Call for Papers | Call for Posters

On May 4-6, 2018, the Center for Inter-American Studies at the University of Graz is hosting a student conference with the aim of gathering students from different disciplines and backgrounds to exchange their research from an interdisciplinary, interregional and transnational perspective. Due to contemporary developments, such as migration and flight movements as well as ensuing political debates that demand stricter border policies and surveillance, the topic of borders has recently (re-)gained political momentum. We, however, want to transcend these narrow political definitions associated with the term and understand ‘borders’ in a broader sense as encompassing several meanings or layers of meaning. Thus, we encourage participants to develop new associations with and understandings of the term. ‘Borders’ can refer to any dividing line, including national, political, and geographical borders as well as boundaries between ethnic, gender, national, class, or age identities. In order to transcend these borders, possible topics may address, but are not limited to the following questions:

• Why do borders exist? • Why and how are they drawn? • How do they manifest themselves? • What are their meanings for different societal actors? • How are they perceived, portrayed, and represented? • Who do they include and exclude? • When, how, and why are borders transgressed, dissolved, or transformed? • What are consequences of the construction, transgression, or dissolution of borders? • Are borders absolute or permeable? Do they draw a clear line or do they feature grey

areas? Additionally, our focus lies on the human actors involved, drawing attention to those who are affected by these processes as well as to those who have initiated them. We invite participants to transcend disciplinary borders, taking into consideration methods and approaches of other disciplines in order to question and re-define assumptions, definitions, and categories of their own discipline and research. Internationality and interdisciplinarity are competences that are currently in high demand in academia. This conference will, therefore, provide opportunities for students to develop their presentation skills, discuss their research, and to experience an essential aspect of academic work. Academia continues to be an exclusive field, oftentimes discouraging students from participating actively in research, particularly those from a non-academic background. Therefore, this conference aims specifically at providing an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive environment for all students, in which they can prosper and evolve. If you have an interesting idea for a presentation or a poster, don’t doubt yourself and apply!

Application

Participation will be open to bachelor and master students from all backgrounds. PhD students are also invited to participate and will present on an extra panel. Possible fields of study may include, but are not limited to the humanities and social studies (e.g. cultural studies, history, sociology, political sciences, ethnology, cultural anthropology, linguistics, literary studies, archaeology, and art history). The working language at the conference will be English. The deadline for submission is 11 February 2018 at 23:59. Applicants will be notified about the acceptance of their proposals by 18 February 2018.

Call for Papers

Presentations: 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion

We strongly encourage the use of visual aids,

alternative presentation formats and creative presentation methods.

Proposals (3,000-4,000 characters) should

include research questions, thesis, main points, and conclusions. Additionally, an overview of

the sources that will be used and a bibliography should be provided.

Call for Posters Posters should clearly depict the most important aspects of your research, including your thesis. Presenters must be present during the conference to explain their posters. Format: DIN A0 (841mm wide x 1189mm high) The organizers will print the submitted posters collectively. Proposals (3,000-4,000 characters) should include research questions, thesis, main points, and conclusions. Additionally, an overview of the sources that will be used and a bibliography should be provided. You may also include a first draft of your poster.

Additionally, a short curriculum vitae is to be included in the application. It should briefly – in one paragraph – introduce the applicant and their background, their field of study, level of

study as well as their research interests.

For further information (e.g. tips for poster presentations), visit: traborp.wordpress.com

Support

The conference fee is 20€, which may be covered by your university. In exceptional cases, we can waive this fee, as we do not wish to deter anyone from participating in the conference due to financial reasons. If possible, we will also provide financial support for accommodation and travel costs. However, we strongly advise to ask at your university for additional funding.

HostFilm Best Paper Award 2018

In partnership with the HostFilm project and the Department of American Studies at the University of Graz, we are pleased to announce that the HostFilm Best Paper Award 2018 will be awarded to one of the participants during the conference. Please note the following details for applying for the award: The current displacement of refugees, the highest since WWII, has put to the test the Common European Asylum System of 1951 and the efforts to fashion the EU as an area of protection. Although other rules have been agreed upon, from the revised Asylum Procedures Directive to the revised EURODAC Regulation, the fact is that the EU is struggling to respond to the massive arrival of migrants, the streaming of its borders, and the thousands of deaths at its borders. Etienne Balibar’s concept of “Fortress Europe” still looms large. At the same time, the upsurge of the anti-immigrant message has fuelled extreme right ideologies in several European countries. How can prevalent discourses on the other, the nomad or arrivant be fruitfully brought into contact with the ancient virtue of hospitality? The HostFilm Best Paper Award honors exceptional efforts to theorize borders from the perspective of prominent concepts on hospitality from Kant’s “Cosmopolitan Hospitality”; Levinas’ and Derrida’s revisions; Agamben’s “homo sacer”; Nancy’s “abandoned being”; Serres’s parasite; Kristeva’s the abject; Bauman’s “disposable beings”; and others. The HostFilm Best Paper Award of 200 EUR is sponsored by the EU-funded project “HostFilm.” In addition to the regular application as outlined above, to apply for the award, please send your full paper (8 pages double-spaced, including references) by 21 March 2018 (23:59) to the contact address stated below. Only papers submitted then and there will be considered for the award. The award winner will be notified by 25 April 2018. Contact

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. All correspondence, including your proposals for papers or posters, your CV, and your full paper for applying for the HostFilm Best Paper Award, as well as further questions, should be addressed to

Marlene Fößl (marlene.foessl@uni-graz.at)

University of Graz Department of History

Heinrichstraße 26 8010 Graz

Austria