Tentative Topics Include

I. Civilizations of the Americas

Civilizations and Societies in the pre-Columbian and post-Columbian Americas, Collapse of Indo-American civilizations, Native American civilizations and Societies, Impact of the Spanish Conquest, Interplay of civilizations and cultures in Canada and the United States, Quebec as a "distinct" civilization/culture, Huntington's clash of civilizations, Canadian multiculturalism and the culture of nowhere, Muslim integration into the Americas and Europe.

II. Asian, Islamic, African, and European Civilization Topics

The efflorescence of Islam in the West, Religious Wars and Social Collapse, European Demographics: Cultural Suicide or Ecological Sustainability? Asian Hegemony--Global Economy in the Asian Age, Islam and Modernity, "Decline" of the West, Hinduism and Islam inside India, Multicultural Feminism vs. Western Feminism.

III. General Topics

Cross-civilizational Experiences, "Sparks Flying" - Current Hot Topics, Civilizational Boundaries, Civilizational crises, Future of Civilizations, Multiculturalism, General Theories of Civilization, Culture and Civilizations, Workshop on Retarding/Reversing the Decline of Civilizations, Workshop on the Possibility of the Conscious Design of the Development of a Civilization, Global Civilization, Book Reviews, and Contributions of civilizationalists-Toynbee, Wittfogel, Braudel, Needham, Landes, Diamond, McNeill, Frank, VDH, Barzun, Ortega y Gasset, and Vico.

Abstracts: Please send Abstracts via email (500 words maximum; Deadline: April 20, 2008) to Stephen Blaha at ISCSCabstracts@yahoo.com, or to Ricardo Duchesne, University of New Brunswick at rduchesn@unbsj.ca