An International Two-Day Conference at the Humanities Research centre, University of York, UK
26 and 27 September 2013 (pdf CFP)
The ordinary and the everyday are intuitively self-evident, yet notoriously elusive. Efforts to define “ordinary language” or “everyday practice” have preoccupied thinkers across many disciplines: philosophers, historians, sociologists, political theorists, geographers and critics of literature and the visual arts. And these subjects demand more attention from scholars working on race, class, gender and sexuality, as well as food studies and the digital and medical humanities. Yet existing efforts have rarely engaged in dialogue with their counterparts in other disciplines. We call for papers from scholars in all these fields to join in a spirited dialogue at an international, two-day conference to be held at the University of York, 26 and 27 September 2013.
Scholars in all disciplines are invited to to ponder, celebrate, and critique the quotidian, ranging from the furtive pleasures of pop to the dubious delights of junk: “Does it glow at the core with personal heat, with signs of one’s deepest nature, clues to secret yearnings, humiliating flaws? What habits, fetishes, addictions, inclinations? What solitary acts, behavioral ruts?”
Confirmed events include keynote addresses by:
- Prof. John Roberts (History of Art, Wolverhampton)
- Dr. Jennifer Baird (Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck)
- Dr Bryony Randall (English, Glasgow)
It will culminate in a colloquium chaired by Prof Ben Highmore (Cultural Studies, Sussex) and featuring:
- Prof. Michael Sheringham (French, All Souls Oxford)
- Dr. Holger Nehring (History, Sheffield)
- Dr. Rupert Read (Philosophy, UEA)
- Dr. Michael White (History of Art, York)
- Dr. Neal Alexander (English, Nottingham)
What do the terms everyday, ordinary and quotidian mean at the beginning of the twenty-first century? This conference will confront head-on the challenges and opportunities presented by the interdisciplinary nature of such an enquiry.
Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to oeqyork2013@gmail.com by 16 August; general enquiries are also welcome.