Call for Organizers of Working Groups, Curated Panels, Seminars, Workshops, and Praxis Events
Canadian Association for Theatre Research / L’association canadienne de la recherche théâtrale (CATR/ACRT), Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts, Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Tuesday 29 May – Friday 1 June 2018
Citing the famed televised boxing „scene“ in 2012 between future Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Senator Patrick Brazeau in their groundbreaking book Performance Studies in Canada, Laura Levin and Marlis Schweitzer articulate the emerging relationships between theatre studies and performance studies in Canada not only as distinct from the US and the UK, but also as fields of contest with one another. Listing recent Canadian conferences and postsecondary programs that focus on performance studies topics, they assert that it is a „false dichotomy that positions theatre studies in opposition to performance studies,“ one that is „unproductive“ (15). Viewed in various ways, we might imagine these fields as invitations for conversation among „strangers,“ in the sense of Barry Freeman’s recent consideration of globalization on Canadian stages; as merging in Heather Davis-Fisch’s recent examination of „performance histories“ in Canadian Performance Histories and Historiographies; or as when Jill Carter describes „Indigenous templates“ „maintaining balance, arriving at consensus, avoiding conflict, and fulfilling responsibility for the good of all“ (2). In 2015 ‚The Other D: Locating Dance in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies‘ conference hosted North American and international scholars who questioned the place of dance within theatre and performance studies in Canada. In other words, the meeting and confluence of fields in our scholarship and art can be made into sites of empowerment and further understanding.
CATR2018 seeks discussion that is cognizant of breaking down fortifications that separate fields, methodologies, and perspectives related to theatre studies, performance studies, dance studies, and dramatic literature. And we ask: How can we excavate aspects of conversation, contestation, confluence, and exchange from the work we do in our fields?
A hybrid site of human activity for 9000 years, the land that is now Kingston has been stewarded by Wendat, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and Ojibwa (Mississauga) peoples. Located at the junction of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River on the resource-rich Canadian shield, upon European contact „Kingston“ became a strategic shipping port and military outpost, first for the French and then the British, adjacent to the United States. Garrison theatricals became an integral part of the town’s life and Fort Henry became one of the area’s most recognizable buildings following the War of 1812. The college that became Queen’s University was built in 1841.
We invite proposals for working groups, curated panels, seminars, roundtables, praxis workshops, and performances from scholars, artists, and scholar-practitioners. As always, CATR encourages all voices, including underrepresented or marginalized perspectives. We welcome a range of research subjects and approaches. Graduate students who have not yet presented at a major national conference are encouraged to submit. We encourage proposals focusing on the conference theme, but proposals that depart from the theme will also be considered. All accepted presenters and participants are required to join CATR. For more information on CATR, now in its 41st year, and to join or to renew your membership please visit http://www.catracrt.ca.
Please note: the calls below are for curated events only. A separate open call for papers will be circulated in early October.
For the full Call for Organizers here: http://bit.ly/2uY6VNu
Abstract Submission Deadline: Sept. 30, 2017