Call for Papers: Bodies in Motion - University of Rhode Island Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference

"Bodies in Motion"
The University of Rhode Island’s Third Annual Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference.
Saturday, March 28th, 2009.
Submission Deadline, Friday, November 28th, 2008.

Across academic disciplines, "bodies" — animal, epistemological, textual, or otherwise — defy singular definition and elude our efforts to pin them down. As they parallel, intersect, and inform one another, these "bodies" demand rigorous research, creative thinking, and ever-evolving methodologies. How do we account for these "bodies in motion" and the complex ecologies of knowledge that they form? From what critical perspectives — scientific, mathematic, literary,
historical, political, rhetorical, ethical, philosophical — can we examine these "bodies" in order to learn from them and from others? The graduate community at the University of Rhode Island invites submissions for posters, papers, presentations, performances and panels from a variety of disciplines exploring "bodies in motion."

Possible topics and areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Theorizing the body or bodies
• Bodies and environmental crisis
• The legal body
• Economic bodies
• Political bodies
• Bodies and health care
• Biotechnology and ethics of the body
• Mass media and the global image of bodies
• Migration, displacement, and/or diasporas
• Bodies in literature
• Bodies as machines/Machines as bodies
• The aesthetics of movement
• Bodies in the digital age
• Bodies and the flow of technology
• Artistic interpretations of the body

Submission Guidelines:

Please propose individual papers or panels and indicate whether you are willing to moderate a panel. Panels of 3-4 presentations are especially welcome.

To propose a paper, submit a cover page with your name; institutional affiliation; contact information (mailing address, phone number, and email); a 250-word abstract of the paper; a roughly 100-word bio; anda detailed request for audiovisual equipment (if needed).
Presentations will be limited to fifteen minutes (about seven double-spaced pages).

To propose a panel, submit a cover page including the title of the panel and the names of presenters; a panel abstract of 150-250 words; a separate page with the names of presenters, their contact information (mailing address, phone number, and email) and institutional affiliation(s), the titles of their presentations; and a 250-word abstract for each paper. Panels will be one hour and fifteen minutes long.

The conference committee requests the submission of materials in the body of an email or as an attachment in a Word, text, or PDF document. All submissions should be emailed to http://webmail.rochester.rr.com/do/mail/message/mailto?to=gradcon%40etal.uri.edu. Please refer any questions you may have to this address as well.

The deadline for submissions is 8:00 a.m. on Friday, November 28th, 2008. Notification of acceptance will be by Friday, December 19th, 2008.

Stephen Marchand
University of Rhode Island
114 Swan Hall
Phone: 401-874-5931
Fax: 401-874-2580
Email: gradcon@etal.uri.edu