Virginia Tech STS Graduate Conference
Outside Authority
Saturday, October 15, 2011
www.outsideauthority.org

Keynote Speaker
Dr. Zachary Schrag, Associate Professor of History and Art History, George Mason University
Author of Ethical Imperialism: Institutional Review Boards and the Social Sciences, 1965-2009 (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010)

The Virginia Tech STS Graduate Student Organization invites paper proposals for its upcoming conference, Outside Authority. Please join us for a day of papers, discussion and debate as we explore issues and questions about authority, legitimacy and expertise. The conference format will feature a keynote speech and plenary paper sessions, and will conclude with a collegial, interactive debate among all conference participants.

We welcome proposals for papers that investigate questions of authority from across disciplines, and in a range of contexts, including (but not limited to) communication/media, education and pedagogy, environment, public policy, politics and activism, science, and technology.

Some Questions for Consideration
- How and on what basis has authority been achieved and maintained? Over what domains, and toward what ends?
- What are the techniques of authority?
- In what shapes and guises does authority appear?
- How does authority change over time and across contexts?
- How and why might authority be challenged, or evaded?
- What and where are spaces "outside authority"? Why and how might one find them and function within them?
- What is the authority of intellectual work? How in particular do scholars and writers attempt to establish and practice authority, either within or outside of academic domains?

Submission Guidelines
Deadline for proposals: September 16, 2011.
Please submit your 300-word abstract, along with your name, institutional affiliation, email and phone number, as a Word or PDF attachment to vtsts@outsideauthority.org. Limited travel funds are available. Please indicate your interest in consideration for travel funds with your proposal. Notification of decisions about the program will be sent to all submitters by September 20.

Registration for the conference is free of charge.

We welcome your questions, and look forward to your participation.

Sincerely,

Outside Authority Organizing Committee
vtsts@outsideauthority.org
William Davis
Monique Dufour
Sally Morgan
Adam Smith