An Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference

9-10th September 2010

This conference seeks to provide a critical interrogation of the concept of crisis through an inter-disciplinary analysis of the plethora of ‘crises’ facing those studying in the arts, media and social sciences. This approach will consider the concepts of crisis, rupture and anxiety and their relevance to local and global conditions in sectors including capitalism, the environment, international relations, multiculturalism, identity and politics among others. This process will seek to plot themes among these crises and to question the potential for transformation. In turn we seek to offer an insight into the process of crisis management to ascertain who are the winners and losers from the seemingly crisis ridden age in which we research, study and live.

Presentations welcome from fields such as politics, philosophy, anthropology, religions and theology, geography, sociology, criminology, literature, history, classics, translation studies, linguistics and social linguistics, visual and screen studies, new media and communication studies and the performing arts.

Possible themes include

• The financial crisis and the crisis in capitalism
• Globalisation, multiculturalism and cultural identity
• Crisis management and the state
• Political engagement and the crisis in party politics
• Technological anxiety and global media-scapes.
• The ecological crisis and sustainable solutions

Keynote speakers

Professor Mark Neocleous, Professor of the Critique of Political Economy, Brunel University

Other keynotes TBC

Abstracts of 250 words are invited for presentations of 20 minutes. The event will provide a friendly atmosphere where postgraduates can gain experience, make contacts and discuss idea. Participants not wishing to present are also welcome.

The conference also formally publishes an edited volume of the best papers presented.