Theory * Activism * Creativity: Navigating Textual Politics

The 5th Annual University of Florida English Graduate Organization Conference

Conference Dates: October 27-29

Keynote Speaker: Judith Halberstam Dr. Halberstam is Professor of English and Director of The Center for Feminist Research at USC. She has authored several influential books, including: Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (1995), Female Masculinity (1998), The Drag King Book with Del LaGrace Volcano (1999), and In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives (2005). She has also published a wide array of articles in journals such as GLQ, Camera Obscura, and Feminist Studies. Her next book is tentatively titled Dude, Where’s My Theory?.

A recent New York Times article on the 2004 MLA Convention suggests modern scholars of literature have reduced the loftier study of canonical texts into a chic preoccupation with popular media that is little more than masturbatory fantasy couched in a catchy title. Marginalizing various schools of theoretical thought, namely feminist, queer, postcolonial, radical race, among others, this article conveys to the public at large that contemporary humanities studies are informed by nothing more than "trendy" leftist political theories that have no lasting importance.

Not surprisingly, navigating the textual politics of studies within the humanities can often be fraught with myriad tensions for scholars both in and outside of the university. Indeed, skeptical attitudes toward politically informed schools of thought and investments in texts that fall outside of the traditional canon are still evident within the university system itself. These tensions therefore raise a number of questions about how and where theory, activism, and creativity intersect in our current moment. For example, how do we interpret and teach the literature of the past while navigating within and beyond the vacuum of tradition? How can texts be "activist" when modern theory often decentralizes meaning? Can we no longer talk about authors' politics in connection with their process of creative production? How do we continue to reinforce the relevancy of various politicized strains of theory (feminist, queer, postcolonial, radical race, Marxist, etc.) in the midst of critiques that they become formulaic and redundant ways of "reading" texts? How do literature and different forms of media affect cultural and political change outside of the university?

This conference seeks to interrogate and navigate these fissures and overlaps between creative, activist, and theoretical work. We welcome panels, papers, and creative presentations by graduate students, faculty, independent scholars, and activists, which include but are not limited to the following issues:

* literary criticism and activist theory
* reading and teaching popular media, comics, film, fanzines, animation, etc.
* diversifying canons and/or questioning canonicity
* "intellectual" vs. "mainstream" publics and the question of address
* politics and textual production
* merging theory and activism
* academic writing as creative
* personal narrative as academic writing--transgressing theoretical conventions
* activist rhetorics
* the personal/autobiographical and the theoretical (testimonio)
* feminist and GLBTQ research and publication
* women's studies, masculinity studies, postcolonial and interdisciplinary studies
* listservs, blogs, MOOs, and activist cyberspaces
* field-specific activism, including the role of professional organizations
* the role of activism in the classroom
* the role of the activist on campus
* the market: practicality, tenure, research

The deadline for proposals is September 16, 2005. Proposals must include your name, e-mail address, mailing address, telephone number, institutional affiliation, technology requests, presentation title, and 300-word abstract. Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes. Please submit your proposals to:

Andrea Wood, EGO Co_President
Department of English
4008 Turlington Hall
PO Box 117310
Gainesville, FL 32611_7310

Electronic submissions are preferred, but not required. Please send electronic submissions via plain-text email to:
awood@english.ufl.edu. (In other words, copy-and-paste your abstract into your email client and send it that way.)

For any further information see our conference website at:
http://www.nwe.ufl.edu/ego/conference05/