THE SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CULTURAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION (U.S.)
New York City, New York (New York University) May 22-24, 2008
The Cultural Studies Association (U.S.) invites participation in its Sixth
Annual Meeting from all areas and on all topics of relevance to Cultural
Studies, including but not limited to literature, history, sociology,
geography, anthropology, communications, popular culture, cultural theory,
queer studies, critical race studies, feminist studies, postcolonial
studies, media and film studies, material culture studies, performance and
visual arts studies.
The conference this year will feature plenary sessions on New York and
Culture, Gender and Sexuality, Law and Minorities. Plenarists include,
Arlene Davila, New York University, author of Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans,
Latinos and the Neoliberal City, and Latinos, Inc., The Marketing and Making
of a People
Rosemary Coombe, Law, Communications and Cultural Studies, York University,
author of The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties, and “Legal Claims to
Culture in and Against the Market”
Janet Jacobsen, Columbia, author of Working Alliances and the Politics of
Difference: Diversity and Feminist Ethics, and Love the Sin: Sexual
Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance
Jasbir Puar, Women’s and Gender Studies and Geography, Rutgers University,
author of “On Torture: Abu Ghraib,” and “Queer Times, Queer Assemblages.”
Neil Smith, CUNY Graduate Center, author of American Empire: Roosevelt’s
Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization, and The Endgame of
Globalization.
The conference will continue to host last year’s highly successful “salon”
panels by major cultural studies journals. Thus far, the following journals
plan on hosting a journal salon:
Theory & Event
South Atlantic Quarterly
Boundary 2
Callaloo (special issue on Katrina and New Orleans)
Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies
Positions: East Asia Cultural Critique
Rethinking Marxism
Women & Performance
Radical History Review
Signs (special issue on race/gendered logics of war and terror)
Public Culture
Critical Inquiry
Social Text
All participants in the Sixth Annual meeting must pay registration fees by
April 15, 2008, to be listed and participate in the program. See the
registration page of the CSA conference website for details about fees at
http://www.csaus.pitt.edu .
If you have any questions about procedures for submission or other
concerns, please e-mail us at: csaus@pitt.edu. We welcome proposals in the
following four categories:
1. INDIVIDUAL PAPERS
Proposals for individual papers are due November 10, 2007.
Successful papers will reach several constituencies of the organization and
will connect analysis to social, political, economic, or ethical questions.
They should be submitted online below on the conference website:
<http://www.csaus.pitt.edu/conf/submit.php?cf=5
>. Successful
submission will be acknowledged. If you do not receive an acknowledgment
within 24 hours, please resubmit. The acknowledgment will say that your
proposal has been “successfully submitted,” which does NOT mean your
proposal has been accepted.
All paper proposals require:
a. The name, email address, department and institutional affiliation of the
author, entered on the website.
b. A 500-word abstract for the 20-minute paper entered on the website.
c. Any needed audio-visual equipment must be noted following the abstract in
that space on the site.
2. PRE-CONSTITUTED PAPER SESSIONS, ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS, OR WORKSHOP SESSIONS
Proposals for pre-constituted sessions are due November 10, 2007.
Roundtables are sessions in which panelists offer brief remarks, but the
bulk of the session is devoted to discussion among the panelists and
audience members. Workshops are similarly devoted primarily to discussion,
but they focus on practical problems in such areas as teaching, research, or
activism. No paper titles may be included for roundtables or workshops.
Pre-constituted sessions should NOT be submitted on the website, but should
be sent to with the words ”Session Proposal” in the
subject line. All proposals will be acknowledged, but please allow at least
two business days before inquiring.
All session proposals require:
a. The name, email address, phone number, and department and institutional
affiliation of the proposer.
b. The names, email addresses, and department and institutional affiliations
of each participant.
c. A 500-word overview of the session, including identifying the type of
session (panel, roundtable, workshop) proposed. For paper sessions, also
include 500-word abstracts of each of the papers. Paper sessions should have
three or four papers.
d. A request for any needed audio-visual equipment. All AV equipment must be
requested with the proposal.
3. DIVISION SESSIONS
A list of divisions is available at <http://www.csaus.pitt.edu
>. Calls for papers and procedures for
submission to divisions may be posted on that site. Proposals for divisions
should NOT be submitted here or to csaus@pitt.
4. SEMINAR PROPOSALS
Proposals for seminars are due November 10, 2007.
Seminars are small-group (maximum 15 individuals) discussion sessions for
which participants prepare in advance of the conference. In previous years,
preparation has involved shared readings, pre-circulated ”position papers”
by seminar leaders and/or participants, and other forms of pre-conference
collaboration. We particularly invite proposals for seminars designed to
advance emerging lines of inquiry and research/teaching initiatives within
Cultural Studies broadly construed. We also invite seminars designed to
generate future collaborations among conference attendees. Once a limited
number of seminar topics and leaders are chosen, the seminars will be
announced through the CSA’s various public e-mail lists on November 1.
Participants will contact the seminar leader(s) directly who will then
inform the Program Committee who will participate in the seminar after
November 20.
All seminar proposals require:
a. A 500-word overview of the topic designed to attract participants and
clear instructions about how the seminar will work, including details about
what advanced preparation will be required of seminar participants.
b. The name, email address, phone number, mailing address, and departmental
and institutional affiliation of the leader(s) proposing the seminar.
c. A brief bio or one page CV of the leader(s) proposing the seminar.
d. A request for any needed audio-visual equipment. All AV equipment must be
requested with the proposal. Since seminars typically involve discussion of
previously circulated papers, such requests must be explained.
Seminar proposals should be sent to:
Bruce Burgett, Professor and Interim Director, Interdisciplinary Arts and
Sciences, University of Washington Bothell
Those interested in participating in (rather than leading) a seminar should
consult the list of seminars and the instructions for signing up for them,
available at <http://www.csaus.pitt.edu< after November 20, 2007. Deadline
to sign up will be December 15, 2007.