[csaa-forum] Call for Sessions - ACS International Crossroads 2008, Jamaica

[Melissa Gregg]

	Please distribute widely, noting that the general call for
papers will be released in July.
	 
	M
	
	
	 
	7th Association for Cultural Studies
	International Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference
	University of the West Indies
	Jamaica
	
	Date: July 3-7, 2008
	
	CALL FOR SESSIONS
	Proposals are invited for SESSIONS   at the 7th 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 7th 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
	
	GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
	The deadline for submission of session proposals is June 30,
2007. Please see the Session Organizer's Manual posted on the website
(www.crossroads2008.org <http://www.crossroads2008.org/> ) for
information on length, format and guidelines for submission of
proposals. Please submit all proposals via the website.
	
	THE VENUE
	The 7th 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, andTreasure
Beach, among many others.
	
	REGISTRATION INFORMATION
	Registration information will be posted at the website by summer
2007.
	Note: To avoid no-shows and guarantee the quality of all
sessions, all paper presenters will be asked to register before April
30, 2008.
	
	CALL FOR PAPERS
	A GENERAL CALL FOR PAPERS WILL BE ISSUED IN JULY 2007.
	
	

	 

	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
	
	
	 

ARC Postdoctoral Fellow
Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies
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The University of Queensland 
QLD Australia 4072
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http://cccs.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=16194&pid=16136


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