The year 1968 has become a central myth for the twentieth century, the purported moment of origin for "the present" -- for current politics, culture, and academics.

This conference commemorates the 40th anniversary of 1968 by calling for a reassessment of its local and global impacts, its icons, myths, and images, the traces and absences left in its wake, and the intellectual and cultural heritages that we are still working through, as the collective memory of participants fades into a post-memory of still-incomplete projects of modernization, globalization, and liberation.

The conference aims at an inter-disciplinary address to the many different 1968 experiences and projects that can be recovered in global, national, and international frameworks. Flashpoints, major players, artistic responses in all media and genres, and (re)theorizing about 1968 and its heritage are all possible themes for conference participation (see the list below for initial suggestions). Participation is open to scholars from all disciplines and national/cultural studies areas, and at all levels.

Proposals are invited for 20-minute papers that explore the repercussions of this important year, and that draw connections between 1968 and the present politically, culturally, and socially. Submit your abstract of 150-250 words in an email (no attachments) to <1968conference@gmail.com> by 1 May 2008, along with a brief biographical statement (max. 250 words) that can be used to introduce you. Please put "ABSTRACT: 1968 Conference" in the header of your email. Full panels of three papers may also be proposed (please submit all papers and biographies together in a single email), but there will be no guarantee that they will be accepted as stands.