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Saturday, March 16, 2024

CFP: International Conference on #Bengal and its Neighbors: From Early Modern to Contemporary South Asia -Oct 2024.

 The aim of this panel is to initiate a broader dialogue with regards to the Bengal region, as it evolved from the early modern era — then, a region being ruled a motley of Sultanates with periodic eruption of Mughal expeditions against the independent Sultans — to an important resource extraction zone during the colonial era. Eventually, the region evolved into a contested terrain during the anti-colonial movement in the Twentieth Century that pitted two distinct nationalist projects against one another, as the post-colonial future of the region’s heterogeneous ethnic, linguistic and religious communities were being decided. Fast forward to the Partition, Bengal’s religious fault-lines became exposed, as the Muslim majority regions became part of Pakistan, while the Hindu dominated Western regions became part of India. 

However, this flared up communal fragmentation does not fully encapsulate the efforts undertaken by political forces, including the left-leaning ones, to oppose communalism’s impact on the widening gap between Hindus and Muslims. Interestingly, an echo of this anti-communal nation-building imperative can be traced in the movement leading up to the creation of Bangladesh, and, subsequently, the inscribing of the principles of nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism in its founding constitution draw up in 1972 following its break-up from Pakistan in 1971. The country experiences coups and countercoups in the late 1970s and early 1980s that had shacked its attempt to build a new society out of the ruins of Partition. 

Moreover, the wider Bengal region has experienced further tensions due to the acceleration of the climate crisis, onset of neoliberal globalization, and new forms of social divides along caste, class, ethnicity, and religious lines in the recent years. Therefore, it would be more than useful to interrogate the region from a broad historical perspective so that dialogues can be initiated to understand the wider implications of today’s crises as well as the traces of the past in the Bengal region’s turbulent present. 

With an aim to investigating the various traditions of resistance, in literary writing, oral and public culture, plastic and visual arts, to dominant ideologies of nation, class, religion, and gender, the esteemed panelists seek to engage with the following questions in order to understand the complex changes in the region from a broader perspective: 

  • How can we address the influences of various cultural forces — Arab, Persian, Indic, and European — in a primarily agrarian region?
  • How can we reconceptualize the major changes that occurred in the region as it transitioned from the colonial era to the postcolonial present? What are some of the major outcomes of this transition including the Permanent Settlement, the Bengal famine of 1943 and the creation of the successor three nation-states of British India impacted the region? 
  • How is the region shaped by political changes such as the solidification of Hindu nationalism in India, the India-China rivalry to extend regional influence, as well as the ethnic tensions in the bordering countries such as Myanmar? 
  • How can the region’s longue durĂ©e shifts be addressed from an interdisciplinary angle? What are the stakes of bringing scholars together who explore the Bengal and its neighboring region from a range of disciplinary angles including anthropology, history, literature and religion among others?      
Contact Information

Please submit abstracts of 250-300 words and a brief bio to the organizers, Auritro Majumder, Assistant Professor of English, University of Houston, amajumder@uh.edu &  Asif Iqbal, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Oberlin College, aiqbal@oberlin.edu by 30 March, 2024. 

Contact Email: aiqbal@oberlin.edu

Friday, March 15, 2024

CFP: International Conference on Understanding Authoritarianism/Fascism in South Asia -Nov 2024

 We are proposing a panel on “Understanding Authoritarianism/Fascism in South Asia” at the 52nd Annual Conference on South Asia, organized by the South Asia Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

While South Asia, a diverse and dynamic region, has witnessed various forms of governance throughout its history, in recent times, concerns have been raised about the rise of populism and/or authoritarianism. This panel seeks to explore the nature of fascism/authoritarianism in this region. Is the nature of fascism/authoritarianism the same in this region compared to Western/European counterparts? In response to Ramin Jahanbegloo's question "Is there an Indian fascism?" Ashis Nandy argues, “Indian civilization, which has no direct experience of that particular version [European] of authoritarianism and has always worked with ill-defined, open ended concept of evil, finds it more difficult to deal with various modern versions of authoritarianism” (Nandy 2006). 

This panel invites theoretical and/or empirical research that critically examines the features (distinct or otherwise) of authoritarianism/fascism in the South Asian context and beyond. We aim to identify and analyze historical antecedents contributing to the emergence of authoritarianism and to explore the socio-cultural factors influencing the development and sustenance of authoritarian regimes. Simultaneously we plan to investigate the role of technology, media, civil society, developmentalist narratives, nationalist discourse, discourse of national security and so on in shaping and reinforcing authoritarian tendencies. 

