theory

The purpose of this conference is to examine meanings of space in a time of cyberspace, non-space, third space, queer space, and other emerging formulations of space that challenge predominantly physical, material constructs. How do we understand our art, our craft, our work, our relationships, and ourselves in spaces that have been transformed in a digital age? To what extent do classic dichotomies such as city-rural, urban-suburban, and public-private hold up in contemporary life? As we create places in our reshaped settings and lives, what are viable ways to examine the meanings of space?

Wikileaks: Destabilizing Hegemonic Discourse

Special Topics Panel: Productive Silences
History and the history-making process, while seeking to remember, often call attention to singularity of perspective, which results in silencing the memories of survivors. Literature then steps in to fill the gaps or the lacuna of silence. In this imaginative, fictional realm, silence and those silenced by historians, dictators, and forgetfulness find agency. Understood as a form of resistance, silence becomes a literary ruse: a voice or a perspective that once lacked agency now finds a place on the page.
Narratives that use ruses of hidden or lost documents (such as letters, journals, and oral testimonies) are particularly interesting.

This panel seeks to consolidate and refine our understanding of the encyclopedic novel as a distinct (sub)genre within the broader field of novel studies / narratology.

What conventions mark texts as encyclopedic, and how have these conventions developed over time? How does a text's encyclopedism influence its reception by literary critics and narrative theorists? And how does the increasing ubiquity and accessibility of information in our culture effect the way we interpret 'data-saturated' novels of the past and present? These and other questions will inform our discussion.

Defined very loosely as relatively untested technologies that emerge into mainstream culture without a framing business model, disruptive technologies generate sudden and great appeal among users. Thought of another way, disruptive technologies blindside traditional market structures, capturing the attention (and creative energies) of users so dramatically as to leave individual companies, industry sectors, and regulatory bodies scrambling to catch up.