“Are the Gods Afraid of Black Sexuality? Religion and the Burdens of Black Sexual Politics”

Columbia University
Institute for Research in African-American Studies
23-24 October, 2014

CFP deadline: 15 April, 2014.  Please submit a detailed abstract of your paper or panel to [email protected]

On October 23-24, 2014, the Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS) at Columbia University will convene Are the Gods Afraid of Black Sexuality?  Religion and the Burdens of Black Sexual Politics, a two day critical dialogue among scholars and practitioners on two topics that have often remained marginal within the broader discourses of African-American Studies: religion and sex. The conference will take place in New York City; on the campus of Columbia University and with partnering community organizations. Continue reading IRAAS Fall 2014 Conference Call For Proposals

Latin@ Cultural Studies at CUNY: Past, Present, & Future
25 April 2014
LaGuardia-CUNY
31-10 Thomson Ave. Long Island City, Queens

CFP Deadline: Proposals due 27 February 2014

This one-day conference endeavors to ignite a productive, interdisciplinary conversation among CUNY’s established and emerging scholars who are working in any field related to Latina/o (Latin@) Cultural Studies. Hosted by LaGuardia Community College-CUNY in Queens–home to one of the fastest growing and diverse Latina/o populations in the country–this conference aims to provide a space for scholars, students and community members to engage the broad range of Latina/o artistic and cultural production in New York City and across the Americas.

This landmark event will also feature a reading by writer Ernesto Quiñonez, CUNY alumnus and nationally recognized fiction writer, and remarks on the state of Latina/o Cultural Studies at CUNY by Suzanne Oboler, Professor of Latin American and Latina/o Studies at John Jay College. CUNY alumnus and playwright/director Carlos Serrano will be presenting a performance during the complimentary lunch for registered attendees provided by LaGuardia-CUNY.

For proposal formats and submission information visit the Latin@ Cultural Studies at CUNY website.  CUNY faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and community members are encouraged to submit individual or group proposals.

*Free for CUNY faculty, students and community members*

Moko is currently seeking submissions for its next two issues. Issue two will be published in March; another issue will follow in July. Moko accepts submissions of fiction, poetry, criticism, and visual art that reflects a Caribbean heritage or experience. Issue one, published in November, featured a diverse collection of works by artists and writers from around the Caribbean region and its diaspora.

Moko accepts submissions of all varieties of unpublished creative work from artists from, or working in, the Caribbean. The journal is currently seeking more fiction and criticism (reviews, essays, and interviews) especially.

All submissions should include a brief biography along with your contact information emailed to [email protected].

Please see the Moko submission guidelines for more details.

Adapted from email announcement. Please visit the Moko website for more information.

The Caribbean Writer is now accepting submissions for Volume 28, to be published in 2014.

Deadline: 28 February 2014; submissions accepted via snail mail (address below) or email at [email protected]

Theme: Re-Visioning The Future Of The Caribbean Through Time, Place And Memories

Call For Papers:

The Caribbean Writer is seeking works that explore the defining moments of the Caribbean experience, the symbolism in the places that dot the Caribbean landscape, the journeys that inform our experiences, the memories that will not let us go. The editors hope to highlight and document Caribbean life in its broadest sense. They also invite works that provide a critical and historical overview, of times, places, and memories that reflect the wit, resilience and resourcefulness of Caribbean people as well as the implications of certain periods that have helped to define the notion of the contemporary Caribbean.

Major events in the history of the Caribbean and the experiences of people wherever they live the Caribbean experience are relevant in very profound ways. Memories of these events are meaningful not only because they provide fodder for introspection and change, but also because their implications are articulated on a number of levels. Memories of natural disasters, calamities, migrations, pivotal national decisions, national movements, societal trends, populations shifts, alienation issues, economic swings, internal struggles, and survival strategies ripple through the diaspora and have had such an impact on people that they possess an abiding ability to elicit passionate responses that can create new rifts or forge new alliances.

The passion that some memories arouse suggests that it would be useful to engage in a broad based collaborative conversation about time periods most poignantly remembered and the symbolism in the places associated with our celebrations, our victories, our epiphanies, our misfortunes and our failures. What better way to do this than in the poetry, prose, essays, and plays featured in The Caribbean Writer.

Submission Guidelines

The Caribbean Writer is an international literary refereed journal with a Caribbean focus. The Caribbean should be central to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage, experience or perspective.

Submit poems, short stories, personal essays and one-act plays. Maximum length (for short stories and personal essays) is 3500 words or 10 pages. Only previously unpublished work will be accepted. (If self-published, give details.)

