28 April 2008

CFP - 35th AULLA conference - "The Human and Humanities in Literature, Language and Culture" (U of Sydney, 4-6 Feb 2009) Deadline: 31 Oct 2008

The Human and Humanities in Literature, Language and Culture
A landmark international conference hosted by The University of Sydney
4-6 February 2009

The 35th Congress of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association (AULLA) will be a landmark event. As the first decade of the twenty-first century draws to a close, it is time for a major reassessment of the human and humanities in literature, language and culture. Scholars in these fields are invited to submit proposals for papers and panels relating to this theme throughout history and into the future. The conference has a dual aim of promoting: (1) detailed research into the human (and inhuman) in literature, languages and culture; and (2) broad-scale exploration of the past, present and future definitions of and directions for the humanities. There will be opportunities for delegates to have their papers considered for refereed publication. Plenary speakers will be announced soon.

Presenters are invited to consider the following issues:

  • How are the human and inhuman represented, constituted and reconfigured in literature, languages, film and culture?
  • What do the human and inhuman signify to authors, directors, translators, compilers, readers, spectators and thinkers?
  • What are the filmic, literary and cultural theories of the human and inhuman that resonate with and illuminate our texts?
  • What are the ethics, politics and aesthetics of the human and humanities?
  • What are the human and humanities in the twenty-first century and what have they been in the past?
  • What are limits of and possibilities for our current disciplines within the humanities?
  • What are the specifically Australasian contexts for the human and humanities?

Abstracts (200 words) for papers and suggestions for themed panels will be requested by October 31, 2008.

Full details will be announced soon. http://www.aulla.com.au/

General enquiries to:

Colin Anderson (AULLA President) (c.g.anderson@massey.ac.nz)

Liam Semler (AULLA Secretary) (liam.semler@usyd.edu.au).