CALL FOR PAPERS: Intellectuals and the Academy in Public Life

Brown University Graduate Student Conference
Providence, Rhode Island May 4-5, 2007

Featuring Keynote address by Linda Gordon
Professor of History at New York University

At a time when the Academy is under intense scrutiny - from both the left and the right - about its real or perceived political role, our conference seeks to explore and contextualize the following questions. What is the role of the intellectual in public life? How has that role varied in different cultures and historical periods?

Possible topics include but are not limited to:
• The origins of the concept/role of "the intellectual," "public life," etc.
• The role of the modern university and cultural institutions in shaping public space
• Debates over this issue at various points in world history (i.e. Byzantine riots over the Christological debates, the concept of the scholar-king in Zhou-Dynasty China, patronage and scholarship in the Renaissance state, intellectuals and labor reform in the industrial era, dissent or conformity in 'totalitarian' states, liberation theology, etc.)
• Methodological issues, such as: do/ how do intellectual ideas influence culture and politics?; do scholars tend to overrate their impact?
• Current issues of engagement/detachment for scholars (i.e. Germany's coming to terms with the Nazi past, Irish history debate over nationalism and revisionism and the historian's duty to the national idea, the concept of the scholar-activist in contemporary society, the relationship between social science and public policymaking, ethical concerns and their impact on intellectual life, etc.)
• The role of the intellectual or the academy in defining communities (i.e. both in history and for history) The culture of intellectual life
• The impact of the intellectual on the perception of self
These are only suggestions, and all approaches and subjects are welcome and appreciated. We invite you to submit papers from disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, such as history, area studies, history of science, gender studies, anthropology, religion, cultural studies, philosophy, sociology, museum studies, public history, music, art history, archeology, education, and others.
Please submit a 1 page abstract and Curriculum Vitae to interdisciplinary_conference@brown.edu by January 15, 2007. Electronic submissions only please!