Follow this procedure for submissions: Put name, address, and title of submission on separate sheet. Title only on submission. All submissions should be on a separate sheet. Include brief biographical information and mention previous publications and Caribbean connection, if any. Type (double-spaced) all manuscripts.

All submissions are eligible for these prizes:

• The Daily News Prize for best poetry ($300)
• The Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for best short fiction ($400)
• The David Hough Literary Prize to a Caribbean author ($500)
• The Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize to a Virgin Island author ($200)
• The Charlotte & Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for first-time publication ($250)

Book Reviews – Persons interested in reviewing books should contact the editor indicating areas of expertise. Include sample reviews if possible.

Snail mail submissions to address below or email submissions to [email protected] as attached Word or RTF files.

OR

Mail to:
The Caribbean Writer
University of the Virgin Islands
RR 1, Box 10,000
Kinghill, St. Croix
U.S. Virgin Islands 00850-9781
Phone: 340-692-4152
Fax: 340-692-4026

Above adapted from the posted CFP at the The Caribbean Writer website.

“Black Writers Reconstructing the Master Narrative”
Thursday, March 27–Sunday, March 30, 2014
Medgar Evers College, the City University of New York

CFP Deadline: Submit a one-to-two page proposal (with literature references) by January 21, 2014 to [email protected]

CALL FOR PAPERS: Continue reading Twelfth National Black Writers Conference

Caribbean Philosophical Association
2014 ANNUAL MEETING
19-21 June 2014
Hyatt Regency, St. Louis, Missouri

CFP Deadline: 1 February 2014 ; Abstracts should be submitted to: [email protected]

Shifting the Geography of Reason XI: Diverse Lineages of Existentialism—Africana, Feminist, and Decolonial

In recent years, existential thought has been revitalized by a new generation of theorists investigating questions of gender, race, and sexual orientation. They have brought to light numerous ways in which existentialism has contributed to, and been shaped by, Africana philosophy, Latin American philosophy, feminism, and the work of literary writers and performing artists.

Initiated by the publication of the Beauvoir Series at the University of Illinois Press and the Caribbean Philosophical Association initiatives for the study of relations across gender, race, and sexuality, and global collaborations connecting the region to intellectual work in countries ranging from India to Japan, Senegal and South Africa, to many across the Caribbean, South America, and the globe, the goal of the conference is to overcome isolation, bringing together a wide variety of scholars to share their research on the diverse lineages of existential thought—especially the unique challenge to questions of existence posed by thought from the Global South.

Research questions include: How have existentialist conceptions of freedom shaped, and been shaped by, feminist and postcolonial thought? In what ways can the category of the Other, as conceived by existentialists, inform our understanding of oppression in its various forms? How can we understand the connections between existentialism and Latin American liberation philosophy? How has existentialist thought been shaped by non-existentialist thinkers such as Hegel, Marx, Husserl, Bergson, Bataille, Foucault, Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, C.L.R. James and Sylvia Wynter? What is the relationship between the existentialisms of Sartre, Beauvoir, and Fanon and contemporary Caribbean and African existential thinkers? What is the influence and role of Eastern existentialisms in contemporary Africana and feminist thought? How is existentialism relevant to questions in feminism and race theory? What would it mean to creolize existentialism?

To further discussions of these issues, this conference will be the first formal collaborative meeting of the Caribbean Philosophical Association, the Simone de Beauvoir Society, the Jean-Paul Sartre Society of North America, and the Collegium of Black Women in Philosophy. The following journals have also agreed to publish selections of the best papers from the conference: Simone de Beauvoir Studies; The Caribbean Journal of Philosophy; The Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy; The C.L.R. James Journal; Sartre Studies International.

Guidelines: Please email (to [email protected])  in MS Word your title, abstract, institutional affiliation, rank or work (e.g., “writer” or “artist” if not an academic), and email address. Submission Deadline: 1 February 2014.

Above adapted from CFP on the CPA website. Visit their site for more information.

The Sylvia M. Jacobs African Diaspora Studies Symposium

22-23 March 2014
North Carolina Central University, Durham NC.

CFP deadline: 15 January 2014

North Carolina Central University’s Department of History, in conjunction with the Global Studies Program and the College of Arts and Sciences, invites proposals for the Sixth Annual Dr. Sylvia M. Jacobs African Diaspora Studies Symposium, to be held March 22-23, 2014 on the campus of North Carolina Central University. This year’s theme, “Green is the New Black? ” will explore the ways that ideologies, structures, and institutions play a part in the development and persistence of racial disparities that both limit and prevent people of color from accessing natural resources and place communities of color at greater risk for negative outcomes of environmental hazards — otherwise known as environmental (or ecological) racism. Continue reading Green is the New Black?

Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center at SUNY Stony Brook
13th annual graduate student conference

Friday, 25 April 2014
Stony Brook Manhattan (163 W 125th St # 1, New York, NY 10027)

CFP Deadline: 1 February 2014 via email to [email protected]

Keynote Speaker: *Brodwyn Fischer* (University of Chicago)
From the Call For Papers

Since the conquest, Latin America has been a distinctly urban region, and yet urbanization has always been a process fraught with ambiguity and
contradiction. From Pre-Columbian times, urban centers have served as central arenas for the contestation of political power, cultural
legitimacy, economic development, and social hierarchy. Latin America’s cities have stood at the nexus of regional and transnational forces. They
have served as both geographic and intellectual meeting places, where vibrant and often restive rural cultures have come into contact with forces
that reach well beyond the boundaries of the nation-state. As a result, scholars across the disciplines have long grappled with how to understand
urban space in Latin America. Continue reading Urban Explorations: Latin America’s Cities, Past & Present

5-11 August 2014
Belize

CFP deadlines: Abstracts due 29 December; full papers due 28 February. Contact information below.

Below adapted from the CALL FOR PAPERS:

Following the sporadic series of conferences on the Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean since 1975 held mainly in Trinidad and Tobago, there is a plan to organise one conference every year in various parts of the region. Next year’s conference will be held in Belize from August 5 to 11, 2014 on the theme “The Indian Diaspora in Belize and the wider Caribbean.” This is the first conference of its kind to be held in this English-speaking country, and in Central America.

The conference aims to bring together academics, scholars, teachers and students at all levels with an interest in the Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean to discuss their research findings.
Space will be provided for less formal presentations from activists and practitioners in the field in order to contribute to the limited store of public knowledge on Indians in Belize.

Possible paper themes can include, but are not limited to history, migration, inter-ethnic marriages, culture loss, alcoholism, business, remittances, agriculture, education and gender.
These themes can be approached from a variety of disciplines, and can be inter- as well as multi-disciplinary. At least two-thirds of each paper to be presented must deal with Indians in Belize. Submitted papers will be assigned to particular panels according to similarities in theme, topic and discipline. Continue reading International conference on The Indian Diaspora in Belize and the wider Caribbean

CFP deadlines: Abstracts due 15 February 2014; papers due 30 July 2014.

The editors of the forum for inter-american research (fiar) invite scholars to send articles (in English and Spanish) for a special issue of fiar: The Journal of the International Association of Inter-American Studies (IAS)—‘Caribbean Entanglements. Culture(s) and Nature Revisited.’ The deadline for abstracts is February 15, 2014.

Scholars of various disciplinary backgrounds are interested in understanding contemporary and historical effects and interrelations due to multiple culture-nature connections. However, studies on the theme remain often within the disciplinary boundaries. Therefore,  in this special issue of fiar we will focus on the diverse approaches and debates dealing with entanglements of culture(s) and nature in a dialogical and critical fashion. Continue reading Caribbean Entanglements: Culture(s) and Nature Revisited

African Diasporas: Old and New Conference
University of Texas at Austin
April 3-6, 2014

Panel CFP. Deadline: abstracts due 22 November 2013.

W.E.B. DuBois famously said that he didn’t give a damn for any art that was not propaganda. Just as famously James Baldwin denigrated what he considered the stock characters of the protest novel. Perceptions of propaganda and protest are in and of themselves ideological lenses that may sharpen, distort, or render invisible the range of rhetorical and imaginative strategies manipulated to inform diasporic identities. Identifying “new” formulations of diaspora at specific historical junctures means redefining the terms of social and political engagement. Through an examination of rhetorical and literary strategies in a variety of media and through a variety of discourses this panel seeks to understand how subjects imagine and enact diasporic communities in the midst of U.S. territorial occupations. We take as a point of departure the “new” diaspora created through primarily military invasions in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries beyond the contiguous U.S., with a particular focus on the Caribbean and Latin America.

Proposals should include a 250-word abstract and title, as well as the author’s name, address, telephone number, email address, and institutional affiliation.

Send all proposals to Kimberly J. Banks at [email protected] by 22 November 2013.

CFP adapted from email from panel organizer. Contact Kimberly J. Banks for further information.

13-14 March 2014
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Ave
New York, NY

Opening Keynote: David Scott, Columbia University

Closing Keynote: Sibylle Fischer, New York University

CFP deadline: Abstracts of 300 words or less electronically to [email protected] by 31 December 2013.

