cfp.english.upenn.edu

Keynote speakers:
Professor Ian Buchanan, Cardiff University & Professor Patricia Pisters, University of Amsterdam

As various scholars have noted, the problematic of the Future plays an important role in Deleuze's thought. It is central to his discussion of concepts such as becoming, difference, duration, the virtual, Nietzsche's Untimely and the eternal return, the three syntheses of time, the time-image and others. Deleuze offers a conception of time as change itself, thus opening up new trajectories for understanding our era; one that is marked by the prevalence of digitality and informatics in all aspects of life, from the practice of the mundane, to the participation in the social and political sphere, to the formation of knowledge and creation of art. This conference will explore ways to think and conceptualize the future and contemporary culture facing the future. We welcome papers which examine aspects of futurity in Deleuze's work, or using Deleuzian themes and concepts, in all areas of thought.

Possible topics for papers may include but are not limited to:
* Change, potentiality and the production of the new in
philosophy, science or the arts
* Future aesthetics
* After/images, signs and semiotics of the future
* Virtuality, cybernetics, New Media and cultural technologies
* "Visual Culture" as future, the future of Visual Culture
* Science fiction and other "genres of the future in literature,
cinema, theatre and other visual atrs"
* Is there a future for literatures and literary studies?
* Ethics and politics of becoming
* The future of ideologies, the future of politics
* The Empire of the future; the future of Empire and after
* Queering the future; the future of "Queerness"
* The future of history and memory
* Conceptualizing temporalities and space
* Sexual, postcolonial and transcultural subjectivities: "The
Other as a possible world"
* After Deleuze: theory after Deleuze, and the future of Deleuze
studies

Length of presentations: max. 20 minutes. Please submit your abstract (max. 250 words) and a short bio statement to the organizing committee via email to: deltau@post.tau.ac.il no later than January 9th, 2011.

Please be advised that there will be no parallel panels, therefore acceptance of papers will be selective and limited. Confirmation of acceptance will be emailed before February 15th, 2011.

Continuing updates could be found at the Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics website (http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/porter/events.eng.html).
All other queries should be addressed to Nir Kedem: kedem@post.tau.ac.il