Call: Papers wanted for "Embodied Politics in Visual Autobiography"

Call for Papers

Embodied Politics in Visual Autobiography

We invite contributions for a proposed collection of essays on visual
autobiography, focusing on health, bodies, and embodied subjectivities.
The collection will consider how cultural practices of self-narration
and self-portraiture image and imagine unruly bodies and, in so doing,
respond to Patricia Zimmerman's call for "radical media democracies
that animate contentious public spheres" (2000, p. xx).

How are health, dis/ability, and the body theorized, materialized, and
politicized in visual autobiographies, including forms such as
photography, video art, graphic memoir, film, body art and performance,
and digital media? We are particularly interested in the potential of
visual autobiographies to:
-explore how bodies negotiate disciplinary regimes and technologies
-produce counterdiscursive manoeuvres and new representational spaces
-investigate how power/knowledge relations constitute embodiments
-provoke critical and ethical reflection

We welcome contributions from academic- and arts-based researchers and
practitioners. We encourage a wide range of critical perspectives:
cultural studies, critical theory, disability studies, feminist
studies, critical race studies, diaspora studies, queer studies,
Aboriginal studies, globalization studies, literary studies, art
history, music, media studies, theatre and performance studies.
Analytic approaches could involve: textual analysis; histories,
presents, and futures; practices and practitioners; and pedagogy.

Possible topics:
dis/ability
sickness/wellness
disease
bodies negotiating borders and boundaries
traded and disappeared bodies
trauma and testimony
memory and memorializing
monstrosity
care of the self
care-giving
fatness and body size
aging
body alterations and transformations
environments
activisms

Send a 300- to 500-word abstract, working title, and a brief bio, by
email in a Word attachment, to Sarah Brophy (brophys@mcmaster.ca) and Janice Hladki (hladkij@mcmaster.ca) on or before May 15, 2008.
Inquiries are also welcome. Final papers should range in length from
4000-8000 words.

About the editors: Sarah Brophy is an Associate Professor in English
and Cultural Studies, McMaster University. Janice Hladki is an
Associate Professor in Theatre and Film Studies, McMaster University.

Call: Saskatoon Anarchist Book Fair seeks participants

The 2nd Annual Saskatoon Anarchist Book-Fair is coming, and we need vendors,
workshop facilitators, and volunteers!

The dates have been set as September 28th and 29t h, 2007 at the Cosmo
Senior Citizen's Centre off Broadway, with a potluck supper on Friday the
28th to welcome out-of-towners followed by a party with live music, and a
jam-packed day of book-fair from 10 am to 10 pm on Saturday the 29th. (No
fair on Sunday)

The event will be wheel-chair accessible and all ages, with free admission,
free vegan food, free workshops, and free child-care. Donations will be
accepted at the door to recoup expenses.

If you run a distro, store, collective, or other organization and would like
to register a table to distribute your anarchy-related wares, please try to
confirm with us before September 10th. Tables are free; however we
encourage donations from vendors that profit from the fair to help pay the
bills. If you are travelling from afar, let us know ASAP if you need a
billet (how many people, any allergies, any lifestyle or bedding
preferences) and feel free to ask us about travel subsidies. Also, please
let us know approximately how much table space (square metres) you would
like. Interested parties ask us about adding a non-compulsory $1 Tree Tax
to prices of print materials that we will donate to an appropriate
conservation or reforestation organization (to be determined – any
suggestions?) after the fair.

If you want to lead a free workshop, please get in touch! We are especially
looking for creative and unusual workshop ideas that build community, share
useful skills, are inclusive, and that deal with any of the following:
aboriginal justice, food, community organizing, consensus facilitation,
queer/LGBT issues, feminism, age-ism, social justice, class struggle,
pacifism, armed resistance, permaculture, alternative energy, reducing
consumption, green technology, mental health, science, spirituality,
history/herstory, anarchy in practice/anarchy defined, political theory,
media, language, etc. We can supply electrical outlets,
white-boards/flip-charts, chairs, tables, pens/paper, and quiet space – let
us know what you need. The workshop schedule will be finalized in
September, but let us know right away about any scheduling constraints on
the 29th. Deadline for workshop submissions: September 10th.

If you want to volunteer a couple hours to help out before or during this
fun and busy day, we need you! Let us know before-hand what you enjoy most:
childcare, cooking, cleaning, set-up, take-down, transporting items by bike
or car, planning, or promotion, OR just show up on the day and ask someone
what needs to be done. All contributing efforts are highly valued, and we
encourage drop-in visitors to take a shift washing dishes, sweeping, or
moving tables to lighten the workload for everyone.

More info, including a car-pool registry, coming soon at
saskatoonanarchy.blogspot.com .

Love and solidarity,
The bookfair team