Two decades since its publication, Paul Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic (1993) united conversations about race, place, diaspora, and slavery within the Atlantic world. This interdisciplinary conference takes as its point of departure Gilroy’s ethos of looking outside of and challenging established categories (such as those determined by nationalist modes of thought). In the spirit of thinking both with and beyond the Black Atlantic paradigm this conference seeks to create a space for scholars to negotiate its theoretical limits while gesturing towards alternative frames and futures for the Black Atlantic. This interdisciplinary conference revisits the roots and routes, the genealogies and the futures, of The Black Atlantic.

This conference invites critical and methodological conversations among students and faculty who have been theorizing ways that rethink diaspora, transatlantic cultures, race, historiographies, and notions of “modernity.” This conference aims to bring together scholars across disciplines and bridge conversations that will shift the grounds, directions, and temporalities of the Black Atlantic.

Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Memory, Subjectivity, and the Black Diaspora
• Remapping the Spatiotemporalities of the Black Atlantic
• Early Modern Atlantic Crossings and Early Transatlantic Exchanges
• Engenderings and Queerings of the Black Atlantic
• Sounds and Music of the Middle Passage
• Transatlantic Affective Economies
• Black Atlantic Matter(s): Things and Objects of the Middle Passage
• Ethics, Archives, and Historiographies of the Black Atlantic
• The Black Pacific; Intersections of Race and Labor
• Latin American and/or Caribbean Studies and the Black Atlantic

This is the annual conference of the English Student Association at the CUNY Graduate Center. Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words, along with a 3-5 line bio, contact information, and a/v requests to [email protected]. Additionally, feel free to submit abstracts as a fully formed panels and/or roundtables. We also welcome suggestions for non-traditional conference presentations. The deadline for abstracts and other proposals is December 31st, 2013. Participants will be notified by the end of January.

The above was adapted from the circulated CFP. For more information, visit the conference website.

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS

CFP deadline: Abstracts due 30 November 2013, electronically to [email protected]; Notification of acceptance: December 21, 2013; full essays due 1 January 2014.

Editors:
Katherine Bankole-Medina, Ph.D., History
Abena Lewis-Mhoon, Ph.D., History
Stephanie Yarbough, ABD, Africana Studies

From the CFP:

Women of African descent (Africana, African, Black, and Afro-…) have a long history of seeking, theorizing, and ensuring justice in the world.

While Black women have experienced various forms racial, gender, social and political struggles, they have responded to a wealth of issues involving social justice, civil rights, human rights abuses, and equal rights. This project encompasses a range of issues associated with Africana women’s attempts to come to terms with justice within variety of venues. Continue reading Women of African Descent and Justice in World Societies

A Symposium on the Atlantic World
February 21-22, 2014
Rice University, Houston, Texas

CFP deadline: Abstracts (300 words) due 1 November 2013 via email to [email protected] (snail mail option below)

Of note: Presented papers will be considered for publication in an anthology from a major university press. A limited amount of funding for travel may be available for those unable to obtain funding from their own institution.

The Department of History at Rice University invites proposals for a special conference and anthology exploring the complicated relationship between race, citizenship, and national identity during the era of emancipations. Historians working within the framework of Atlantic History have reoriented our understandings of the past away from the nation-state and towards an Atlantic, hemispheric, continental, or global approach. Without such movement away from a nationally-based framework, much of the innovative and enlightening scholarship on people of color in the Atlantic World would have been impossible. Yet by de-privileging the nation-state, historians have obscured the discussion of how nationality and citizenship figured into blacks’ conceptions of their own identities, as well as whites’ conceptions of people of color within the nation. Nationality, whether legal citizenship or cultural imagination, played an integral role in the formation of individual and group identity. By examining race, identity, and nation in particular contexts, this symposium will contribute to a better understanding of if, how, and why people of color throughout the Atlantic World came to understand themselves as citizens during the long nineteenth century.

The organizers welcome a wide variety of topics both individually and in completed panels.Successful proposals may:

• Consider a range of topics relating to race, citizenship, and national identity.
• Explore a single national context or those employing a transnational analysis
• Span the era of emancipations, roughly from the Haitian Revolution through Brazilian abolition.

Proposals should include an abstract of approximately 300 words and a single page CV. Submissions from graduate students, junior and senior scholars are encouraged, as are those that draw on interdisciplinary methods. Additionally, presented papers will be considered for publication in an anthology from a major university press. A limited amount of funding for travel may be available for those unable to obtain funding from their own institution.

Proposals must be received by 1 November 2013, and should be sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Race and Nation Symposium; c/o Whitney Stewart; History Department – MS 42; Rice University; PO Box 1892; Houston, TX 77251-1892.

Above adapted from full CFP. For more information, go to http://raceandnation.wordpress.com/.