We invite 200–300 word abstracts with a short bio (100 words) on topics including but not limited to: 

  • Authoritarianism/Fascism in South Asia (Any historical moment to now) 
  • Biopolitics
  • Manufacturing the consent 
  • Nation-building and Authoritarianism 
  • Extra-judicial killings 
  • Resisting Authoritarianism (past or present) 
  • Silencing the narratives
  • Radical Alternatives 
  • Democracy and Populism
  • Anti-Authoritarian Political Thoughts in South Asia
  • Secular/religious authoritarianism
  • Vote Rigging to "Dummy" election (in the context of Bangladesh)
  • Politics of Propaganda


Please send your abstract and short bio along with any questions, to zehsan@wisc.edu 

Submissions are due by March 28, 2024.

Accepted papers will be notified by April 05, 2024.

Contact Information

Zunayed Ehsan, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

Contact Email
zehsan@wisc.edu

Thursday, March 14, 2024

CFP: Listening in Many Tongues: Multilingual Interpretive Communities and Acts of Translation in Early Modern South Asia -Oct-2024

 Recent scholarship on South Asia has exemplified the importance of drawing on multilingual sources as well as multi-disciplinary approaches - reading, listening, and visualising the vernacular and the cosmopolitan in conversation, rather than through hierarchical relationships. The overlapping and multidirectional networks of patronage and production have led not only to the creation of new genres of text and performance but also to the articulation of pre-existing traditions within new intellectual milieux and expanding communities of contact and exchange. What has emerged, following the scholarship of Francesca Orsini, Aditya Behl, and Barry Flood, amongst others, is the understanding of translation as a process of transformation and constant reinterpretation, a “dynamic form of production” (Flood 2007, 107) which translates and reinterprets aesthetic categories of, for instance, music and literature in new and constantly shifting contexts.

Undoubtedly, and building upon the pioneering work of Sheldon Pollock, a focus on ideas and modes of translation across “cosmopolitan” and “vernacular” language models has proliferated scholarship on early modern South Asia. In particular, Francesca Orsini’s scholarly intervention has encouraged us to investigate the ‘multilingual locals’ implied in areas of such contact and exchange. While using this emphasis on translation as a jumping-off point, this conference invites papers on the multivalent methods of translation in medieval and early modern South Asia - methods by which various interpretive communities sought equivalences, reinterpretations, and transcreations between and across literary and performative genres.

This conference will seek to place scholars working across fields, languages, and geographies on ideas of translation in conversation, such as those concentrating on Ismaili and Sufi studies in Persian and South Asian vernaculars, or Jain and Apabhramsa texts in translation, or across Arabic, Malayalam, and sites in South India. Given the scholarly remit of the South Asian Studies Unit here at the IIS, we particularly invite papers focusing on Ismaili and other Shi'i-related contexts in South Asia.

We invite abstracts of 250-300 words by the 19th of April, 2024, emailed to SASconference@iis.ac.uk along with a short (ca. 100 words) bio. Speakers will also be invited to contribute to a subsequent edited volume, to be published with the IIS South Asia Studies Series.

Contributions are invited on topics including (but not limited to):

·     Processes of vernacularisation, translation, and reinterpretation

·     Multilingual literary communities

·     Cross-cultural encounters

·     Music, poetry, and devotion in South Asian Islam

·     Isma’ili, Shi’i, and Quranic studies in South Asia

·     Vernacular devotional expression within mystical communities in South Asia

·     Networks of literary circulation

·     Poetic translation and reinterpretation

·     Hindu-Muslim philosophical encounters

A small number of stipends are available for scholars with limited access to institutional funding.

 

Conference convenors:

Dr William Hofmann, Research Associate in South Asian Studies (IIS), 

Ayesha Sheth (University of Pennsylvania), and 

Hussain Jasani, Head - South Asian Studies Unit (IIS)

Venue: Hybrid (The Aga Khan Centre, London + Online)

Dates: October 21-22, 2024

Contact Information

William Rees Hofmann (Institute of Ismaili Studies)

Ayesha Sheth (Upenn)

Hussain Jasani (Institute of Ismaili Studies)

SASconference@iis.ac.uk

Contact Email
SASconference@iis.ac.uk

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

CFP: ICSSR Sponsored Three International Conference Appropriate Teaching Methodologies in Interdisciplinary Contexts: Mapping Sociolinguistic Diversity (Hybrid Mode)-DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY-May 2024.



