[ecrea] Cultural Studies Association 2016 Conference

Annual Conference
2016 Cultural Studies Association (CSA) Conference
Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Cultural Studies Association (US)
Villanova University, Villanova, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2-5 June, 2016


2016 Theme: Policing Crises Now


The Cultural Studies Association (CSA) invites proposals from its current
and future members for participation in its fourteenth annual meeting.
Proposals on all topics of relevance to cultural studies are welcome, with
priority given to proposals that critically and creatively engage this
year's highlighted theme.

The theme, Policing Crises Now, is prompted by and departs from the rich
and diverse innovations and provocations of Policing the Crisis (1978), a
groundbreaking work generated by a collective of scholars, including and
facilitated by Stuart Hall. Those innovations and provocations include the
collective nature of the research, the conjunctural/structural mode of
analysis, the attention given to race, gender and sexuality in
political-economic dynamics, as well as the analysis of intertwined
statistical representations, media representations, legal proceedings and,
of course, policing by police, as a response to a “crisis of hegemony.”

Taking up Policing Crises Now, in the current conjuncture, requires fresh
theorization both of policing, in light, especially, of the potential
elasticity of the metaphor, and of crisis in light of its diverse
deployments in critical analysis, dominant political-economic practice,
and popular culture. By pluralizing crises, we aim to open the scope of
inquiry at this conference to include the full range of social, cultural,
natural, political, and economic phenomena to which the term crisis has
been attached. We also aim, under this rubric, to develop conversations
engaged during our last conference about the structure of university work
and employment, the ways knowledge production is constrained and enabled
by austerity politics, neoliberal entrepreneurialism, the prominence of
debt and risk, and the university as a site of policing of thought and
political activism. It is our hope that this conference both builds from
and enables collective knowledge production and research practices.

Topics that might be addressed include but are not limited to:

Collective research methodologies
Securitization, as deployed in financial and international
relations/military/police contexts, and the relation between those uses
Risk, as deployed vis-a-vis individualized responsibility for physical
danger, “at risk” populations, and as a central component of economic
praxis
The NAACP journal, The Crisis, and its editor W.E.B. DuBois, especially
their role in broadening the struggle against racial injustices
Debt as policing practice and/or debtor as moralized subject position
Financial “crises” in the US, UK, Greece, Iceland, or other specific
locations
Precarity, its locations and impacts, ranging from the minutiae of labor
contracts to its impacts on social reproduction.
Policing of national borders against migration/refugees (in Europe now,
but also many other times and locations)
Identity formations within and among historical and contemporary migrants
as modes of subjection and resistance
Policing as a context of imperial convergence through shared strategies of
rule, policy/arms transfers (i.e. U.S.-Israel), shared contexts of
training.
Anti-Black police violence in the US (and elsewhere)
Media (old, new, social) representations of anti-Black police violence
Relation between incarceration and debt -- the revival of “debtor’s prison”
Activisms and rebellions against policing and prisons, recently in
Ferguson, Baltimore, under the rubric of Black Lives Matter as well as or
in relation to long standing efforts and organizations (especially local
to Villanova or Philadelphia)
Representational strategies and strategic representations (by the state,
by artists, by activists) of violence, debt, police.
Restructuring of universities for increased managerial control and
insecuritization of faculty, etc.
Campuses as a historical context of policing politicization in the name of
the public; the emerging context of campus privatization and
securitization; new techniques, strategies, and rationales for campus
policing.
Renewed campus regulation of sexuality, claims of sexual vulnerability,
and sexual “securitization” of students.
We welcome proposals from scholars contributing to cultural studies who
may be located in any discipline, inter-discipline, or scholarly field.
CSA aims to provide multiple and diverse spaces for the cross-pollination
of art, activism, pedagogy, design, and research by bringing together
participants from a variety of positions inside and outside the
university. Therefore, while we welcome traditional academic papers and
panels, we also encourage contributions that experiment with alternative
formats and challenge the traditional disciplinary formations and
exclusionary conceptions and practices of the academic (see session format
options listed below). We are particularly interested in proposals for
sessions designed to document and advance existing forms of collective
action or catalyze new collaborations. We encourage submissions from
individuals working beyond the boundaries of the university: artists,
activists, independent scholars, professionals, community organizers, and
community college educators. And we invite proposals that engage with the
conference location/region and its many resources.

