FYI...
Stefanie Rixecker
ECOFEM Coordinator
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
CALL FOR PAPERS
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR AMERICAN STUDIES CONFERENCE 2000
APRIL 14-17, 2000, GRAZ, AUSTRIA
'Nature's Nation' Reconsidered: American Concepts of Nature from Wonder to
Ecological Crisis
Today's advanced understanding of nature calls for a drastic
re-conceptualization of traditional ideas about our relation to the natural
environment. At the beginning of a new millennium an adequate understanding
of 'nature' will be of utmost importance, and an investigation into the
dominant ideas and attitudes of a nation and culture powerful enough to
change that environment on a global scale would seem highly appropriate. A
host of historical, socio-political and economical as well as cultural,
literary, and psychological approaches can be applied to the theme in an
attempt to understand the place and function of nature in American history
(and the history of American self-definition) as well as the current
manifestations of a new interest in nature in various areas of American
culture and society. Lectures and workshops could thus inquire into the
powerful impact the idea of nature had on American society and culture in
the past, but also into the creative ("utopian") potential it still has in
contemporary conceptualizations of alternative or different lives (and life
styles). They could explore the multitude of myths and concepts relating to
'nature' and 'America' (European and American projections, Jeffersonian
ideals and agrarian myths from the early republic to the New Deal, from
pastoral self-confinement to the dynamics of westward expansion),
conservation movements (the establishment of national parks and natural
museums), nature writing, the representation of nature in literature, the
arts, photography and film. They could also deal with Native American natural
religion and its echoes in contemporary mainstream and (ethnic)
counter-culture(s), with ecological movements in politics and the arts,
with eco-feminism; or with the various manifestations of 'artificial'
nature in plastic or in cyberspace.
Proposals for parallel/dialogue lectures should be submitted to the EAAS
delegate of your national/regional American Studies Association, with
copies to the EAAS President, Heinz Ickstadt, by January 31, 1999.
Proposals for workshop topics (and organizers) should be submitted to the
EAAS delegate of your national/regional American Studies Association, with
copies to the EAAS Secretary, Walter H�lbling, by January 31, 1999.
This Call for Papers and more recent information on the conference will be
available on the web site of the EAAS at:
<http://www.let.uu.nl/eaas/eaas2000.htm>.
For more information, contact:
Jaap Verheul
History Department
Utrecht University
Kromme Nieuwegracht 66
3512 HL Utrecht
The Netherlands
tel. +31 30 253 6034
fax. +31 30 253 6391
email <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Dr. Stefanie S. Rixecker
Division of Environmental Management & Design
Lincoln University, Canterbury
PO Box 84
Aotearoa New Zealand
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax: 64-03-325-3841
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