- Digital Dance Histories, Archives, and Documentation
- Post-Pandemic Dance Discourse
- Online Embodiment and New Ethnographic Approaches
- Practice-Research and Collaborative Research
- Technology and Digital Platforms in Dance making Processes
- Social Media, Trends, and Challenges
- Virtual Dance Festivals
- Digital Placemaking and Dance Communities
- Dance and AI
- Gender, Caste, Ethnicity, Nationality, and Race (Online and Offline)
- Dance and the Diaspora
- Pedagogical Transformations and Challenges
Amazon
Thursday, January 4, 2024
CFP: Two Day Symposium on #Routes beyond #Roots: #Indian #Performing #Arts and Virtual Culture(s) Dublin, Ireland- June 2024
CFP: Virtual International Conference on "Narrating Lives"- Storytelling, (Auto)Biography and (Auto)Ethnography: Rome- May 2024.
- Life Narrative in Historical Perspective
- Qualitative Research Methods
- Oral History, Memory and Written Tradition
- Journalism and Literary Studies
- Creative Writing and Performing Arts
- (Auto)Biographical Element in Film Studies, Media and Communication
- Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
- Narrative Medicine
- Storytelling in Education
- Ethics and Politics of Research
Friday, December 29, 2023
CFP: #Environmental #Racism and #Environmental #Casteism: A Reading of #African #American and #Indian #Dalit #Literature- #Springer Publications
Environmental injustice or Environmental discrimination or Environmental inequality occurs when a certain powerful and dominant group of people has a hold of environmental resources and the marginalized community is deliberately left to live on the leftovers or scarcity. This scarcity is a marker of the status of the marginalized groups/communities in the world. Nature never discriminates among its individuals because of race, caste, creed, class, gender, skin color, etc. However, power politics in the ‘world-society’ set-up leads to injustice and inequality of resources. The articulation of environmental injustice finds its articulation in literary spaces which forms an imperative focus of the various organizations and institutions and thus cannot be ignored. The present work explores and investigates the expression and articulation of environmental inequality in literature in the context of environmental racism and environmental casteism. Environmental racism and environmental casteism is a form of ‘institutional discrimination’ which leads to the domination of white/upper castes on the environmental resources and disposal of harmful waste in communities of colour and low castes.
Everyone has the right to enjoy the bounties of nature. One should not be distanced from fresh water and air because of skin colour, race, caste, class, gender or creed. Every government must take care of the basic needs of the citizens without being biased. Unfortunately, since they arrived in the New World, blacks have not only been exposed to political and social exclusion but also to environmental threats. Racist policies of the dominant white society ensured that blacks stayed in vulnerable neighbourhoods and localities from slavery till the present. On the other hand, whites have been enjoying more healthy and clean surroundings thereby giving birth to the idea of white being clean and black being dirty, as Carl Zimring puts it. Subsequently, blacks succumb to diseases, death, and disintegration, both physically and psychologically. After the enactment of civil rights, one comes across a new agitation rampant in American streets. This movement was largely organized by blacks along with other marginalized groups such as native Indians, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. These groups were demanding Environmental Justice. They argued that white America had not treated them well. Their neighbourhoods were converted into junkyards of industrial waste; consequently, their existence was at stake. They were fighting for political representation so that they could decide their fate. The protest aimed to stop the dumping of industrial waste due to which they and their children had become vulnerable to diseases and death.
African American writers demonstrate through their writings blacks struggle for the basic amenities of life which were not possible because of dirty and unhygienic environment. They, at times covertly and at other times overtly, demand and plead for Environmental Justice for their characters, thereby for the entire black community. They highlight how blacks thrive physically, materially, and spiritually once their vicinity is changed to a neat and clean surrounding.
The environmental movements that are popular at present are mostly Eurocentric and/or dominated by the concerns of whites. All the major environmental movements have somewhat marginalized the communities and people on the fringes of society, like blacks, Hispanics, and other ethnic groups, by focusing only on the mainstream Western culture. In recent times, there has been an attempt to provide a counter-narrative to Eurocentric environmental movements by writers and researchers like Carl Zimring, Robert Bullard, Luke Cole and Sheila Foster, Carolyn Finney, Dorceta Taylor, Harriet Washington, etc. Similarly, African American writers like Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Ishmael Reed, Fredric Doughlas, Alex Haley, etc., have also challenged the mainstream environmental movements through their writing—by unveiling the acts of environmental racism perpetrated against black communities.