Important Dates:

October 15, 2015: Submission System Opens (Membership and Registration
also open -- You must be a member to submit!)
February 1, 2016: Submissions Due
March 15, 2016: Notifications Sent Out
April 15, 2016: Early Registration Ends and Late Registration Begins
(Registration fees increase by $50 for all categories.)
May 1, 2016: Last day to register to participate in the conference – your
name will be dropped from the program if you do not register by this date.


LOCATION

The 2016 conference will be held at Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
The closest airport is Philadelphia International Airport. Lodging options
will include on-campus accommodation, and accommodation in hotels in the
surrounding Villanova locale and in Center City Philadelphia--a 20 minute
train ride from Villanova.

SUBMISSION PROCESS AND TIMELINE

All proposals should be submitted through the CSA online system, available
at Annual Conference. Submission of proposals is limited to current CSA
members. See the benefits of membership and become a member: Membership
Application.

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPS include three complimentary conference
registrations annually for students. Graduate students who wish to submit
proposals are strongly encouraged to speak with their Department Chair or
Program Director about institutional membership and where possible, make
use of the complimentary registrations. Full benefits of institutional
membership are described here:
http://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/institutions.

The submission system will be open by October 15, 2015. Please prepare all
the materials required to propose your session according to the given
directions before you begin electronic submission. All program information
– names, presentation titles, and institutional affiliations – will be
based on initial conference submissions.  Please avoid lengthy
presentation and session titles, use normal capitalization, and include
your name and affiliations as you would like them to appear on the
conference program schedule.

REGISTRATION:

In order to participate in the conference and be listed in the program,
all those accepted to participate must register before May 1, 2016.
Register here.

TRAVEL GRANTS

CSA offers a limited number of travel grants, for which graduate and
advanced undergraduate students can apply. Only those who are individual
members, have been accepted to participate, and have registered for the
conference are eligible to apply for a travel grant. Other details and
criteria are listed here:
http://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/travelgrants

Important Note about Technology Requests

Accepted participants should send their technology requests to Madeline
Cauterucci at (madeline.cauterucci /at/ villanova.edu) and Michelle Fehsenfeld at
(contact /at/ culturalstudiesassociation.org). Technology requests must be made
by May 1st.

CONFERENCE FORMATS

Note: While we accept individual paper proposals, we especially encourage
submissions of pre-constituted sessions. Proposals with participants from
multiple institutions will be given preference.

All sessions are 90 minutes long. All conference formats are intended to
encourage the presentation and discussion of projects at different stages
of development and to foster intellectual exchange and collaboration.
Please feel free to adapt the suggested formats or propose others in order
to suit your session’s goals. If you have any questions, please address
them to Michelle Fehsenfeld at: (contact /at/ culturalstudiesassociation.org)

PRE-CONSTITUTED PAPER PANELS: Pre-constituted panels allow 3-4 individuals
to each offer 15-20 minute presentations, leaving 30-45 minutes of the
session for questions and discussion. Panels should have a chair/moderator
and may have a discussant. Proposals for pre-constituted panels must
include: the title of the panel; the name, title, affiliation, and contact
information of the panel organizer; the names, titles, affiliations, and
email addresses of all panelists, and a chair and/or discussant; a
description of the panel's topic (<500 words); and abstracts for each
presentation (<150 words). Pre-constituted panels are preferred to
individual paper submissions.

INDIVIDUAL PAPERS: Individuals may submit a proposal to present a 15-20
minute paper. Selected papers will be combined into panels at the
discretion of the Program Committee. Individual paper proposals must
include: the title of the paper; the name, title, affiliation, and email
address of the author; and an abstract of the (<500 words).

ROUNDTABLES: Roundtables allow a group of participants to convene with the
goal of generating discussion around a shared concern. In contrast to
panels, roundtables typically involve shorter position or dialogue
statements (5-10 minutes) in response to questions distributed in advance
by the organizer. The majority of roundtable sessions should be devoted to
discussion. Roundtables are limited to no more than five participants,
including the organizer. We encourage roundtables involving participants
from different institutions, centers, and organizations. Proposals for
roundtables must include: the title of the roundtable; the name, title,
affiliation, and contact information of the roundtable organizer; the
names, titles, affiliations, and email addresses of the proposed
roundtable participants; and a description of the position statements,
questions, or debates that will be under discussion (<500 words).

