Searching for Culture (SEFOC) International Cultural Studies Conference, Olomouc, Czech Republic, October 16-17, 2014

full name / name of organization: 
Palacky University
contact email: 

We invite papers (25 minutes maximum) from all fields of the humanities including (but not limited to) cultural studies, art, film, literature, music, mass media, entertainment, sport, history, philosophy, politics, cultural geography, environmental studies, ecology, sociology.

The conference is held as part of the INKULTUS grant project administered at Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. The project aim is to foster international interdisciplinary curriculum development and research in the area of cultural studies. The conference is going to be held at Palacky University, in the historic centre of Olomouc where culture, arts, history, and magic atmosphere all converge.

Paper proposals should address some of the following themes:

What is Culture? Does it exist?
Teaching Culture: Place of Cultural Studies within the Humanities
Researching Culture: Approaches, Challenges, Directions
Global / National / Local Culture
Private / Public Sphere and Culture
Popular / Highbrow / Lowbrow / Nobrow Culture
Digital Media and Culture
Virtual Culture
History, Tradition, Memory
Culture and Progress
Culture and Diaspora
Immigration, Assimilation, Diversity
Postcolonial Culture and Hybrid Identity
Globalization and Culture
Trauma, Experience, Consciousness
City / Country / Suburb / Wilderness / Nature
Landscape and Culture: Interactions / Reflections
Cultural Studies and Science: Intersections / Differences
Boundaries, Margins, Centers
Race, Gender, Class, Identity

Paper proposals (maximum 300 words) with short author CVs should be sent by March 31st, 2014, at: sefoc@centrum.cz

Authors of accepted paper proposals will be notified by April 30, 2014.

Selected conference papers will be included in a peer-reviewed collective monograph to be published by Palacky University Press in Spring 2015.

An early version of accepted conference papers must be submitted to the SEFOC conference email (below) by October 1st 2014. Following the paper presentation at the conference, there will be over two months given for paper revision into a finished article—the deadline for submitting the revised article is December 31st 2014.

There is no conference registration fee for conference participants. Attendance at the conference is free and open to the public.

Participants whose papers are accepted may be eligible for conference travel and accomodation funding. Details on the travel costs funding shall be mailed to the accepted speakers.

It is possible to attend the conference without presenting a paper and submitting the paper-article—such participants are welcome to attend, but they should still register at the conference email below by March 31st 2014. The travel and accomodation costs incurred by non-presenting conference participants cannot, however, be funded.

All communication is to be directed at the SEFOC conference email: sefoc@centrum.cz

Organizing Committee:

Pavlina Flajsarova, Ph.D. (Palacky University)
Jiri Flajsar, Ph.D. (Palacky University)
Professor Wilken Engelbrecht (Palacky University)
Professor Zdenek Pechal (Palacky University)
Professor Josef Jarab (Palacky University)
Professor Jaroslav Peprnik (Palacky University)
Professor Michal Peprnik (Palacky University)
Professor Ladislav Daniel (Palacky University)
Associate Professor Marie Vozdova (Palacky University)

Conference Administrators:

Mgr. Helena Tylsarova
Mgr. Barbora Borakova
Mgr. Andrea Rysava
Michaela Dadakova

Conference Website: sefoc.upol.cz (please check back soon for details)

The conference languages are English, Czech, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, depending on paper acceptance by the specific workshop chair.