Conference Theme:

Teaching methodologies and methods have a significant impact on the learning outcomes of students. The current language learning theories, formulated within the monolingual context of English as a Native /Second/Foreign Language lack adequate consideration for diversity language education and sociolinguistic dimensions related to digital-divide, resources & infrastructure, access, classroom size, bi-literacy, bilingualism, multilingualism, rural-urban divide, teacher-student ratio, medium of instruction,among others. The present conference aims to highlight these challenges faced by ESL and content subject learners in the current educational system. The intricate sociolinguistic dynamics that exist within classroom interactions are influenced not only by pedagogic variables but also by broader social and cultural aspects that are ingrained in institutional and environmental settings.

This conference aspires to encourage various stakeholders to rethink Appropriate Methodology, not simply in terms of best practices but also by taking into account the dynamics of diversity education based on equitable opportunities. Some of the primary questions that immediately crop up here are: Can appropriate teaching methodology provide greater access to equitable opportunity of learning? If yes, how can we make such teaching practices socially relevant and inclusive? How can these practices prompt cross-cultural communication in a multicultural setting? Also, how can the class be shaped as learner-centred to cater to the diverse communicative needs beyond the classroom? .


The objectives of the conference would be twofold: firstly, it would aim to focus on developing critical thinking skills and promote cultural exchange by setting a discourse around it and refocusing our attention towards inclusivity, sustainability and social justice. Secondly, it would try to put forth recommendations to various stakeholders-policy makers, textbook writers, material designers administrators, educators to incorporate necessary methodological changes that would help bridge learning gaps taking into consideration the multiplicity and complexity of classroom interaction and methodology of content subjects as well. The conference seeks to rethink how English can be taught in diverse ESL settings, encompassing socially, linguistically, and economically disadvantaged populations against the backdrop of learning crisises and overdetermined contexts (NEP, 2020; WDR, 2018; GEMR, 2021 and SDG4, 2015).
Keywords: Teaching methodologies, ESL learners, Sociolinguistic Diversity, Inclusivity, Cross-cultural communication


CONFERENCE THEMES INCLUDES BUT NOT LIMITED TO :
1. Sociolinguistic Competence in the ESL Classroom: Agenda for future research
2. International English in its Sociolinguistic contexts
3. Diversity and Translanguaging in Language Education: Methodological challenges
4. Constructivist Approaches to Teaching
5. Review of curricula: Syllabus and Materials Designing, Appropriate Methodology and Assessment: Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Education Levels(PSTL)
6. Methodology in a Technological Environment
7. Advances in AI Technology and Methodology
8. Technology-based Strategies and Diverse Methodological Practices
9. Open Education Resources, Selection & Adaptationand Methodology
10. Mainstreaming ESL Teaching Methodology for Equity Concerns
11. Literacy Education for Marginalized EBLs’ (Emergent Bilingual Learners) Social, Cultural and Academic Inequities
12. Teacher Education for Inclusive Pedagogy (PSTL)
13. Policy Perspectives, Practice and ELT Planning: Methodological Challenges
14. Cross-cultural and Methodological Options in Second language pedagogy
15. Teaching Literature and Appropriate Pedagogy (PSTL)
16. Instructional Methodology of Language / Literature Teaching (PSTL)
17. Appropriate Pedagogical Strategies and Second Language Pedagogy: Speaking and Writing
18. Age/Grade Appropriate Pedagogy: Literature and Language Perspectives (PSTL)
19. Making Sense of Methodologies: BANA vs. TESEP
20. NEP (2020) and Appropriate Teaching Methodologies (PSTL)
21. Indian Knowledge System, Teaching of Indian Languages and English language: NEP 2020
22. Diverse Contexts of Methodology , Communication Strategies and Institutional Practices
23. Indian College Teachers’ / Learners’ Beliefs about Pedagogy (PSTL)
24. Methodological Constraints, Capacity Building and Teacher Development (PSTL)
25. Language Diversity into Content-based Instruction (CBI) Methodology- Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts, Sciences, Medicine, Agriculture, Law, Engineering and Tech, Commerce & Management, Foreign Languages, Modern Indian Languages: Policy and Practices (PSTL)
26. Writing Across the Curriculum (content based approaches)
27. Teaching and ‘otherness’
28. Teaching and Spaces
29. Teaching Language as ‘affirmative sabotage’
30. Disability Studies: Language Learning & Teaching/ Teacher Education
31. CELTA/ DELTA Methodology
32. TESOL/TESL Methodology
33. Assessment and Methodology
34. Learning Crisis, Learning Deficits and Methodology
35. Methodology for Environment Education and Language Instruction
36. ESP: English for Business/ EAP/EST
PS: Participants are advised to stick to the themes given above for 



