This conference seeks to bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines -- cultural theory, literary studies, film studies, history, art history, cultural anthropology, economics -- in order to explore the historical, social and cultural significance of fakes, forgeries, hoaxes and counterfeits.

Recent cultural theory has called into question traditional notions of authenticity and originality. Despite critical pronouncements of the death of the author and the substitution of the simulacrum for the original, however, making a distinction between the genuine and the fake continues to play a major role in our everyday understanding and evaluation of culture, law and politics. Consider, for example, the fiasco surrounding the "forged" Hitler diaries, law suits against auction houses for failing to detect forgeries in the art market, or the problem of plagiarism at universities. It still seems to matter that we can spot the difference. But what are we to make of conspiracy theories that the moon landings were faked in a Hollywood studio; the Sokal hoax article in Social Text; or Fragments, Binjamin Wilkomirski's "fake" Holocaust memoir? Has the distinction between the counterfeit and the real been undermined by the technological ability to make copies that are indistinguishable -- and sometimes better -- than the original? Has the notion of authenticity changed in recent times? Do different cultures set the boundaries in alternative ways?

Possible topics could include:-