PRAXIS SESSIONS: Praxis sessions allow a facilitator or facilitating team
to set an agenda, pose opening questions, and/or organize hands-on
participant activities, collaborations, or skill-shares. Successful praxis
sessions will be organized around a specific objective, productively
engage a cultural studies audience, and orient itself towards participants
with minimal knowledge of the subject matter. Sessions organized around
the development of ongoing creative, artistic, and activist projects are
highly encouraged. The facilitator or team is responsible for framing the
session, gathering responses and results from participants, helping
everyone digest them, and (where applicable) suggesting possible fora for
extending the discussion. Proposals for praxis sessions must include: the
title of the session; the name, title, affiliation, and contact
information the facilitators; a brief statement explaining the session’s
connection to the conference theme and describing the activities to be
undertaken (<500 words) and a short description of the session (<150
words) to appear in the conference program. Please direct any questions
about praxis sessions to Michelle Fehsenfeld at
(contact /at/ culturalstudiesassociation.org)

SEMINARS: Seminars are small-group (maximum 15 individuals) discussion
sessions for which participants prepare in advance of the conference. In
previous years, preparation has involved shared readings, pre-circulated
''position papers'' by seminar leaders and/or participants, and other
forms of pre-conference collaboration. We particularly invite proposals
for seminars designed to advance emerging lines of inquiry and
research/teaching initiatives within cultural studies broadly construed.
We also invite seminars designed to generate future collaborations among
conference attendees, particularly through the formation of working
groups. A limited number of seminars will be selected. Once the seminars
are chosen, a call for participants in those seminars will be announced on
the CSA webpage and listserv. Those who wish to participate in a
particular seminar must apply the seminar leader(s) directly by March 31,
2016. Seminar leader(s) will be responsible for providing the program
committee with a confirmed list of participants (names, affiliations, and
email addresses required) for inclusion in the conference program no later
than May 1, 2016. Seminars will be marked in the conference programs as
either closed to non-participants or open to all conference attendees.
Proposals for seminars should include: the title of the seminar; the name,
title, affiliation, and contact information of the seminar leader(s); and
a description of the issues and questions that will be raised in
discussion and an overview of the work to be completed by participants in
advance of the seminar (<500 words). Individuals interested in
participating in (rather than leading) a seminar should consult the list
of seminars and the instructions for signing up for them, to be available
on the conference website by March 1st.

Please direct questions about seminars
(seminars /at/ culturalstudiesassociation.org). Please note that for them to run
at the conference, seminars accepted for inclusion by the program
committee must garner a minimum of 8 participants, including the seminar
leader(s).

WORKING GROUP SESSIONS: CSA has a number of ongoing working groups.
Working groups are encouraged to organize two sessions each. Those working
groups organizing their sessions through an open call will post those call
for proposals on the CSA website. If you are interested in participating
in the conference through a working group, you should contact that working
group directly. More information is available at:
http://www.culturalstudiesassociation.org/workinggroups.

AUTHOR MEETS CRITIC SESSIONS: Author Meets Critic Sessions are designed to
bring authors of recent books deemed to be important contributions to the
field of cultural studies together with discussants selected to provide
different viewpoints. Books published one to three years before the
conference (for example, for the 2013 conference, only books published
between 2010-2012 can be nominated) are eligible for nomination. Only CSA
members may submit nominations.  Self-nominations are not accepted.

MAKE(R) SPACE: The Make(r) Space is a space for the collaborative and
praxis driven portions of Cultural Studies – making space for art, making
space for political activism, making space for new modes of knowledge
exchange. It is our goal that this space will be created for those that
have been historically and systemically left out of these conversations:
artists, activists, poets, and other cultural critics and makers. We want
to create a space that helps the CSA fulfill some of the implicit praxis
portion of its goals to “create and promote an effective community of
cultural studies practitioners and scholars.” Building on the poets,
dancers, painters, and activists already interested in the space, we
welcome proposals for exhibits, performances, workshops, skill shares,
story telling, and other ways of meaning-making and art-making in the
world. We especially encourage Make(r) Space submissions from individuals
working beyond the boundaries of the university: artists, activists,
independent scholars, professionals, community organizers, contingent
faculty, and community college educators. In the spirit of this year’s
theme, Policing Crises Now, and building on the work done at last year’s
CSA conference we will be utilizing a portion of the Make(r)Space to make
space for a visual representation and discussion of debt and risk.

Please email Make(r)Space submissions by February 1, 2016 to:
(makerspace /at/ culturalstudiesassociation.org)

(Notification and registration deadlines are the same as for all
conference participants.)

PANEL CHAIRS: We are always in need of people to serve as panel chairs. To
volunteer to do so please submit your name, title, affiliation, and email
address, as well as a brief list of your research interests through the
conference website.




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