cfp.english.upenn.edu

DATE
May 9-10, 2012

VENUE
Yaşar University, İzmir

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Hilde Heynen – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

BACKGROUND

The Turkish Design History Society (4T= Türkiye Tasarım Tarihi Topluluğu) has scrutinized various themes concerning Turkish design since its first conference in 2006. In recent congresses, researchers were encouraged to make presentations in English although themes were still to focus mostly on Turkish issues. This year, taking a step further, the Turkish Design History Society (4T) is exploring national issues (both in Turkish and English) within a global context. The purpose is to investigate issues relating to local and regional design history in a broad perspective, to evaluate these issues in terms of and in relation to contemporary theoretical frameworks with the collaboration of international researchers, who wish to participate in discussions concerning the conference theme in general as well as the specific situation in Turkey.

THEME

Despite being a constituent element of any social practice, gender often remains an excluded issue from design discourses and practices, yet it plays a significant, and at times transformative role at almost all levels of design, ranging from the identity of the designer and the designed object to the systems of representation and users’ perceptions.

Seeing gender as a constituent element of design disciplines raises questions regarding the construction of the very boundaries of those disciplines. Contemporary gender debates, which can no longer be reduced to the woman/man binary, problematize the articulation of the concepts of femininity and masculinity with specific subjects, objects and power relations. Questions regarding the place of design in this web of complicated relationships involve such issues as the modes of articulation of different design areas with various aspects of gender constructs, and
critiques of founding assumptions of design disciplines.

The aim of the eighth meeting of Turkish Design History Society is to discuss design theories and practices from gendered perspectives and to share comparative work involving different cultures, not necessarily limited to Turkey. Contributors are invited to address the following issues.

Subjects of design
The designer as a gendered identity
Designers’ negotiations with gender codes of given societies
Users’ positions in the design field as gendered subjects

Objects of design
Modes of gender coding in design objects
The role of gender codes in the use of design objects
The changing meanings of design objects in different contexts of gender relationships

Praxis of design
Gender relations in design practices and business
Gender issues in design Education

Issues of representation
Analyses of design discourses from gendered perspectives
Gender issues in visual representations (film, advertisements etc.)
The role of gender in contemporary forms of representation (digitally based representations)

CALL FOR PAPERS
Those who are interested in contributing papers to the eighth 4T Congress are invited to submit a title and an abstract of 250-300 words (in English or Turkish) through EasyChair [an on-line conference organizing system http://www.easychair.org/] by January 14, 2013. Registration to EasyChair is essential in order to submit abstracts for the 5T . For any questions please contact Instr. Bahar Emgin (bahar.emgin@yasar.edu.tr). The selected proposals will be announced on February 15, 2013.
Web: http://conference5t.yasar.edu.tr/

CONFERENCE FEES
The conference fee of 200 TL covers lunch, tea and coffee services throughout the event, the conference dinner (May 9), the closing reception (May 10). 
ORGANIZERS
Prof. Dr. Tevfik Balcioglu (Yaşar University)
Prof. Dr. Gülsüm Baydar (Yaşar University)

CONFERENCE BOARD
Prof. Dr. Alpay Er (Istanbul Technical University)
Prof. Dr. Gülsüm Baydar (Yaşar University)
Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoğlu (İstanbul Kültür University)
Prof. Dr. Tevfik Balcioglu (Yaşar University)
Prof. Dr. Zuhal Ulusoy (Kadir Has University)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülay Hasdoğan (Middle East Technical University)

CONFERENCE ASSISTANTS
Arzu Cilasun (Yaşar University)
Bahar Emgin (Yaşar University)
Didem Dönmez (Yaşar University)
Selin Gençtürk (Yaşar University)
Sevinç Alkan Korkmaz (Yaşar University)
Yasemin Oksel (Yaşar University)