12-15 October 2000
The University of Pennsylvania

CALL FOR PANEL AND SEMINAR PROPOSALS

"A return to modernism at the end of the millennium is not a farewell but a new beginning."
Susan Stanford Friedman

In its 1999 inaugural conference, described by The Chronicle of Higher Education as "giving new life for modernism," the Modernist Studies Association created a forum wherein scholars, poets, musicians and artists could contribute to this ongoing revitalization. Modernist studies is reemerging as a dynamic and complex field, hospitable to interdisciplinary, international and multicultural approaches and energized by recent work in race, class, gender and sexuality. "New Modernisms II" convenes at the University of Pennsylvania, and will incorporate the urban diversity of Philadelphia. Our plenary sessions will emphasize the arts, and performance, but our call for panel and seminar proposals remains open.

Proposal guidelines are available on the MSA website: http://www.psu.edu/dept/english/MSA/msa2.htm

The MSA homepage can be visisted at: http://www.psu.edu/dept/english/MSA/msa.htm

Queries about seminar and panel proposals may be directed to:
Cassandra Laity: claity@drew.edu or Michael Coyle: mcoyle@colgate.edu

Completed proposals should be submitted to:
Professor Bob Perelman
Department of English
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
perelman@dept.english.upenn.edu

September 29-October 1, 2000
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

CRAFT, CRITIQUE, CULTURE is an interdisciplinary conference which aims to explore the divisions between craft and critique in academic institutions. Where and when are these divisions justified and useful, and when are they specious and harmful? How and where can they be broken down, and where should they be preserved? How do they function to construct both powerful positions and limited horizons? How should we understand and negotiate this divide, and how do we communicate across it? And finally, what is the role of craft and critique in relation to culture? What is the future of aesthetic analysis and production in the field of cultural studies? The goal of this conference is to provide a space to discuss and debate these questions. This conference invites scholars from a range of disciplines, including poets, writers, literary critics, teachers, non-fiction essayists, theorists, culturalists, art historians, as well as visual and performing artists. We welcome completed papers (15 page maximum), abstracts (200 words or less), or panel proposals which explore the complex and agonistic relationships between craft and critique. We also encourage brief proposals for performative and interactive panels that exceed or evade the familiar academic structures—including, but not limited to, dramatic or visual presentations, readings of original works of prose or poetry, interactive investigations, and short analyses related to the topics of the conference. In addition to these presentations, we will host a series of round-table discussions between professors, artists, and graduate students to investigate the way artists and critics communicate, collaborate, and coexist within the university; as well as the way artists read critics, the way critics read artists, and the ways in which we might more productively read one another. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The role of aesthetic analysis in contemporary criticism and cultural studies
• Examining the craft, style, and performative aspects of critical theory
• Historicizing the poet-critic divide
• Critics representations of writers / writers characterizations of critics
• Parallel discourses in English departments and creative writing workshops
• Academic publishing: bridging academic and popular audiences
• The writer as genius versus the writer as assemblage
• Writing and identity
• The pleasure of reading (in the academy?)
• Pedagogical issues: the role of aesthetic appreciation in the classroom

Selected papers will be published in the Iowa Review. Please submit papers, abstracts, or proposals by June 15, 2000 to:
David Banash and Anthony Enns
Department of English
308 English-Philosophy Bldg.
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242-1492
david-banash@uiowa.edu anthony-enns@uiowa.edu

Electronic submissions are strongly encouraged.

From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP@english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/ or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu