CALL FOR PAPERS

Perspectives on Food Aesthetics

The Department of Culture Studies at the University of Wroclaw, University of Social Science and Humanities, and Northern Arizona University invite proposals for papers to be presented at a 3-day conference, June 17-19, 2016

Location: University of Wroclaw (Wroclaw Poland)

A specific trend in modern visual arts involves artists enthusiastically embracing food as an artistic medium. The depiction of food in the arts is not new. Recently, however, a distinct turn has taken place, with food products becoming not only a theme in art but also the raw material of art. Since the 1930’s, consumption of food and drink has been used both to expand the scope of arts and to comment critically on contemporary culture, raising issues of consumption, ecology, globalization, hospitality, gender, politics, etc.  The work of many artists challenges traditional assumptions a about a sharp art/life division as well as challenging traditional aesthetic norms. There are thus artists who become cooks, but also cooks who see themselves as artists. A prime example of this latter is Ferran Adrià, founder of molecular cuisine, whom the art world has embraced as its own. In the face of these tendencies, this conference will be examining (a) the extent to which it is possible to merge the two realms; (b) what sorts of overlapping possibilities exist between artists and cooks; and (c) what all this might mean for a revised understanding of the “aesthetic.”  

This conference will explore the ways in which the art world meets gastronomic culture; it will analyze the objectives of food centered artistic practices and the aesthetic discourse on the question of the artistic validity of food and cooking.

Conference papers should address one of the following two domains:

- discussion of aesthetic value of food

- art works and artistic practices focusing on food

Keynote speaker:

Richard Shusterman (The Center for Body, Mind, and Culture, Florida Atlantic University)

Conference Committee:

Raymond Boisvert (Siena College, NY)

Miroslaw Kocur (University of Wroclaw)

Carolyn Korsmeyer (University at Buffalo, SUNY)

Dorota Monkiewicz (MWW Wroclaw Contemporary Museum)

Richard Shusterman (Florida Atlantic University)

Krystyna Wilkoszewska (Jagiellonian University)

Dorota Wolska (University of Wroclaw)

A selection of the best seminar papers will be considered, after an external double blind review process, for publication in a volume.

Abstracts of 250 words, and a current CV, should be sent electronically as attachments, no later than February 15, 2016, to Dorota Koczanowicz at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please direct conference inquiries to the same address.

Prospective speakers will be notified by March, 2016.

Conference fee: 100 €, 70 € (doctoral students)

Organizers:

Dorota Koczanowicz (University of Wroclaw) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Russell Pryba (Northern Arizona University) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CALL FOR PROPOSAL 2016

IDENTIFYING THE POLITICAL

Conceptual Analysis: Rhetoric, Poetics and Populist Talk in Contemporary Politics

Appearances of the Political 1/6

Winter Symposium: February 22-23, 2016, University of Latvia (Main Building, Rai?a bulv?ris 19) in collaboration with University of Latvia

Invitation

The Nordic Summer University (NSU) study group Appearances of the Political announces a CFP for its winter symposium. The first session of the group will be organized in cooperation with Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art and Faculty of Theology, the Latvian University in Riga, Latvia.

The topic, Identifying the Political, will address the verbal play and its connection to physical presences of today’s political reality and approach it from the point of view of social, artistic, aesthetic and cultural analysis.

By focusing on the conceptual base of the appearances of the political we wish to articulate clearly the artistic, aesthetic and cultural forces underlying today’s political thinking. We also want to inaugurate a debate on the role of cultural approaches in political analysis. To really discuss the political we need to establish a deeper understanding of the key concepts and their cultural extensions before elaborating on other forms of investigating them.

This could, for example, be related to the impact of concepts like migration / refugee. What cultural significance do these (or any similar politically explosive) concepts anchor to?

We wish to break new paths in connecting the cultural humanities and the political sciences. This symposium thus invites the participants to explore bravely new ways of studying the issue. We believe that experimentation is crucial for rethinking the political.

Our partner in the winter session 2016 is the University of Latvia in Riga and we collaborate closely with Pauls Daija and the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art.

About the Study Group

The intention of Appearances of the Political is to create a platform for future collaborations and applications, and to exchange knowledge and share common interest. It is important for the group to consult a variety of fields as broad as possible including political theory, philosophy, communication, social sciences and cultural studies, and we hope that scholars from all areas of interest would join us.

