cfp.english.upenn.edu

Pockets of Change: Cultural Adaptations and Transitions
13th Annual Work-in-Progress Conference
The University of Queensland, St. Lucia campus
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
September 4-6, 2009
http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/wip2009

The 13th Work-In-Progress Conference will address cultural transition and/or adaptation from a theoretical, critical, or creative perspective from any of (though not restricted to) the analogous disciplines of English, Media and Cultural Studies, and Art History. The WIP Conference is held annually at The University of Queensland, and has, in the past, welcomed students and scholars alike to present papers in a safe and relaxed, but professional environment. We are pleased to announce the presence of two distinguished academics: Professor Toby Miller, Media and Cultural Studies scholar (University of California), as our keynote speaker and Professor Donald Sassoon, Comparative European History scholar (Queen Mary, University of London), as a roundtable guest.

At this time, we invite postgraduate students from local, national and international universities to present papers which contend with issues of adaptation and transition in relation to all areas of culture and cultural tradition, practice, development and exploration, employing theories that dominate or challenge the current academic field or relate to creative endeavours. Topics may include, but are not limited to, papers about:

*media adaptations (eg. adapting books into films, a material approach to adapting a novel for the stage, etc.)
*intercultural projects (eg. the efficacy of plays, novels, films, etc. which rely on techniques or traditions from more than one
culture; the politics of an intercultural project)
*issues of inter-textuality (eg. conflation of genres, "writing back" or responses to or revisions of earlier texts, post-structuralist
intertextuality versus allusion and influence)
*temporal experimentations (eg. anachronisms in literature; subverting/obscuring historical attempts at metanarrative)
*political shifts (eg. social impediments or benefits of political leadership changes; reflecting on how new political figureheads impact
the arts)
*technological advancements (eg. impact of community access to technology; the role of cultural tourism in arts)
*issues of appropriation (eg. who may speak for/of whom?; when does ‘adaptation’ become appropriation?)
*concerns with framing (eg. how the old is being made new again; the (un)importance of referencing or contextualising cultural borrowing or appropriation)

Papers should conform to a 15-20 minute presentation time, followed by a 10 minute question period. Proposals for panels are welcome. Please submit a 200-300 word summary of your paper topic, as well as a 50 word bio, to: wipconference@gmail.com by July 31, 2009.

We have a limited number of bursaries of up to $500 available for honours and masters students from Australian and New Zealand universities, which are offered by The University of Queensland Graduate School. For more information about bursaries, visit: http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/wip2009/Bursaries.html