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Call for Papers Theme: Sites of Modernity Type: Graduate Student Conference Institution: Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University Location: New York, NY (USA) Date: 1.–2.3.2012 Deadline: 15.1.2012 __________________________________________________ The Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia University invites submissions for its third annual graduate student conference, entitled "Sites of Modernity," to be held March 1-2, 2012. The concept of modernity, thematized or not, lies at the root of most of the human sciences, even and especially those that constitute their objects as premodern. Traditional thinking about modernity as a specifically Western phenomenon has been challenged in recent years, and students in (current and erstwhile) “area studies” are particularly well-placed to reflect on the local or translocal nature of modernity: what are the “sites” of modernity? Of what specific places – whether we conceive of these as geocultural or geopolitical, or as translocal institutions or practices – can we justifiably apply the predicate “modern”? What logics organize the sites of modernity? And what insights into this contested concept can students of the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Africa in particular provide? Themes that papers or panels might explore include (but are not limited to): • the spread or polygenesis of modern institutions; • comparative modernities or pre-modernities; • “provincializing” Western modernity; • ownership of modernity and its narratives; • colonial and post-colonial modernities; • urban spaces and modernity; • modernity and development; • language practices (including standardization); • institutions of learning; • intellectual and literary cultures; • printing and print capitalism; • religious traditions and institutions; • the nation and internationalism; • transregional trade and finance; • forms of social organization; • political mobilization. Students who are interested in presenting a 20-minute paper should submit a 300-word abstract, with your name and institutional affiliation, to <[email protected]> by January 15, 2012. Participants will be notified of their acceptance by January 31. A limited amount of funds may be available to defray accommodation costs; further information will be available to participants at the end of January. Keynote Speaker: Gyan Prakash, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Princeton University Information will be posted on the conference website: http://www.mesaasgradconference.org For any other inquiry please contact us via: [email protected] Contact: Graduate Conference Committee Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Columbia University 606 West 122 Street New York, NY 10027 USA Phone +1 212 8588-637277 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.mesaasgradconference.org __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
