Kategorie: Aktuelles

BACS Literature Group Symposium, University of Leeds (GB)
7th September 2015

Extended Deadline: 30th June 2015

Amidst an ongoing public finance crisis, scholars of Canadian literature often find themselves confronted by the need to work within a new “research capitalism” paradigm (Coleman and Kamboureli 2011). While certainly not unique to the humanities, the current drive to refashion knowledge-production in view of the new socio-economic and political realities has affected the development of critical pedagogies which challenge canonised views while “initiating ethical acts that have social justice and equity as modes of desire” (Miki 2011: 259). Do the revised financial, institutional and disciplinary agendas inevitably doom Canadian literary scholarship to embracing the proverbial “strategy of survival” (Sojka 2013: 16)? Or, could this moment be an opportunity for rethinking the parameters of our pedagogic practice and exploring “the unpredictable resources of the imagination, and the plethora of non-rational tensions and uncertainties that are operative in everyday intellection” (Miki 2011: 254)?

This one-day symposium of the BACS Literature Group seeks to address the above questions by providing a forum for discussion, analysis and reflection on current practices of teaching Canadian literature in the UK and beyond. We are hoping that this event will give us the opportunity to share and reflect upon our teaching experiences, methodologies and approaches to curriculum design in a cross-institutional and trans-national setting, with a view of making an important contribution to pedagogic discussions taking place in Canada. Proposals for 15-minute position papers, case studies or reflective pieces on the above questions are invited. Although not limited to the following, these might address:

• designing Canada-related modules and syllabi within a non-Canadian HE setting;
• developing alternative models of Canadian literature knowledge-production and pedagogic practice in and outside the HE classroom;
• making Canada matter outside Canada – comparative and trans-national approaches to teaching and learning;
• assessing the impact of “rhizomatic learning” (Cormier 2010), interdisciplinarity and the  employability agenda on Canadian literary study;
• examining the role of Canadian Studies networks for the development of critical pedagogic practices.

The symposium is open to BACS members and non-members alike, and participants from any country are welcome, academic or professional background. Postgraduates and those with teaching experience in a non-academic context (e.g. arts organisations, schools, community groups, life-long learning, etc.) are particularly welcome. There is some funding available to help with the travel expenses of postgraduate / unwaged presenters.

Outline proposals for papers, reflective pieces, reports or case studies (250 words) and a short bio note should be sent to Dr Simone Lomartire and Dr Milena Marinkova at bacs2015symposium@gmail.com. Also welcome are alternative formats for presentation, such as workshops, roundtables or other dialogical arrangements (please note your suggested format on the proposal). Please submit your proposal no later than 30 June 2015. Extended versions of the papers will be uploaded on the BACS website in August.

7th Triennial International Conference of the Central European Association of Canadian Studies
9 – 10 October, 2015, Zagreb (Croatia)

Organizing Committee of the Croatian-Canadian Academic Society: Vanja Polić, Evaine Le Calve–Ivičević and Marija Paprašarovski from the University of Zagreb

As a geographical notion, “the North” can be used to indicate any or all locations in the northern hemisphere, from the equator to the North Pole. In relation to the United States, all of Canada can be seen as “the North”. But within Canada there is a whole range of different “Norths”, both historically and at present: the “Pays d’en Haut” of the voyageurs, the old Northwest, today’s camping and cottage country “up north”, the northern regions of many of the provinces (differing across the country), the northern territories (Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut), the Far North. Each of these reflects a different kind of “nordicity”, to use Canadian geographer LouisEdmond Hamelin’s now widely adopted term.

Beyond geography, “the North” is also a concept, one that encompasses a broad range of meanings and symbolic values. It is an imagined space as well as a space for the imaginary, a space of myth as well as a space shaped by myth, by turns cruel and ennobling, enigmatic and inspiring, powerful and fragile. The country’s “northerness” is often viewed as one of its
distinguishing features, a vital element in the Canadian identity – even when “the North” in this case may mean only the non-urban part of Canada north of the thin populated band hugging the border with the United States. It is also a source of pride – “the true North, strong and free” – and, increasingly, in an era of climate change, a challenge. Canada’s imagined and real Norths have been literary and cultural obsessions for centuries.

The aim of this conference is to explore both the literal and the imaginative aspects of the relationship between Canada and “the North” – geographical, economic, literary, linguistic, cultural, social, political, diplomatic, environmental. We seek submissions from all disciplines that deal with Canada and Canadian Studies.

The topics may include but are NOT limited to:
– the North and its representations: real and imaginary territory
– the North in Canadian literature: nordicity and its varieties
– First Nations artwork and literature
– the symbolic North in Canadian culture: hockey, curling, winter carnivals, canoes
– living in the North: Aboriginal communities, the life and survival of traditional cultures, demography and development of local communities, social problems
– North and South: Canada as America’s “North”, southern Canada and its “North”
– decision-making in the North: the roles of federal, provincial and territorial governments and of local administration
– the North and economic questions: exploitation of resources, gas and oil exploration, tourism
– the North and the international community: defense of Canadian sovereignty, the Arctic Council

The Croatian-Canadian Academic Society welcomes proposals for twenty-minute presentations in the field of Canadian Studies. Accepted are paper proposals in English and French. Abstracts of between 150 and 250 words + a brief CV (150 words) should be submitted via the Paper Proposal Submission Form, which is to be found on the conference website. This must be sent by 10 June 2015 to the conference e-mail zagreb2015conference@gmail.com. Notification of acceptance of paper by 15 June 2015.

Click here for the Conference Website and fore more information on the Call of Papers and the Paper Proposal Submission form: Zagreb 2015