Abstract submission.
Abstract Submisson Deadline: March 27, 2024
Last Date for Registration : April 12, 2024.
Conference e-mail Id: ic.appmethodologyamueng24@gmail.com


For More details: https://www.amu.ac.in/department/english/seminar-conference-workshop

Sunday, March 10, 2024

CALL FOR A CHAPTER FOR THE BOOK SPACE, IDENTITY AND LITERATURE: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES





Authentic, scholarly and unpublished research papers are invited from academicians and writers for publication in an edited volume. The volume will be published with an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) by a reputed National publisher. Authors are requested to strictly follow the submission guidelines mentioned herewith in their papers. Only electronic submission via email will be accepted for publication. The proposed title of the volume is SPACE, IDENTITY AND LITERATURE: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
Concept note-
In the realm of literature Space is a very vast area as it covers various spaces like cultural space, mental space, ideological space, political space, gender space, psychological space etc. Space is obviously a multidimensional concept. Space here is meant not in literal way but it encompasses various dimensions. When we will try to define space in literal way it is found that Homi K Bhabha in his The Location of Culture used the term third space while describing the hybridity in postcolonial literature. According to Bhabha the third space is a mode articulation, a way of describing a productive and not merely reflective space that engenders new possibility. It is an interruptive, interrogative and enunciative (Bhabha). After that Henri Lefebvre talks about space taking it to another level. He categorizes space in three ways- perceived space, conceived space and lived space (Lefebvre). After that comes Edward Soja who draws on Lefebvre to develop his theories on space but he extends the understanding of spatiality in several ways that have proved valuable in this study, especially to our understanding of lived space. He spells out the importance of positions that are simultaneously centred and marginalised. Under the heading of third space, he incorporates some of the feminist and post-colonial criticisms of postmodern geographies (Soja) by embracing issues articulated in the works of bell hooks and Gillian Rose, among others.
At the same time through the politics of Identity will encompass the way in which characters are presented, depicted in these selected novels as well as how one has to lose his or her identity, what are the reasons behind this loss of identity and what types of crises they have to face after losing the identity. After losing identity one has again to rebuild the identity in new land, new background and in new way. This remaking of identity with the change of space is something very difficult to cope with, to manage and to adjust with. Naturally in this process what happens is that one’s settled, established life turn to be unsettled.

Sub Topics:
Colonial Legacy and Postcolonial Identity
Urbanization and Globalization
Partition and Displacement
Gender and Identity
Diasporic Identities
Language and Identity
Intersectionality of space and identity
Any other related to space, identity and literature


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Files must be in Microsoft Word format following MLA 8th or 9th Edition, carrying a self-declaration that it is an original work and has not been published/ sent for publication anywhere else.
Font and Size: Times New Roman 12, Title must be in 14 point size, bold.
Word Limit: Minimum 2500 and maximum 4500 words including abstract and keywords.
Works cited should be included in the manuscript and not in separate document.
A brief bio-note of 150 words of the respective authors should be attached towards the end of full paper.
Authors are requested to submit their manuscript to
cfpforspaceandidentity@gmail.com on or before 15th April 2024.Ă˜
A fee of Rs. 1000 will be chargeable after the selection of paper against which each contributor will get a complimentary copy.
The book will be published from Authors Press Publisher or Orient Longman Publisher
For any other information do mail to cfpforspaceidenity@gmail.com or call 8617405478(WA)/ 9476142868
Editor
Bhaskar Ch Sarkar
Assistant Professor of English
S.R. Fatepuria College
Beldanga
Murshidabad

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Call for Papers: Special Issue: ‘Diasporas in Dramatherapy’-2024

 



This Special Issue attempts to highlight the voices of dramatherapists with lived experiences in the diaspora, as well as those of marginalized practitioners who are underrepresented due to their cultural, gender, political, racial, religious or ethnic belonging (or not belonging). This issue’s purpose is to evidence dramatherapy practice in the context of diaspora, to celebrate the voices of those inhabiting the diasporic space, and to document the influence of these unique experiences in drama therapy practice. 

