28 September 2007

VISITING PROFESSORSHIP - Australia-Japan Foundation Visiting Professorship, University of Tokyo (2008-2009) Applications close 26 Oct 2007

On behalf of the Australia-Japan foundation, InASA (International Australian Studies Association) is seeking applications for the Visiting Professorship 2008-9 in Australian Studies at the University of Tokyo’s Centre for Pacific and American Studies.

The position commences 1 October 2008.
Applications close 26 October 2007.

>> Full position description and application details in THIS DOCUMENT (MS-Word).

CFP - Australian & New Zealand Studies Association of North America conference (28 Feb - 1 Mar 2008; Austin, Texas, USA) Abstracts by 15 Dec 2007

2008 Annual Conference
Doubletree Guest Suites in Austin, Texas
28 February—1 March 2008

The Australian and New Zealand Studies Association of North America will hold its annual conference in Austin, Texas from 28 February through 1 March 2008. ANZSANA is a multidisciplinary organization and welcomes papers on any aspect of Australian or New Zealand studies and comparative studies involving Australia, New Zealand, and North America. ANZSANA will meet simultaneously with the annual meeting of the American Association of Australian Literary Studies (AAALS). Shared events will include an evening reception on 28 February and a formal banquet on 29 February.

More information on ANZSANA and the conference is available at http://www.anzsana.org/

The DEADLINE for submission of paper proposals will be 15 DECEMBER 2007. Notices of acceptance will be sent no later than 1 January 2008.

Proposals should include the author’s name and institutional affiliation, the title of the paper, and an abstract of no more than 500 words. They should be attached to an email as either a Word or PDF document.

ANZSANA welcomes submissions from graduate students and offers a limited number of travel grants to facilitate their participation. Graduate students must indicate their status as such in order to be considered for a grant.

Please send paper proposals to:

Dr. Greg Brown
Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
Box 571021, Georgetown University
Washington, DC 20057-1021

gsb23@georgetown.edu

The registration fee of $125.00 (either US of CD) includes a one-year ANZSANA membership, a wine and cheese reception on Thursday evening, and other conference meals. Participants are also invited to attend a formal banquet dinner on Friday, 29 February at an additional cost of $50.00 (either US or CD).

19 September 2007

RESEARCH WORKSHOP - Asian/Australian Values: New Directions in Australian Literature (U of Wollongong; 22-23 Nov 2007)

A discourse of ‘values’ (national values, cultural values, regional values) has emerged in parts of Asia, and more recently in Australia, generally as a means of affirming particular notions of identity as normative. It is timely to refocus on Australian literature involving Asian connections (writing by Australians of Asian background, Australian writing about Asia and Asians), and to consider the transformation, and clash, of values resulting from cross-cultural encounters.

The workshop invites participants to assess the current state of Asian-Australian writing. Much scholarly attention was devoted to Australian fiction about Asia when it was a relatively new phenomenon in the 1970s-80s. Creative writing by Asian Australians took centre stage in the 1990s, and research, conferences, and publications proliferated. What is the current situation? Is more, or less, being published in these categories? Who are the new writers, readers, scholars, and publishers? Is the work taking new forms and reaching new audiences? To what extent has it been displaced by the wave of writing and publishing about the Middle East, Muslims, terrorists, and refugees?

The aim of the workshop is to gather knowledge from the field about the current condition of Australian literature involving Asian connections and to examine it in relation to different notions of value. Panel members may address the topic within global or theoretical contexts, may speculate on implications for the category of Australian Literature (‘Ozlit’), for Australian cultural diplomacy, or offer views on future directions for creative and scholarly work. They may also consider the challenges for pedagogic practice, in particular for the teaching of Australian literature to Asian students.

It is expected that the workshop will result in the publication of an edited collection of essays.

This event is hosted by the Centre for Asia-Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS). For more information, contact Wenche Ommundsen (wenche@uow.edu.au).

MASTERCLASS - Postcolonial Studies Masterclass - "Ethics and Hospitality" (U of Otago, NZ; 10-12 Dec 2007) Deadline for registrations: 1 Nov 2007

Hosted by the Postcolonial Studies Research Network University of Otago
10–12 December 2007

The University of Otago’s Postcolonial Studies Research Network is pleased to announce its second three-day intensive Masterclass. The 2007 Masterclass, “Ethics and Hospitality,” focuses on an important and largely overlooked area of postcolonial studies. Ethics has long been treated as postcolonialism’s “stepchild,” a secondary and merely incidental addition to the field’s more urgent commitment to questions of politics. It is now increasingly recognised, however, that in their very supplementarity, ethical demands in fact lie at the heart of postcolonial studies.

