Trans-- : Negotiations and Resistance

Association of English Graduate Students
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
19th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference
April 7 - 8, 2006
Keynote speakers TBA

Trans- is a prefix circulating with increasing frequency, not only in
the titles and subject matter of our intellectual and creative work,
but also in the terms we use to define academic and creative selves.
Trans- articulates projects that intersect with, but also work across
multiple disciplinary affiliations. This conference does not seek to
reductively unify the reach and potential of trans- work. The work of
trans-, irrespective of specific invocations, might be viewed as a
unified movement of transition, a movement between, or a movement
across, and therefore beyond the terms that trans- operates within.
This movement between, across, beyond is not necessarily an easy
process. Trans- work is only able to map alternate spaces through
negotiation and resistance. What does trans- negotiate and resist? What
resists and negotiates trans-? Why should and do we care about the
work of trans-, the movement of trans-, and the creation of alternate
spaces that trans- implies?

This conference poses trans- as a question to be explored from a
multiplicity of positions, politics, and performances, utilizing
multiple mediums, methods, and genres. Participants may be inclined to
invoke the prefix and terms directly, or prefer to perform trans- work
without directly referencing the prefix. Both proposals, and a
combination / revision of the two, are welcome.

Some examples of terms and questions that potential conference papers
may want to consider are:

transnational, transgender, transdisciplinary: What kinds of spaces,
institutions, constellations, or new possibilities do we seek to create
when we attempt to negotiate between and resist given identificatory
categories such as gender, race, or nationality? To what degree are the
discreet categories that we seek to challenge also held in place by the
efforts of trans-?

What are the benefits or drawbacks of employing transhistorical,
transfeminist, or transnational methods in our work? Why do employ
these approaches and what are their goals?

translation, transfiction, transgenre: How can we imagine negotiations
and resistance as emerging at the level of the text, and discourse in
general? What are the politics of translation and how do we negotiate
and use them? How are generic categories—film, poetry, performance,
fiction, memoir, etc.—affected / resisted when we identify work as
transgeneric or when we create transgenre work?

transcribe, transfix, transact, transcend(ence), transcription,
transfigure, transmission: What trans-es seem out of fashion, less "of
the moment," and why? Has trans- ever been in fashion?

transgressions, transformations: What does it mean to negotiate between
or across disciplinary boundaries? Must work that effectively
transcends or transgresses other types of boundaries also necessarily
be transdisciplinary?

What are the differences between trans– and interdisciplinary work and
what are the political stakes of that distinction?

Of course, the above terms and questions will transcend the temporary
boundaries we've given them. In fact, we encourage critical and / or
creative work that translates, transforms, transgresses, or works at
answering some of the aforementioned questions. We seek proposals that
will contribute to a truly transdisciplinary conference, including
projects that attempt to transcend creative and critical boundaries.

***Deadline for Submission: January 5th, 2006***

Potential papers should run 15-20 minutes. Please e-mail an electronic
one-page abstract (250-words, double-spaced), including your name,
affiliation, address, phone number, and e-mail address to:

uscaegs_at_gmail.com

Decisions will be made no later than mid-February 2006.

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Received on Mon Nov 21 2005 - 16:34:24 EST