Call for Papers
Deadline Extended to January 4th, 2010
Download a pdf version here
In recent years the rhetoric of political, social and cultural debate has taken a decidedly militaristic turn. The adversarial nature of contemporary politics is defined less by the issues at hand than by a base understanding of sides; Us v. Them, Democrat v. Republican, Good v. Evil. Social and cultural issues, too, are subject to these same forces. We are witness daily to the impact of culture war(s) and its “warriors” - the war on drugs, the war on poverty, class warfare - while open military conflict, “real war” provides a backdrop both spectacular and easily overlooked. The fifth annual Battleground States Conference, itself the product of a culture in conflict, considers War(s) and Peace broadly in an attempt to reconcile all aspects of a relationship that has become key to understanding the tendency to reduce the complex to the simple.
Broadly speaking, any and all of the following subjects are welcome, and represent the breadth of interpretation rather than an exhaustive or exclusive list:
- Race, class, gender, and the body
- Media, rhetoric and society
- Community, activism, pacifism and protest
- Interpersonal communication and daily life
- Technology, automation, and biopower
- Interpretation, “truth,” and privilege
We welcome creative interpretations of the conference theme such as, but not limited to:
- How the rhetoric of conflict has been deployed in social and cultural debate, and to what ends
- Peace as a contested narrative and possible site of a hopeful future
- The impact of historical narrative on our understanding of conflict
- The discord and harmony of everyday life
Battleground States 2010: War(s) and Peace will be held February 26th and 27th, 2010 on the Bowling Green State University campus. The Culture Club: Cultural Studies Scholars’ Association hopes to elicit presenters who consider the conference theme from multiple perspectives and media. As our aim is to create a conference dedicated to interdisciplinarity, we invite proposals from graduate students, emerging and independent scholars, junior faculty, artists, activists, filmmakers, and educators.
Abstract Guidelines:
Abstracts of 300 words or less should be sent to battlegroundstates (at) gmail (dot) com and must be submitted no later than January 4th, 2010. Submissions should include the title, abstract, presenter’s name, institutional affiliation (if applicable), contact information, A-V equipment requests, and special needs, if any. Traditional and non-traditional panel proposals of 3-4 people are also welcome and should include information and abstracts for all participants and the panel as a whole. We ask that all abstracts be sent as .doc files (please no .docx) as follows: lastname_firstname.doc.