Conformity & Resistance, MEGAA Symposium [March 4th, 2016; CFPs due February 5th]

full name / name of organization: 
Miami University English Graduate and Adjunct Association
contact email: 

The 13th Annual Miami University
English Graduate and Adjunct Association (MEGAA) Symposium

Friday, March 4th, 2016
CALL FOR PAPERS

Conformity & Resistance

"There is no single locus of great refusal, no soul of revolt, source of all rebellions, or pure law of the revolutionary. Instead, there are a plurality of resistances, each of them a special case…Resistances…are…distributed in irregular fashion: the points, the knots, the focuses of resistance are spread over time and space in varying densities…Just as the network of power relations ends by forming a dense web that passes through apparatuses and institutions, without being exactly localized in them, so too the swarm of points of resistance traverses social stratifications and individual unities."
–Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality

In a social climate that seeks to divide us into categories, we are impelled to work in tandem with or challenge cultural hegemonies. The intersectionality of identity categories related to race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability creates multiple avenues to speak out against oppression; yet, many still conform to these hegemonic ideologies. Different possibilities for (dis)embodied interaction with cultural hegemonies problematize notions of conformity and resistance: When does conforming to ideals become permissible? In what spaces and temporalities is resistance acceptable? And by what means? Since the binarized and dichotomous battles between conformity and resistance continue, these questions become increasingly urgent.

The 13th Annual MEGAA Symposium invites proposals for papers and panels by graduate students from all disciplines that investigate "conformity and resistance." Possible lines of inquiry could include (but are not limited to) the following:

Systematic structures of oppression
The politics of power
Gender expression
Political revolution/reform
Postcolonial studies
Alternative genres & cultural movements
Ableism
Political literature
Counterpublic rhetorics
Spatial resistance
The psychology of oppression
LGBTQ movements
Race & visibility/erasure
Social media platforms as avenues for change
Resistance & solidarity
Colonial resistance
Indigenous activism
Civil rights movements
Minority representation
Impacts of nationalism
Forms of bilateral resistance
Intercultural relations
Eurocentrism/the Western bias
Cultural hegemony
Tradition & hybridity
Intersectional identity
Normative resistance
Posthumanism & deviant bodies
Resistance & ecocriticism

Submitting Proposals:
Please complete the proposal form below and submit all information to the MEGAA Symposium Committee at MEGAAblog@gmail.com. The deadline is: February 5, 2016: 11:59 p.m. EST. Please limit both individual and panel proposals to 500 words.

Official acceptances will be emailed to participants by February 12, 2016.

*If submitting visual artwork or a poster, you must be present with your work and be prepared to give a short introduction and answer questions at the end of the session.

Proposal Form for the
Miami English Graduate and Adjunct Association
(MEGAA) Symposium in Oxford, OH

Please fill out the following form and submit your proposal via email to MEGAAblog@gmail.com. Please use the subject line "Graduate Symposium Proposal"

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Type of Proposal:
Individual Paper: ____ Panel: ____

2. Session Contact Person

Name: ____________________________________________________________________________

Institution:_ ______ Field: ______________________________________

Mailing Address:______________________________

City: __________ _________ State: ______ Zip:_______________________

Phone: _ ________ Email:____________________________________

3. Presentation or Panel Title:

4. Brief Description of Session:

5. Technology Requirements:
Internet Connection ______ TV/DVD _____ Computer/Projector __­­­___ Speakers ______

6. Panel Participants and Titles (If submitting an Individual Proposal, you may skip this section)

Participant 1: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Institution:_____________________________________________ Field: _______________________________________

Mailing Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________________________ State: ________ Zip __________________________________

Phone: __________________________________ Email:______________________________________________________

Presentation Title:___________________________________________________________________________________

Brief Description of Session: ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participant 2: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Institution:__________________________________________ Field: __________________________________________

Mailing Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________________ State: _________ Zip __________________________________

Phone: ________________________________ Email:________________________________________________________

Presentation Title:___________________________________________________________________________________

Brief Description of Session: ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participant 3: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Institution:________________________________________ Field: ____________________________________________

Mailing Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________

City: __________________________________________ State: _________ Zip ___________________________________

Phone: ____________________________________ Email:____________________________________________________

Presentation Title:___________________________________________________________________________________

Brief Description of Session: ________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SESSION DESCRIPTION

For individual proposals, please describe your presentation below in no more than 500 words. For panel proposals, using no more than 500 words, please describe your session's topic and each speaker's presentation. Do not discuss speakers by name. You might instead use language such as "Speaker 1" to separate and explain each individual's presentation topic. Please use the same Speaker/Presenter number that was listed on page 2.