Dalits in India form the most neglected and marginalized section in India because of ‘casteism’ and ‘caste system’. ‘Dalit’ is a Sanskrit word which means crushed, broken, oppressed, etc. It is a self-adopted term by the scheduled castes of India as this marginalized section of Indian society feels that terms like ‘Ati[1]Shudra’, ‘Scheduled Castes’ or ‘depressed classes,’ etc., connote ‘derogation’. According to Sukhadeo Thorat, the problem of Dalits is socio-cultural-political as: “they occupy a low position in the Hindu social structure; their representation in government services is inadequate; they are inadequately represented in the fields of trade, commerce and industry; they suffer from social and physical isolation from the rest of the community, and there is general lack of education development amongst the major section of this community” (Dalits in India 2). However, this social, cultural, and political marginalization forms an undeniable link with environmental casteism. Manual scavenging, cleaning the dirt and menial jobs are forced on Dalits due to caste divisions. Access to natural resources such as clean air, clean water, healthy living, etc., is denied to them which results in environmental casteism. Hence, the issue of Dalits is socio-cultural-political-ecological in nature. Many Dalits writers like Baby Kamble, Urmila Pawar, Bama, Viramma, Om Prakash Valmiki, Balbir Madhopuri, Sharankumar Limbale, Kancha Illaiah, Daya Pawar, Jyoti Lanjewar, Hira Bansode, etc., in their writings, have represented the Dalits’ socio-ecological derogation and lived experiences of discrimination because of environmental casteism. Many prominent Dalit leaders and reformers like Jyotirao Phule, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Periyar, etc., have found that caste ideology and caste structures give rise to environmental casteism and domination by the few. They worked towards better living conditions for Dalits persistently and relentlessly. Many critics like Joel Lee, Mukul Sharma, etc., have affirmed that Indian environmental movements and academic environmental histories are dominated by mainstream and are fixed in casteism which has overlooked the unfair distribution of natural resources. This results in environmental casteism faced by Dalits unaddressed both in literary as well as public discourse.
The edited book will be divided into two parts:
Part one will have the following sub-categories (The possible topics might include but are not limited to):
- African American environmentalism
- African American aesthetics and the environment
- Environment as African American solace
- African Americans and environmental injustice
- African Americans and the environmental crisis
- African American identity and the environment
- African Americans and eco-racism
- African American poverty and the environment
- African Americans, religion, and the environment
- African Americans, culture, and the environment
- African Americans and democratization of environmental resources
- African American leaders’ legacy and the environment
- African American women and the environment
Part two will have the following sub-categories (The possible topics might include but are not limited to):
- Dalit environmentalism
- Dalit aesthetics and the environment
- Environment as Dalit solace
- Dalits and environmental injustice
- Dalits and the environmental crisis
- Dalit identity and the environment
- Dalits and eco-casteism
- Dalit poverty and the environment
- Dalits, religion, and the environment
- Dalits, culture, and the environment
- Dalits and democratization of environmental resources
- Dalits leaders’ legacy and the environment
- Dalit women and the environment
The book aims to chart out the literary discourse around the sub-themes. Therefore, all these sub-themes are to be addressed through literature.
The work will be an edited book. Writers and activists, scholars, and academicians are invited to contribute their papers/articles for the project.
Abstracts (250-300 words) in English with a short bio note (50 words) as a Word document or pdf must be emailed to: shubhankukochar@outlook.com, by January 05, 2024.
The date has been extended to January 05, 2023
-Note: Springer has shown interest in publishing this book
Editors:
- 1. Name : Shubhanku Kochar (Ph. D)
Affiliation: Department of English, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka, India.