Participating in this first meeting of the group does not imply any obligation for participating in future meetings. We hope, however, that participants will be involved in building a strong community on this topic for future activities reflecting the diversity of interests in the community. Future seminars will focus on History, Material Culture, Activism, Political Art and Aesthetics in the Everyday, and Communication. The list of sites for the study circle is planned to be, among more, of the following order: Riga, Orivesi (NSU Summer Session), Bratislava, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. Changes might appear as well as additions. We are open to any propositions concerning collaboration, partners and sites.

We invite proposals for presentations addressing different problems relating to this call. We hope that academicians, artists, students, third sector agents and intellectuals would participate. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions from the coordinators!

Please bookmark the study circle on NSU’s webpage http://nordic.university/study-circles/2-appearances-of-the-political/

and the blog of the study circle: http://appearancesofthepolitical.blogspot.com

Format of the presentation

Format of presentation can be either:
15 minutes presentation + 15 minutes discussion
or
30 minutes presentation + 10 minutes discussion.

Please indicate your wish in the abstract!

We encourage you to give an oral presentation, i.e. no dry reading of a paper or reading from texts on power points (use power points for pictures, illustration of similar material). What matters is the content and what you have to say, not the rhetorical performance. Any form of experimental presentation is very much welcomed.

To submit a proposal please send via email to the coordinators:

Max Ryynänen: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Carsten Friberg: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

1. A written proposal (300-500 words) with a title and descriptive subtitle. This text should include your presentation proposal, its format its duration, facilities you need (I.e. technical equipment)
2. If you wish to participate without giving a presentation, please write a short (200 words) description of yourself.

The deadline to submit proposals is November 30, 2015.  The preliminary program will be announced on December 15, 2015 on www.nordic.university where you can also find more information about NSU and sign up for the newsletter.

The applications will be viewed ASAP. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance no later than December 15.

Later submission is possible but we will prioritize early submissions.

Registration and fee

Students, unemployed and freelancers: 30 €

Baltic students: 10 €

Those associated with institutions:  50 €

We will use the fees to cover some food and other expenses for the participants.

Participants should apply to their institutions, Art Councils, local foundations or sponsors to have their travel cost covered.

Official website for the CFP: http://nordic.university/study-circles/2-appearances-of-the-political/call-for-proposal-winter-2016-circle-2/

Short presentation of the circle: http://nordic.university/study-circles/2-appearances-of-the-political/

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Beautiful Game: The Poetics and Aesthetics of Soccer in Transnational Perspective

University of Basel

June 30-July 2, 2016

Confirmed Speakers:

Simon Critchley (New School for Social Research)

Eva Lavric (University of Innsbruck)

Emily Ryall (University of Gloucestershire)

This conference, scheduled to take place during the 2016 European Championship and hosted by the University of Basel’s Department of English, takes up soccer with a special focus on its poetics and aesthetics. The conference particularly seeks to scrutinize the poetics and aesthetics of the game in light of comparative as well as transnational, transcontinental, and global perspectives. In doing so, it aims to shed light on the poetics and aesthetics of all aspects of soccer, from the actual game to fan chants and choreographies, from representations in the arts to the aesthetics of media coverage, from the poetics of live commentary to institutional image cultivation (MLS, FIFA, UEFA, etc.), from aspects of design (jerseys, balls) to recent developments in stadium architecture. Given this range and diversity of the forms in which the poetics and aesthetics of soccer manifest themselves, the conference by necessity is interdisciplinary in nature, with possible contributions coming from fields such as literary and cultural studies, philosophy, linguistics, visual studies and the arts, design, and architecture to name but a few.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• the poetics and aesthetics of the game

• “skill,” “creativity,” “intuition,” and “style” in soccer

• soccer and the notions of the beautiful and the sublime

• fan chants

• fan choreographies

• Ultra aesthetics

• the aesthetics (and politics) of institutional image cultivation via the staging of events such as opening ceremonies, fixture draws, player award ceremonies, etc.

• languages of/in soccer

• the poetics and rhetoric of soccer live commentary

• the poetics, rhetoric, and aesthetics of soccer media coverage

• representations of soccer in the arts (including literature and film)

• the aesthetics of stadium architecture

• design in soccer: jerseys, balls, gear, club emblems, etc.

In addition to academic talks, the conference will also include an art event, exhibiting some of the original art that is the basis for tschuttiheftli’s sticker collection they create for every World Cup and European Championship (http://www.tschuttiheft.li/).

Please send your 300-word abstracts and 100-word bios to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The deadline for submissions is December 14, 2015. The conference organizers plan to publish a collection of essays based on selected contributions to the conference.

Conference Organizers:

Dr. phil. des. Ridvan Askin and Dr. Catherine Diederich, Department of English, University of Basel, Nadelberg 6, CH-4051 Basel