By addressing these questions, the 2007 Masterclass on “Ethics and Hospitality” begins this difficult process of rethinking the political in terms of the ethical. Each day will focus on a particular aspect of this rethinking, led by scholars of note whose research has contributed to the ethical reframing of the field of postcolonial studies:

Day One: Ethics and Forgiveness in Postcolonial Contexts (Kim Worthington)
Day Two: National Hospitality and Belonging in a Postcolonial World (Rosalyn Diprose)
Day Three: Postcolonialism, Friendship and Love (Linnell Secomb)

>> For more information, download the flyer for the masterclass (PDF; 643Kb).

JOB - Lecturer/Snr Lecturer in Australian Literature, U of Sydney (Closing date for applications: 14 October 2007)

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Australian Literature
Department of English
School of Letters, Art and Media
Reference No. 111603

Applications are invited for a continuing position in Australian Literature in the Department of English within the School of Letters, Art and Media. The Department of English has about thirty full-time academic staff, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate education and training in all fields and periods of English language and literature, from the medieval to the contemporary (including film and creative writing).

The Department has a tradition of leadership and excellence in the field of Australian literary studies. The Chair in Australian literature was established in 1963 and is currently held by Professor Robert Dixon. The Department is unique in Australia in offering a major in Australian literature, and has a significant number of research higher degree students in the field.

The position is continuing full-time, subject to the completion of a satisfactory probation period for new appointees. Membership of a University approved superannuation scheme is a condition of employment for new appointees.

>> FOR MORE INFORMATION and ONLINE APPLICATION, CLICK HERE.

CLOSE OF APPLICATIONS - 14 OCTOBER 2007

17 September 2007

SEMINAR/PERFORMANCE - Soma-Rasa (Shalmalee Palekar, UNSW)

Date/Time: Friday 12 October, 6 pm
Venue: UTS Bldg3, rm210, enter via 755 Harris St

Soma-Rasa: In this theory / fiction / performance, Soma-Rasa, I will examine my "raced," lesbian, academic, creative body as a site of both "otherness" and empowerment. By inhabiting the subject position(s) of a diasporic, Indian, lesbian academic in Australia, do I necessarily operate from multiple liminalities? In what ways do I negotiate with whiteness? Attempting a fluid movement between "authenticity" and dreams, between split selves and fragmented subjectivities, between playfulness and polemic, my writing / performance will interrogate boundaries of the gendered body, sexuality, "race," and professionalism. I will explore what representations make it possible for the voices of "Indian women" to not be completely anchored to a space that is dictated only by white Western and Indian dominant discourses. Ultimately, I aim to develop a longer multimedia performance piece that examines the embodied production of knowledge and writes sexuality as a participation in multicultural community networks.

Bio: Shalmalee Palekar is currently a lecturer in the School of English, Media and Performing Arts at UNSW. She has previously taught at Sophia College, University of Mumbai, India, SNDT Women's University, Mumbai, and Macquarie University. Shalmalee has published journal articles and book chapters in the areas of postcolonial, queer and gender studies. In 2005, she was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Asia-Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS), University of Wollongong, where her research focused on representations of women's sexualities in Indian fiction and cinema. Shalmalee is also an active translator of Marathi poetry into English, and writes, acts, and performs professionally with three women and a cello, collectively called "Funkier Than Alice".

14 September 2007

VISITING FELLOWSHIPS - Research School of Humanities Visiting Fellowship Program, ANU (Deadline: 31 Jan 2008)

RSH 2009 Visiting Fellowship Program
Research School of Humanities, College of Arts and Social Sciences, The Australian National University

>> Applications close 31 January 2008

The Research School of Humanities has been established by the Australian National University in 2007 by amalgamating four key Centres of the University – the renowned Humanities Research Centre, the Centre for Cross Cultural Research, the National Europe Centre and the Australian National Dictionary Centre.

The RSH builds on research fostered by these Centres and seeks to promote innovative research in the Humanities. Its Visiting Fellowship program is an enhancement of the program offered by the HRC since the 1970s and provides funds to support scholars to work in the Research School. Applications are particularly welcome from scholars with interests in one or more of the RSH’s research platforms and especially from those whose current projects relate to the RSH 2009 Annual Theme of ‘Cosmopolitanisms’. Applications for fellowships to the Freilich Foundation to work in the area of bigotry and tolerance are also welcomed

The key research platforms of the RSH include:
  • Biography and Society
  • Visual Culture
  • Museums and Collections
  • Public Memory and Historical Re-enactment
  • Creativity and Human Rights
  • Interdisciplinary Cross Cultural Studies
  • European Studies
  • Literature, Linguistics and Lexicography
  • E-Humanities
Application are now open and guidelines, application and referees forms can be downloaded the RSH website: http://rsh.anu.edu.au/

12 September 2007

CFP - Japanese Transnational Fandoms and Female Consumers (U of Wollongong, NSW; 3-4 July 2008) Deadline: 25 Oct 2007

This workshop investigates the different ways in which originally Japanese genres, aesthetics and styles have been taken up, deployed and transformed by female fans transnationally. The way in which Japanese products, styles and images are received in different cultures as well as the (sub)cultural ends to which they are deployed will be investigated, as will the impact of the fandom on the changing nature of consumerism, participatory fan culture and particularly gender in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. We invite papers that discuss female consumers’ uptake of originally Japanese popular cultural styles and artefacts across all regions and media.

