2nd Global Conference: Experiencing Prison

Thursday 19th May - Saturday 21st May 2011

Warsaw, Poland

Call for Papers

This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference marks the continuation of a project dedicated to the study of the experience of imprisonment.

Imprisonment has become the dominant form of punishment in most societies across the world. It may occur prior to trial, or as a result of sentencing by a properly constituted court. Imprisonment without trial or due process occurs in various forms in most societies across the world, mostly sanctioned by the state itself, sometimes used as a political strategy by military, ideological, political or religious groups within a state, or by groups desirous of becoming a state.

We welcome contributions about the experience of incarceration across the entire range of perspectives, including legal, criminological, historical, fictional, phenomenological, biographical and autobiographical. Contributions are welcomed from former prisoners, detainees, incarcerated asylum seekers, former prisoners of war, political prisoners or those detained because of nationalist, religious or other convictions. All genres and media will be considered, in order to examine the widest possible range of representations, past and contemporary, which communicate the experience and nature of imprisonment. Contributions will be welcomes from those who are involved with the delivery of incarceration, as well as those who seek to ameliorate incarceration by providing therapeutic drama, literacy, education, counselling, religious support and other services.

Papers will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 26th November 2010. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 1st April 2011.

300 word abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formates with the following information and in this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract

Emails should be entitled: Prison Abstract Submission.

Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

Organising Chairs:

Diana Medlicott
Independent Scholar
London, United Kingdom

Rob Fisher
Network Founder and Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Freeland, Oxfordshire
United Kingdom

The conference is part of the Probing the Boundaries programme of research projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting. All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s).

For further details about the project, please click here.

For further details about the conference, please click here.

2nd Global Conference: The Gothic - Exploring Critical Issues

Monday 16th May - Wednesday 18th May 2011

Warsaw, Poland

Call for Papers

This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary project seeks to engage and explore the cultural significance and enduring narratives within the realm of the Gothic in culture at large. From its literary and historical roots to its (post)modern incarnations as a cultural subgenre present in popular fiction and film, this project seeks to explore the territories of the Gothic in all of its manifestations.

Suggested topics and themes include (but are not limited to):

• Classic Gothic Literature and its resurgence
• The Gothick
• Gothic Culture(s) as a living experience/ethos
• Gothic Media (Cinema, Television, Games, Graphic Novels, Role Playing)
• Gothic Music
• Misrepresenting the Gothic
• Apocalyptic Narratives
• Fashioning Bodies, Styles and Convention
• Modern and Postmodern Paradigms (19th, 20th & 21st Century 'Gothics')
• Gothic and Horror Narratives
• Gothic as Horror or Horror as Gothic?
• Popular Culture
• Queer Gothic
• Identity
• Scapegoating/Derision/Condemnation of the Gothic in Culture
• The Philosophy of 'Dark' Culture
• Geographical Gothic
• Gothic Space, Gothic Architecture
• Gender and Sexualities
• Contrasting the 'Emo' and the 'Goth'

The Steering Group particularly welcomes the submission of pre-formed panel proposals. Papers will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 26th November 2010. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 1st April 2011.

300 word abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs, abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formates with the following information and in this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract

Emails should be entitled: Gothic2 Abstact Submission

Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

Organising Chairs:

Sorcha Ni Fhlainn
Hub Leader, Project Co-Leader, School of English, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Stephen Morris
Hub Leader, Independent Scholar, New York, USA

Rob Fisher
Network Founder and Leader, Inter-Disciplinary.Net, Freeland, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

This conference is part of the Critical Issues programme of research projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting. All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s).

For further details about the project please click here.

For further details about the conference please click here.