Islamic World" to "The History of GLBT Activism", "Sexual Diversities and Disabilities", "Traditional sexualities and western gender and sexual identity constructions" and "Ethnographic studies of eroticism & fetishism".

Of particular interest in the Queer Studies Symposium 2009 are contributions that explore Queerness and Border crossing from a wide range of different perspectives as well as representations and social constructions of sexual diversities through time and space. Wide and diverse interpretations of the conference themes ranging from the predictable to the surprising are encouraged.

Possible themes and topics might include:

- Colonisation of the body and the mind
- Representations of indigenous sexualities in colonial and postcolonial discourse
- Ethnopornography
- Silence and subtext
- Historical representations of alternative sexualities
- The historiography of homosexualities and sexual identity formations
- Sexualities in transition
- The role of culture in gender identity and sexual identity formations.

Papers are welcomed on virtually all related topics and themes, independently of time, period and geographical focus. Also papers of comparative phenomena will be considered.

Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially appreciated since all these topics in themselves stretch across several disciplines: history, cultural studies, literary studies, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, pedagogy, ethnology, anthropology, sociology...

The conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and dialogue.

Graduate and postgraduate students are encouraged to attend and present papers.

CHICS' academic conferences are characterized by traditional paper presentations in panel sessions with three speakers each, followed by lively exchange, dialogue and interaction between speakers and audience in many small groups, workshops and seminars rather than by formal plenary sessions. Our conferences provide a forum for diverse voices from all over the world, to come together and make connections across linguistic, cultural and academic barriers.

The conference sessions will be conducted in Spanish and English. Some sessions will be bilingual and conducted in both languages with interpreters. Other sessions will have simultaneous translations. Many sessions will be conducted with interpreters for sign language (on request).

* Paper and panel proposals

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in English, Castilian, Nahuatl, German or French by 15. November 2009. The conference languages will be English and Castilian.

Papers should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10 pages). Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and poster sessions will be considered on request. Typically, a panel of academic papers includes 3 (maximum 4) speakers and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2 hours allowing for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes for questions and discussion.

* Proposals for panel sessions

Proposers should submit:

(1) Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words),

(2) Paper titles,

(3) Abstracts for each paper (500 words),

(4) Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150 words),

(5) Institutional affiliation and address for each participant,

(6) Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in finding speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers for your panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would like us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please send us a proposal by e-mail to info@enkidumagazine.com

* Proposals for individual papers

Abstracts are to be submitted by 15. November 2008, along with the presenter's name, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. It is recommended to use the form here: http://www.enkidumagazine.com/eventos/qses/registration_en.htm , when submitting an abstract. However, abstracts will also be accepted as e-mail attachments to info@enkidumagazine.com .

All correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email. You will be notified by the 15. January 2009 whether your proposal has been accepted or rejected.

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted within few days. If you do not receive a reply from us within a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to resend your abstract and resubmit your registration form, and if possible, suggest an alternative e-mail address. In particular delegates using hotmail or yahoo accounts to receive conference related e-mails often experience problems receiving conference information by e-mail.

E-mails from the conference organisers are often delivered to your spam folder and not to your inbox, unless you remember to add the following e-mail addresses: info@enkidumagazine.com and liowlb@enkidumagazine.com to your safe-list. The first address is the general e-mail address of Enkidu Magazine and will be used to send conference newsletters and general information. The second, is the e-mail address of the academic coordinator of the conference and will be used for individual communication with delegates.

* Disabled Participants

We are pleased to announce that printed conference materials that will be distributed during the conference, also will be available in large print or Braille on request. If you require sign language interpretation during your session, or you would like to distribute handouts or other materials in Braille during your presentation, please indicate this in the registration form.

* Registration Form for Participants with disabilities: http://www.enkidumagazine.com/eventos/qses/reg_disca.htm

Participants with disabilities are recommended to fill in this form if they require any special support or assistance during the event or during social and cultural activities before or during the conference.

* EXHIBITORS, PUBLISHERS AND ARTISTS:

Artists are welcome to suggest exhibitions and displays of art during the conference.

Organisations, universities and publishers are welcome to sign up for information stands at the conference center.

The following information is required by artists, publishers and other exhibitors during the conference:

1) Technical Description of the information stand or artwork with indications of technical requirements for their presentation, the size and extension of the individual artworks to be presented.

2) Estimated Insurance value of the artworks

3) One image of a representative sample of artistic work from the exhibitions can be sent by e-mail to the conference organizers in the format tiff or jpg.

4) Curriculum Vitae of artist (or organisation).

5) Description of Exhibition (300 - 500 words).

6) Short bio of artist (or organisation).

* CULTURAL AND SOCIAL PRE-CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES

The academic sessions with formal paper presentations will take place between 9. April and 14. April, 2009. In the 2 weeks before the conference, we will organise a number of cultural and social activities for conference delegates and we hope that many international delegates will consider arriving in Mexico City some days before the conference and participate in these activities, which will include a guided tour to Teotihuacan, a city walk through colonial and Aztec Mexico City, and an exploration of the floating gardens of Xochimilco.

In addition conference delegates with name badges will be given discounts and sometimes free access to various theatre plays, concerts, film screenings and other events before and during the conference. The final program for the cultural and social pre-conference activities will be published on the conference web site in February, 2009 and will be announced also in the conference newsletter, which will be distributed by e-mail in the months before the conference.

Centro Cultural Enkidu
http://www.enkidumagazine.com
Calle Ezequiel Montes #37, int. 2
Colonia Tabacalera
06030 Mexico D.F.
Mexico
Email: info@enkidumagazine.com
Visit the conference website at http://enkidumagazine.com/eventos/qses/intro_es.htm