Of particular interest in this workshop is the ‘yaoi’ or ‘boys’ love’ (BL) manga/animation fandom popular with girls and young women. Over the last decade there has been a massive boom in interest in this genre (including commercially translated and published volumes as well as amateur fan-authored productions) in Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Papers focusing specifically on the yaoi/BL fandom are particularly welcome.

The workshop will result in a themed edition of the journal Intersections: http://wwwsshe.murdoch.edu.au/intersections/ due for release in April 2009.

Keynote speaker:
Professor Christine Yano (University of Hawaii) speaking on the global Hello Kitty Fandom.

Other invited speakers include: Professor Chris Berry (Goldsmiths University) speaking on BL fan circles in Shanghai; Dr Kazumi Nagaike (Oita University) speaking on the history and cultural context of Japanese BL fandom; Dr Sharalyn Orbaugh (University of British Columbia) speaking on yaoi influence on the Harry Potter fandom; Dr Larissa Hjorth (RMIT) speaking on “cute customisation” across Japanese and Korean new media; Dr Fran Martin (University of Melbourne) speaking on the BL fandom in Taiwan.

Please send 250 word title and abstract and a short biography to Dr Mark McLelland (markmc@uow.edu.au) and Dr Fran Martin (f.martin@unimelb.edu.au) by 25 October 2007.

A limited number of travel bursaries will be available.

This event is sponsored by the ARC’s Cultural Research Network and CAPSTRANS (Centre for Asia-Pacific Social Transformation Studies) at the University of Wollongong.

7 September 2007

NEW SHOW - "Flatland" by Caroline Gopalkrishnan and Shirley Van Sanden (10 Sept - 6 Oct 2007; Blue Room Theatre, Northbridge, WA)

Flatland by Caroline Gopalkrishnan and Shirley Van Sanden

A brand new "dramedy" by Caroline Gopalkrishnan and Shirley Van Sanden, directed by Justin Cheek, presented by The Blue Room and Class Act Theatre.

“Fellatio! Come and get it!" A cat, Fellatio, is missing. Flies buzz. A toilet is blocked. The garbos are on strike. A weekend like any other has begun...

Merv the Perv collects dog poo. Doug grows vegetables. Ella belly dances. Zoya looks for her lost friend.

A knock on the door…and everything changes.

Who is this stranger? What does he want? Where's he from? And how does he know their secrets?

Cast: Kingsley Judd, Stephen Lee, Dan Luxton, Angelique Malcolm and Lilanthi Weddikkara.

Set Design: Nick Yaksich

Sound Design: Owen Hughes

Lighting Design: Aaron Stirk

Sept 19 to Oct 6 (Tues-Sat) 7pm (preview: Tues 18 Sept)
Venue: The Blue Room Studio, 53 James St, Northbridge
Cost: Full $20 / Conc. $15. Blue Room Members: $18 / $12
Contact details: Bookings: 9227 7005 /
www.pacs.org.au

5 September 2007

TWO ONLINE EXHIBITIONS - "Pai Nai Ma" and "Packing to Leave" (Migration Heritage Centre, NSW)

TWO ONLINE EXHIBITIONS at the Migration Heritage Centre (NSW)

1. Pai Mai Ma: Thai-Australian Experiences
Pai Nai Ma means 'where have you been?' and is an everyday Thai expression similar to the greeting 'how are you?' in English. This exhibition looks at where Thai migrants 'have been' - through personal possessions and community collections. From the Loy Krathong festival to Buddhist temples, Thai culture has become a part of the Parramatta and wider Australian story.

2. Packing to Leave: Saris, Suits and Spices
Migration stories from South Asia to Sydney. View mini-documentaries filmed in people's homes. Former migrants share their personal stories, photos and memorabilia - new interviews are being added each month in 2007. Meet Kalyan Ram from New Delhi, India; Vasant Sheth from Bombay, India (now Mumbai); and Yasmeen Islam from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

LECTURE - Waleed Aly (Sydney Myer Asia Centre, Melbourne; 27 Sept 2007)

A Night of Stories: With Waleed Aly - People Like Us
Thursday 27 September 2007,
6.30pm for 7pm start Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne

“A Night of Stories: With Waleed Aly - People Like Us”

Recently, Islam and the West have spoken so many words about each other, but have these words fostered deeper understanding about each other? A regular columnist in The Age, Waleed Aly examines the cultural chasm between Islam and the West in his book People like Us. As a Muslim born and raised in Australia, Waleed stands at the intersection of Islam and the West and sees a world of perpetual misunderstandings, as both fail to see beyond the stereotypes and truly comprehend the other.