- 2. Name : Parveen Kumari (Ph.D)Affiliation: Department of English, Central University of Jammu, Jammu, India.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
CFP: International Conference on #Radical Thought in the #Anthropocene – #Theories & #Concepts of #Critical #Theory - University of Graz
CALL FOR PAPERS
radikalesdenken@uni-graz.at
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Call For Papers: #Virtual #Conference with Publication -International Conference on Indian Arts and Literature-2024
(March 9- 10, 2024)
Organized by
Aesthetix Journal of Indian Studies
In Collaboration With
California Institute of Integral Studies, USA
Government Brajalal College, Bangladesh
Venue: Virtual
Online Platform: ZOOM
Key Features
- Open Access
- Double-Blind Peer Review
- Plagiarism Check
- Systematic Archival and Preservation
- Standard Publication
- Aims and Scope of the Conference
Theme of the Conference
The rich heritage of Indian Arts and Literature from the prehistoric age to the present era is engraved on the geography and cultural landscape in entire South Asia and South-East Asia and it has influenced scholars from around the world as is evident from the scholarly contributions from well-known scholars like Max Muller and Sir William Jones to the contemporary scholars. However, the long duration of colonial rule infused an inferiority complex among the scholars back home, they stayed away from significant research, and Western Classics dominated Indian academic spaces. The First Aesthetix International Conference is aimed at motivating Indian academicians and scholars to take interest in the Indian Arts and Literature and take up research in this henceforth-neglected area. It is also aimed at providing a platform for interaction among the Indian Scholars and the International Scholars working in the field of Indology. The Conference invites original, unpublished research articles and scholarly papers from teachers, professionals, research scholars, independent researchers, and students studying at the postgraduate level on the following areas, but not limited to:
- Indian Classical Literature
- Indian Classical Theory
- Sanskrit Aesthetics
- Tamil Literature
- Shavite Literature
- Vaishnavite Literature
- Indian Architecture
- Indian Fine Arts
- Pali Literature
- Prakrit Literature
- Interdisciplinary Studies of Indian Arts and Literature
- Indigenous Arts and Literature of India
- Indian Theatre and Performances
- Paintings of India
- Literature and other Art forms in contemporary India
Important Dates
Publication of proceedings: The publication will start in June 2024 in Continuous Mode.
Registration Fee + Publication Fee: Rs 1000 (India). Foreign: USD 30
(Entire proceedings to be published in the Aesthetix Journal of Indian Studies)
Author’s Guidelines
Submit the abstract of your paper in about 200-300 words (Times New Roman, 12) with 5-6 Keywords. Use a separate attachment for this and do not include any personal data for double-blind peer review,
Include your personal details (name, affiliation, address, phone number, email id) in the body of the email.
Once your abstract is accepted you must submit the full paper before the last date for submission of full paper.
Finally, after the conference, you will have to submit full-length papers. Use the same email and do not use separate emails.
Articles should be written in an MS Word file following the latest edition of MLA style
Word Limits for the full paper: 3000-4500 words
Authors’ bio-note of around 50-60 words should be added at the end of the draft/full paper.
Send your scholarly articles to editor@indianstudies.net
For any query contact the Managing Editor at editor [AT] indianstudies.net or our WhatsApp no. +91-7047598085
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Call for Papers: Academic Conference on Terminator @40: Origins and Legacies
An academic conference hosted by The Centre for Film, Television and Screen Studies, Bangor University, Wales
18 & 19 June 2024
The Terminator franchise has left an indelible mark on popular culture. In 1984, James Cameron’s dark vision of the future created a cultural shock that continues to resonate to this day not only in cinema but also in literature, art, design, gaming, and critical theory and is even credited with having spawned several aesthetic trends, such as tech-noir. What started as a film has now become a multi-media universe consisting of sequels, a television series, web series, comics, video games, board games, novels and theme park rides. The franchise is also frequently cited in debates related to multinational corporations, robotics, biopolitics, post- and transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and nuclear apocalypse.
Hosted by the Centre for Film, Television and Screen Studies at Bangor University in North Wales, this symposium proposes to bring together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds – such as cultural and screen studies; the history of art, design, fashion and architecture; musicology; philosophy; political sciences; computer science and robotics; literature; urban and ecological studies; and race, gender, queer and sexuality studies - to explore The Terminator forty years after its release, explore its origins and legacies and consider its position within wider visual culture.
We welcome contributions from any perspective such as (but not limited to) the following:
Terminator and its origins, influences, production, publicity, reception and afterlife
Terminator and aesthetics
Terminator and biopolitics, posthumanism and urban planning.
Terminator and capitalism, neoliberalism, post-industrialism and multinational corporations
Terminator and design
Terminator and ecological studies
Terminator and fandom and ‘cult’
Terminator and gender
Terminator and James Cameron
Terminator’s multi-media franchise (sequels, television, web series, comic books, video games, board games, novels and theme park rides)
Terminator and psychoanalysis
Terminator and race, ethnicity and/or the “Other”
Terminator and robotics, artificial intelligence, cybernetic organisms, the transhuman and post-human
Terminator and sci-fi
Terminator and sexuality
Terminator and stardom
Terminator and tech noir, retrofuturism, future noir, and cyberpunk.
We are applying for funding to facilitate postgraduate and unwaged participation.
Please submit an abstract here by 1 March 2024.
For further information, please contact the organisers Professor Nathan Abrams (Bangor University) and Dr Elizabeth Miller (Bangor University) at TerminatorConference@gmail.com
Best,