Call for Papers

“Who am I?- Constructing identity from culture and belief”

What is identity, and how is it constructed? What cultural scripts do we draw upon when developing our notion of self, and how do these beliefs translate into wider rights and social obligations?

In a global climate where identities can be regarded as increasingly fluid and self-determined, what we believe about ourselves is inevitably drawn from a near-infinite array of cultural touchstones. This colloquium seeks to bring together postgraduates working on all aspects of literature, culture and language to consider the intersecting cultural facets that form our complex identities.  By exploring how much of what we believe about ourselves is drawn from our cultural experiences, we intend to curate a multi-disciplinary discussion. Visual art, short creative-writing pieces, and multi-media or hybrid presentations are welcomed for inclusion in the colloquium. 

The School of English’s annual Colloquium takes place on the 27th May 2022, hosted online by the University of Sheffield. Proposals for papers (of up to 20 minutes in length) are therefore invited from postgraduate students working across the humanities.

Please send proposals of no more than 300 words accompanied by a 100 word biography (along with full name, affiliation and title of paper) to:

identitypgc22@gmail.com

by 1st March 2022.

Potential topics for proposals include (but are not limited to):

• Identity and Belief: Construction of identity in accordance with belief systems; religious, secular, political, cultural, literary, philosophical and others
• Identity and Environment: How physical environment affects Identity; Geographical implications, environmental impacts alongside environmentalism and ecocriticism, social constructivism and post-colonial environments, cultural bubbles and virtual constructed spaces.
• Identity as a Protected Characteristic: The politics surrounding the positive or negative effects of legally and socially 'protected' identities; considering citizenship and gender identities, as well as humanism, postmodernism, psychoanalysis, anthropology. Including UK/ International Law and informal forms of ruling.
• Identity in terms of Experience and Embodiment: How our embodied experiences shape our self-perception. How does memory and nostalgia contribute to the formation and reformation of identity? How do racial, sexual and gendered social assumptions affect identity?

Responses to submissions will be given by 4th April. If you do not receive acknowledgement from our team within a week of submission please assume it has not been received and try resending it.

For more information please visit http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/english/pgc/colloquium

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