Waleed Aly is the board member of the Islamic Council of Victoria and lecturer at Global Terrorism Unit at Monash University. Mr. Aly will be joined in conversation by Dr. Ian Coller from the School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne.

This event is presented by Asialink, Readings and Picador Australia Entry is free.

RSVP to Asialink Events at events@asialink.unimelb.edu.au with "A Night of Stories-Aly" in the subject line.

MASTERCLASS - Susannah Radstone (Melb and Syd; Nov 2007)

The ARC Cultural Research Network Cultural Histories and Geographies Node presents:

'Memory/Nation/Culture'

a travelling masterclass with Dr Susannah Radstone

venue: University of Melbourne, VIC
date: Friday 16th November, 2007
time: 9am-5pm

AND

venue: University of Technology,Sydney
date: Friday 23rdNovember, 2007
time: 9am-5pm


How do film, literature and other media 'remember' national pasts? Over the last fifteen years or so, theories of cultural memory and trauma have had a profound impact across the humanities, encouraging researchers at all levels to approach novels, films and television as 'memory media'. The same period has witnessed the production of a wide range of films, novels and other art forms whose concerns are with recent - and not so recent - national pasts, including W G Sebald's Austerlitz and Kate Grenville's The Secret River, and the films Amistad and Rabbit Proof Fence. Such texts have become the primary sources for many studies of cultural, literary and film memory. But how do theories of trauma and cultural memory help us to engage with national literatures and cinemas and what are the most useful methods for the analysis of memory media?

what is it? We are seeking applications from postgraduates and early career researchers whose work relates to the general theme, 'Memory/Nation/Culture'. The masterclass will follow a 'workshop' format, which will give postgraduate students the opportunity to present and discuss some their own research. Places in each intensive masterclass will be limited.

how much does it cost? The masterclasses are free of charge to successful applicants and include lunch and morning/afternoon teas. Participants from interstate may be eligible for travel and accommodation subsidies.

how do I apply? Applications are due by Friday 12th October, 2007 and must include a completed application form, downloadable from the CRN website at
http://www.uq.edu.au/crn/projects/masterclass.html.
Please include a short (max 300 words) description of your research including information about your primary texts and chosen research methods.

Applications and queries should be submitted via email, to Kelly Butler at k.butler1@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au

===========

Susannah Radstone's current research interests are in cultural memory at the interface between the psyche, history and culture. Publications include The Sexual Politics of Time: Confession, Nostalgia, Memory (forthcoming December 2007); Memory and Methodology (2000) and The Politics of Memory: Contested Pasts (2005). She teaches in the School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies at the University of East
London and is currently senior visiting fellow at the Australian Centre, University of Melbourne.

NEW PUBLICATIONS - Rediscovered Past (Wong Hoy) and At Home in the Chinese Diaspora (Kuah-Pearce and Davidson)

Two new publications of interest to AAS scholars:

1. REDISCOVERED PAST: CHINA IN NORTH QUEENSLAND. Edited by Kevin Wong Hoy.
Rediscovered Past is an exciting collection of fresh research into Chinese Australian history and archaeology in north Queensland.This collection “offers a wealth of research garnered from primary sources … addressing a wide range of historical and heritage conservation issues. The deliberate concentration on north Queensland is satisfying in allowing a more complex engagement with the region and its specificities.”Rediscovered Past is an initiative of Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia Inc. This publication is NOW AVAILABLE:

>> Download order form for Rediscovered Past (MS-Word document; includes contents listing for the publication).


2. AT HOME IN THE CHINESE DIASPORA: MEMORIES, IDENTITIES AND BELONGINGS. Edited by Khun Eng Kuah-Pearce and Andrew P. Davidson.
In At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memories, Identities and Belongings , the contributors interrogate current debates in relation to the ways in which memory, identity and sense of belonging help shape migrants' understanding of self, the diasporic community(ies) and the wider society in which they live. They describe the local and transnational challenges such diasporic communities face in their daily lives, how memories are reproduced, how they serve as social and cultural capital, how they create tensions and conflicts and how they change and impact on the individuals and communities across generational barriers. The authors also explore the role of place in situating memories and how the media, films and music portray and reinforce the understanding of identity.

This publication has significant Asian Australian material, including contributions by David Ip, Andrew Davidson and Lucille Ngan.

>> Visit the publisher's (Palgrave) site for this book: At Home in the Chinese Diaspora