diaspora usually brings to mind a group of people who have been displaced, dispersed, or exiled from their homeland. From its Greek etymology, the term denotes ‘dispersal’, literally referring to ‘the scattering of the seed’. Thus, being part of a diaspora is generally construed as inheriting a relationship with identity that is intrinsically bound to communal experiences of cultural, political, and racial displacement. A diasporic healing may involve finding belonging, processing grief, and acknowledging the impact of generational and collective traumas. However, the dispersal journey may also be thought of as initiating a movement, for instance, by creating diasporic spaces through cultural practices. In this sense, the Special Issue is an invitation to reflect on diasporic aspects of dramatherapy in general.

Some of the topics that we are inviting contributors to engage with include: Transgenerational lens in relation to mental health and dramatherapy; diaspora and the body; displacement; identity, sexuality, spirituality, religion, human rights, race and racism, culture, diversity, and representation in connection to diaspora; mental wellness and self-determination; the relationality of whiteness and diaspora; othering; the forced migration of dramatherapists from face-to-face practice to online work; belonging and identity; kinship; uncertainty and diaspora. Authors are encouraged to be mindful of what may emerge from the complexity around displacement, identity and intersectionality.

The context of diaspora is valuable to the field of dramatherapy and of psychotherapy at large, as it acknowledges the nuance of collectivist cultures, as well as individual experiences often overlooked or underrepresented by dominant western, European, and colonial frameworks. A dedicated body of work in this field may provide a space for individuals to become acquainted with previously unrecognized common patterns, within a self-identified diaspora. Prospective authors are invited to explore their own lived experience or locate themselves when sharing clinical work in relation to their clients and practice. This call seeks to provide an inclusive platform to honour the sacredness inseparable from the backgrounds inhabited by clients and clinicians under the theme of diaspora. Contributions are welcome in the forms of:

·full-length scholarly articles;

·reflections from practice;

·interviews;

·reviews of performances, art, literature, films etc.;

·book reviews; and

·creative contributions.

Contributors are invited to consult the journal’s Notes for Contributors, and to follow the Ethical Guidelines laid out on Intellect’s website: https://www.intellectbooks.com/ethical-guidelines

Contact Information

Taylor Mitchell

Contact Email
taylorrgmitchelldramatherapy@gmail.com

Friday, March 8, 2024

CALL FOR PAPERS: Special Issue on #Gender and #Climate Justice- Atlantis Journal

Special Issue: Gender and Climate Justice


Co-edited by Lori Lee Oates (Memorial University of Newfoundland) and Sritama Chatterjee (University of Pittsburgh)

This special issue of Atlantis Journal takes an intersectional approach to gender and climate justice. We invite work that explores a range of topics, including but not limited to:


• What should climate justice look like for women, trans people, and non-binary people?

• What is the role of masculinity in the climate crisis?

• What is ecofeminism in the contemporary world and what is its role in climate justice? How does ecofeminism relate to queer justice for the environment?

• What do queer and trans ecologies look like at present? How is this limiting for climate justice? What should they look like?

• What does disaster planning for the elderly and disabled look like? What should it look like to achieve true climate justice?

• How do historical colonial patterns of gender and racial inequality persist into the present and what does this mean for the climate crisis? Where are the intersections between race and gender?

• What are the links between climate justice movements and reproductive freedom activists? What should they be?


• What is petroleum patriarchy and where does it exist? How can it be addressed? Will a transition off fossil fuels be sufficient to address it?

• What are the limits of the politics of “the Anthropocene” for climate justice?

• How are gender and climate justice reflected in literature and arts?

• What kind of pedagogies are necessary to address gender and climate justice?

This call invites individuals to submit research articles (up to 7,000 words), literary writing (up to 3,000 words), and book reviews (up to 1,000 words). The editors are particularly interested in hearing from scholars and writers from the global south, Indigenous communities, queer and trans scholars, and those who engage with feminist or environmental activism. We envision this special issue as a forum both for acknowledging the urgency of the situation and presenting solutions from voices that are often excluded from the conversation. 

Submission Deadline: May 1,2024.

Please read full submission guidelines on our website before submitting.


https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/index

atlantis.journal@msvu.ca

Katherine Barrett (Managing Editor)