[URBANTH-L]CFP: Aids in Culture VI: Explorations in the Cultural History of AIDS (México City)

Tue Sep 1 14:09:54 EDT 2009

Call for Papers:

Aids in Culture VI: Explorations in the Cultural History of AIDS México 
City, 9 - 14 December 2009

Deadline for abstract Submissions: 1. October (Deadline has been extended)
Conference Homepage: http://www.aidsinculture.org

AIDS is not simply an illness or a biomedical phenomenon. The conference 
cycle "AIDS in Culture" organised by Enkidu Magazine in Mexico City and the 
International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in 
cooperation with CNDH (The National Human Rights Commission in Mexico) seeks 
to examine cultural responses to AIDS in different cultures and societies 
across a wide range of perspectives.

The conference will explore the processes by which AIDS is constructed as a 
cultural phenomenon and how different societies in their encounters with 
AIDS attempt to create meaning in health, illness and disease. The 
conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant 
disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and 
promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and 
dialogue.

Also in 2009 the conference will follow a similar model as in previous years 
with a large number of thematic sessions addressing several different 
issues. Papers are welcomed on virtually all related topics and themes 
related to the cultural and social construction of Aids, independently of 
time period and space. Also papers of comparative phenomena will be 
considered. Interdisciplinary perspectives are encouraged.

Among the themes of interest are the following:

-AIDS and Cultural Texts: Power and Representation.
-Representations of AIDS in art, movies, music, poetry, religion and 
literature from the 1980s until today.
-Silences and taboos in discourses on HIV/AIDS.
-Aesthetic responses to the challenge. Rituals, customs, and fetishism.
-Cultural practices that influence the spread of HIV/AIDS
-AIDS and collective and individual identities: Race, Class, Gender etc
-AIDS and Politics, Lobbying and Activism: Power, Representation and 
Activism.
-Constructions and reconstructions of AIDS in political, faith and ideology 
based discourse, legal issues and policy making throughout the world: Who 
has the authority to speak and who is silenced?
-AIDS and theory: Cultural Studies, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, 
History, Anthropology, Sociology, Literary Studies and all related 
disciplines. How do we theorize and analyse experiences and the meaning of 
illness?
-The ,significance' of AIDS for individuals and communities; the cultural 
factors influencing our perceptions of health and illness experiences.
-AIDS and psychosocial affects and effects. Cultures of silence.
-Indigenous knowledge and responses to AIDS
-Stories and Histories about AIDS
-AIDS and Oral History

Papers will be considered on related themes and topics from a wide range of 
perspectives. Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome since 
all these topics in themselves stretch across several disciplines: history, 
literary studies, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, pedagogy, 
ethnology, anthropology, sociology...

Graduate and postgraduate students are encouraged to attend and present 
papers. Selected papers from the conference will also this year be published 
in book form.

* PAPER AND PANEL PROPOSALS
500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in 
English, Castilian, German or French by 1, October 2009. The conference 
languages will be English and Castilian. Interpretations of the conference 
theme ranging from the predictable to the surprising are encouraged. Papers 
should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10 pages). 
Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and 
poster sessions will be considered on request.

* PROPOSALS FOR PANEL SESSIONS
Typically, a panel of academic papers should include 3 (maximum 4) speakers 
and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2 hours allowing 
for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes for questions and 
discussion. Proposers should submit:
Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words),
Paper titles,
Abstracts for each paper (500 words),
Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150 words),
Institutional affiliation and address for each participant,
Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in finding 
speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers for your 
panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our 
newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would like 
us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please send us a 
proposal by e-mail to info at enkidumagazine.com

* PROPOSALS FOR INDIVIDUAL PAPERS
Abstracts are to be submitted by 1. October, along with the presenter's 
name, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. It is 
recommended to use the form here: 
http://www.enkidumagazine.com/eventos/aidsinculture/registration_en.htm 
when submitting an abstract. However, abstracts will also be accepted as 
e-mail attachments to info at enkidumagazine.com All correspondence for this 
conference will be conducted via email. Full conference papers should be 
submitted by the 1st of November 2009. Abstracts and summaries of the 
conference papers will be made available at the conference web page.
We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted within 
few days. 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 resend your abstract and resubmit your registration form, 
and if possible, suggest an alternative e-mail address. In particular 
delegates using hotmail or yahoo accounts to receive conference related 
e-mails often experience problems receiving conference information by 
e-mail.

E-mails from the conference organisers are often delivered to your spam 
folder and not to your inbox, unless you remember to add the following 
e-mail addresses: info at enkidumagazine.com and liowlb at enkidumagazine.com The 
first address is the general e-mail address of AIDSinCULTURE.org and will be 
used to send conference newsletters and general information. The second, is 
the e-mail address of the academic coordinator of the conference and will be 
used for individual communication with delegates.

* EXHIBITORS, PUBLISHERS AND ARTISTS:
Artists are welcome to suggest exhibitions and displays of art during the 
conference.
Organisations, universities and publishers are welcome to sign up for 
information stands at the conference center.
The following information is required by artists, publishers and other 
exhibitors during the conference:
Technical Description of the information stand or artwork with indications 
of technical requirements for their presentation, the size and extension of 
the individual artworks to be presented.
Estimated Insurance value of the artworks
One image of a representative sample of artistic work from the exhibitions 
can be sent by e-mail to the conference organizers in the format tiff or 
jpg.
Curriculum Vitae of artist (or organisation).
Description of Exhibition (300 - 500 words).
Short bio of artist (or organisation).

* REGISTRATION FEE for "Aids in Culture V": Payment received via PayPal or 
bank transfer in advance (Payments completed before 1.November, 2009):
- Waged delegates (speakers): 150 USD/1700 MXP
- Students and unwaged delegates (speakers): 80 USD/900 MXP
- Media Observer: 70 USD/800 MX-
Observer Participant (Listener): 70 USD/800 MXP

Payment in cash, payment on location, and payments received after 1. October 
2008:
- Waged delegates (speakers): 175 USD/1800 MXP
- Students and unwaged delegates (speakers): 100 USD USD/1100 MXP - Media 
Observer: 70 USD/800 MXP
- Observer Participant (Listener): 70 USD/800 MXP

Enkidu and the participating organisations will not be able to provide 
travel support for conference delegates. It is therefore strongly 
recommended to apply for a scholarship or a grant from other

Lars Ivar Borge
Centro Cultural Enkidu
http://www.enkidumagazine.com
Calle Ezequiel Montes #37, int. 2
Colonia Tabacalera
06030 Mexico D.F.
Mexico

Email: info at enkidumagazine.com
Visit the website at http://aidsinculture.org 