Current Call For Papers

Formats of (Non)Seeing

Split, 27th – 29th October 2022

After its appearance in 1839, photography quickly became a participant, witness and chronicler of social and technological changes that would permanently transform the development of humanity, while the machine that writes in light and almost magically singles out moments from the space-time continuum, forever altered the way we remember, learn, share, receive and adopt information, seeping into every pore of the world we construct, reconfigure, and attempt to describe and understand. Therefore, it is no wonder that the question of what photography is – what makes it unique and exceptional is a central one if we want to understand the modern and contemporary images of the world. And we cannot answer this question without understanding the complexities of its history and theory, if not of photography itself, then of our own views and deliberations about it and the roles that have been assigned to it.  

Therefore, this three-day international conference, organized as part of the scientific research project Exposition – Themes and Aspects of Croatian Photography from the 19th Century until Today, invites scientists in the field of humanities, social studies, technical and natural sciences, as well as artists, to submit their proposals, in the hope of gaining new insights into the multifaceted and multi-layered aspects of this medium and the changes of its performative aspects in the context of the transition from analogue into the digital age. The conference takes into consideration the possibilities and combinations of research, analytical, interpretative and performative approaches, reiterating the question of what photography is, what it does – yesterday and today, and what it may become tomorrow. Given the wide range of manifestations and the heterogeneity of photographic images, we strive to highlight the contexts within which these images are created and the realities they generate.

We invite you to submit your proposals related, but not limited, to the following topics:

  • Secondary knowledge/secondary authorship: what do we learn from photographic albums, found and “appropriated” photographs and portraits of anonymous witnesses?
  • Photography as a “pedagogical tool” – towards a curriculum on photography
  • Photography – cause or consequence of discursive shifts?
  • Photography in sciences
  • Photographic criticism – written sources as the foundation of the history of photography
  • Constructing and deconstructing knowledge through photography
  • Photography, geopolitics, necropolitics

Application process

Submission of proposals (max. 250 words), along with a short resume (max. 100 words) in English, should be sent as a pdf file bearing the name of the presenter.

The proposal should contain:
– name and surname
– e-mail and postal address
– title of the presentation
– 3-5 keywords
– 1-2 visual examples in low resolution or a website link
– biography and affiliation (if applicable).

Application deadline: 1st May 2022. Applications should be sent to: skrizic@ipu.hr.

For more information, please see: CALL FOR PAPERS – Formats of (Non)Seeing (ipu.hr)

Ecologies of decay: Modern ruination in the global (post)socialist peripheries

The post-socialist reality in East Europe profoundly changed the rural and urban settlements. Abandoned factories, vacant villages, unfinished housing projects, decline and abandonment are some common threads that appear in post-socialist rural and urban landscapes. De-industrialisation and the post-1990s capitalist rules left small towns and villages empty and decayed. In the former socialist countries of Africa, Latin America, and south-east Asia rural and urban decline has also been linked with the history of colonial expansion, the destruction of nature, and racial violence. While some communities have embraced spatial regeneration trends, others remain ruined, marginalised, and declined. This project takes ruination both as a metaphor and as an actual reality to theorise the social and political transformations that have occurred in the global peripheries at the aftermath of socialist modernity. The visual and material state of ruination reflects both the end of the socialist modernity and the failed promises for prosperity which never came with the transition to global capitalism.

Ruins are concrete spaces of abandonment, forgotten material remnants, decayed sites and objects from another past. Here, abandonment is clearly not something momentary that occurred in a specific temporal framework, but rather a continuing process—a ruin always in the making which can offer a framework to understand the very process of decay. Ruins can also be a critical position and standpoint to capture the functioning and withering of discourses and experiences located on the margins and the back alleys of mainstream modernity. This research symposium aims to open a critical discussion on the entanglements of decay, bringing in closer proximity the local and the global post-socialist peripheries.

How was the socialist modernity and its ideology materialised in the global rural and urban territories? What are the social and political transformations that have occurred in the post-socialist villages and towns after socialist projects? In what ways can the material and visual ruination of rural spaces capture the collective memories of local communities?

Reflecting on the above question the conference will bring together practitioners, activists, artists, architects, community organisers, and researchers from all disciplines who work with any aspects of modern ruination and rural/urban decline. Themes and topics of discussion during the conference include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • rural and/or urban decline
  • visual art practices and rural/urban decline
  • visual and material cultures of modern ruins
  • socialism and post-socialism in global peripheries
  • transformations of rural architecture and landscape
  • collective memory
  • post-industrialism and de-industrialisation
  • progress, utopias, modernity and its aftermath
  • aspects of labour
  • decolonisation

If you are interested in submitting a paper, please send a 250-word abstract and a short biographical note to Dimitra Gkitsa at d.gkitsa@ucl.ac.uk by 7 May 2022. Decisions on the papers will be announced on the 13 May 2022.

The conference will take place in person at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London. There is no registration fee. The conference does not cover travel or accommodation expenses.

For more info, please visit: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/news/2022/mar/call-papers-ecologies-decay-modern-ruination-global-postsocialist-peripheries

The eighth international symposium of the Finnish Oral History Network (FOHN)

AFTER: Time, Place & (Dis)Connections in Oral History & Life Storying

December 1–2, 2022, Helsinki, Finland

Oral historians and life story researchers are engaged through their work in projects of afterwardness. Whether we study devastating societal crises, life-changing events, or ordinary everyday practices, we address them from the perspective of hindsight. As oral history and life story research has connected experiences across times and places, it has likewise made evident multiple ruptures in how different voices and perspectives are centered. In this conference, we invite researchers and practitioners to analyze the (dis)connections in time and place caused by this afterwardness and its role in the research process: What happens after research collaboration? How are bodily experiences, senses, and emotions carried beyond the moment(s) of research encounter? What are the possibilities of collaboration beyond the traditional boundaries and practices of academia? What is the role of research in the aftermath of crises? Can oral history and life storying offer opportunities to imagine new futures?

The eighth international symposium of the Finnish Oral History Network (FOHN) will focus on the notions of afterwardness, time, place, and (dis)connections in oral history and life story research from critical contemporary perspectives. The keynote speakers are Stacey Zembrzycki (Concordia University), Andrew Irving (University of Manchester), and Essi Jouhki (University of Jyväskylä).

We invite contributions focusing on methodological and ethical questions, as well as on case studies. Proposals may be submitted for individual papers or panels and they can address but are not limited to the following themes and issues:

  • Engagements in reciprocity. How can researchers contribute to reciprocity without face-to-face cooperation with the research participants?
  • (Dis)connections between academic oral history/life storying and Indigenous knowledges and methodologies; decentering white and colonial methods and voices
  • Attending to feelings (bodily and emotional) during and after the research encounter. How do we verbalize the non-verbal?
  • (Dis)connections in time and place: opportunities and limitations of online participation
  • Theorizing afterwardness: intergenerational memories and postmemory

Submissions of individual papers require a title and a maximum of 250-word abstract. Panel proposals should include a maximum of 250-word description of the panel and max 250-word abstracts of each individual papers (max 5 papers per panel). The conference language will be English.

Please e-mail your proposal: fohnsymposium2022@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2022.

Presenters will not be required to pay a registration fee to participate in the symposium.

For more information, please see: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/8th-international-symposium-finnish-oral-history-network-fohn