[ecrea] cfp: The Crisis of the Human Sciences

>Piers Smith Gulf University for Science and 
>Technology, Kuwait March 6-8, 2011 Conference: 
>The Crisis of the Human Sciences: False 
>Objectivity and the Decline of Creativity 
>Centralization and over-professionalization can 
>lead to the disappearance of a critical 
>environment capable of linking the disciplines 
>to the â¬Sreal world.⬝ The humanities need to 
>operate in a concrete cultural environment able 
>to influence procedures on a hic et nunc basis 
>and should not entirely depend on normative 
>criteria whose function is often to hide 
>ignorance behind a pretentious veil of 
>value-neutral objectivity. For example, in 
>sociology, the growth of scientism has 
>fragmented ethical categories and distorted 
>discourse between inner and outer selves. 
>Philosophy is suffering from an empty 
>professionalism current in many philosophy 
>departments in industrialized and developing 
>countries where boring, ahistorical, and 
>nonpolitical exercises are justified through 
>appeals to false excellence. In all branches of 
>the humanities absurd evaluation processes 
>foster similar tendencies as they create a 
>sterile atmosphere and prevent 
>interdisciplinarity and creativity. An invidious 
>technicization of theory plays into the hands of 
>technocrats. Due to the centralization of 
>editorial power in the hand of large university 
>presses of Anglophone countries, the content, 
>quality, and range of  modern publishing has 
>become only too predictable. How do people 
>working in the humanities respond to the crisis 
>in their respective disciplines? Papers 
>including either meta-scientific considerations 
>or concrete observations are welcome. Keynote 
>Speakers:       * Lewis Gordon (Temple 
>University)      * Richard Shusterman (Florida 
>Atlantic University)      * Muhsin Jassim 
>al-Musawi (Columbia University)         * 
>Khaldoun al-Naqeeb (Kuwait University) 
>Submissions: Proposal submissions are welcome 
>from scholars working in all fields of the 
>humanities and social sciences as long as the 
>proposals are directly related to the topic. A 
>250 word abstract along with a short 
>biographical note (max. 100 words) should be 
>submitted by using this Conference Website: 
>http://conferences.gust.edu.kw  Create an author 
>account and paste both abstract and bio-note 
>into the body of the text (do not attach files). 
>For all inquiries contact Ayman Bakr 
>(bakr.a /at/ gust.edu.kw) or Thorsten Botz-Bornstein 
>(Botz.T /at/ gust.edu.kw) Deadline for abstracts: 
>November 30, 2010 Papers should not exceed 3000 
>words (20 minutes reading time). For more 
>information contact the above persons. 
>Conference fee: Early bird (until December 15) 
>50 KD [¬1130] covering the costs of an opening 
>reception, a conference dinner, and 
>refreshments. After December 15: 60 KD [¬155].

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