AIDS 2010 - International Conference on Aids in Culture: Explorations in the Cultural History of AIDS

Aids in Culture:

Explorations in the Cultural History of AIDS

International Conference

México City, 9 - 14 December 2010
http://www.enkidumagazine.com/eventos/aidsincultur...

Call for Papers:
Aids in Culture VI:
Explorations in the Cultural History of AIDS
International Conference

Mexico City, 9 - 14 December 2010

Conference Languages: English, Castilian, German, French and Nahuatl
Aids in Culture VI: Explorations in the Cultural History of AIDS
Mexico City, 9 - 14 December 2010

Deadline for abstract Submissions: 15. August 2010
Conference Homepage: http://www.aidsinculture.org

AIDS is not simply an illness or a biomedical phenomenon. The conference cycle "AIDS in Culture" organised by Enkidu Magazine in Mexico City and the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in cooperation with CNDH (The National Human Rights Commission in Mexico) seeks to examine cultural responses to AIDS in different cultures and societies across a wide range of perspectives.

The conference will explore the processes by which AIDS is constructed as a cultural phenomenon and how different societies in their encounters with AIDS attempt to create meaning in health, illness and disease. The
conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant
disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and
promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and
dialogue.

Also in this year, the conference will follow a similar model as in previous
years with a large number of thematic sessions addressing several
different issues. Papers are welcomed on virtually all related topics and
themes related to the cultural and social construction of Aids,
independently of time period and space. Also papers of comparative
phenomena will be considered. Interdisciplinary perspectives are
encouraged.

Among the themes of interest are the following:

- AIDS and Cultural Texts: Power and Representation.
- Representations of AIDS in art, movies, music, poetry, religion and
literature from the 1980s until today.
- Silences and taboos in discourses on HIV/AIDS.
- Aesthetic responses to the challenge. Rituals, customs, and fetishism.
- Cultural practices that influence the spread of HIV/AIDS
- AIDS and collective and individual identities: Race, Class, Gender etc
- AIDS and Politics, Lobbying and Activism: Power, Representation and
Activism.
- Constructions and reconstructions of AIDS in political, faith and
ideology based discourse, legal issues and policy making throughout the
world: Who has the authority to speak and who is silenced?
- AIDS and theory: Cultural Studies, Queer Studies, Religious Studies,
History, Anthropology, Sociology, Literary Studies and all related
disciplines. How do we theorize and analyse experiences and the meaning of illness?
- The ,significance' of AIDS for individuals and communities; the cultural
factors influencing our perceptions of health and illness experiences.
- AIDS and psychosocial affects and effects. Cultures of silence.
- Indigenous knowledge and responses to AIDS
- Stories and Histories about AIDS
- AIDS and Oral History

Papers will be considered on related themes and topics from a wide range of perspectives. Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome since all these topics in themselves stretch across several disciplines: histoy, literary studies, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, pedagogy, ethnology, anthropology, sociology...

Graduate and postgraduate students are encouraged to attend and present papers. Selected papers from the conference will also this year be published in book form.

* PAPER AND PANEL PROPOSALS

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in
English, Castilian, German or French.. The conference
languages will be English and Castilian. Interpretations of the conference
theme ranging from the predictable to the surprising are encouraged.

Papers should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10
pages). Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and poster sessions will be considered on request.

* PROPOSALS FOR PANEL SESSIONS

Typically, a panel of academic papers should include 3 (maximum 4)
speakers and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2
hours allowing for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes
for questions and discussion.

Proposers should submit:
(1) Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words),
(2) Paper titles,
(3) Abstracts for each paper (500 words),
(4) Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150
words),
(5) Institutional affiliation and address for each participant,
(6) Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in
finding speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers
for your panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our
newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would
like us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please
send us a proposal by e-mail to info-AT-aidsinculture.org or liowlb-AT-enkidumagazine.com

* PROPOSALS FOR INDIVIDUAL PAPERS

Abstracts are to be submitted, along with the presenter's name, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation and a list over audio-visual and other technical requirements. It is recommended to use the form here:

http://www.enkidumagazine.com/eventos/aidsincultur...

when submitting an abstract. However, abstracts will also be accepted as
e-mail attachments to info-AT-aidsinculture.org

All correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email.

Full conference papers should be submitted by the 1st of November if you want to be considered for the book..

Abstracts and summaries of the conference papers will be made available at the conference web page.

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted within few days. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace!

We suggest, then, to resend your abstract and resubmit your registration
form, and if possible, suggest an alternative e-mail address. In particular delegates using hotmail or yahoo accounts to receive conference related e-mails often experience problems receiving conference information by e-mail.

E-mails from the conference organisers are often delivered to your spam
folder and not to your inbox, unless you remember to add the following
e-mail addresses: info-AT-enkidumagazine.com and liowlb-AT-enkidumagazine.com

The first address is the general e-mail address of AIDSinCULTURE.org and will be used to send conference newsletters and general information. The second, is the e-mail address of the academic coordinator of the conference and will be used for individual communication with delegates.

* EXHIBITORS, PUBLISHERS AND ARTISTS:

Artists are welcome to suggest exhibitions and displays of art during the
conference.

Organisations, universities and publishers are welcome to sign up for
information stands at the conference centre. Commercial exhibitors pay a modest daily fee.

The following information is required by artists, publishers and other
exhibitors during the conference:

1) Technical Description of the information stand or artwork with
indications of technical requirements for their presentation, the size and
extension of the individual artworks to be presented.

2) Estimated Insurance value of the artworks

3) One image of a representative sample of artistic work for the
exhibitions can be sent by e-mail to the conference organizers in the
format tiff or jpg.

4) Curriculum Vitae of artist (or organisation).

5) Description of Exhibition (300 - 500 words).

6) Short bio of artist (or organisation).

* BOOK EXHIBITION:

We would like to organise an exhibition of books written by conference delegates in the conference centre. If you are the author of a book, you or your publisher are welcome to send a copy of your work to the book exhibition. If you would like to be a part of the book exhibition and your publisher has a Mexican or Latin American representative, we would appreciate the contact information. If you want a Spanish language version of your book and promotional material, tell us about it. We can often help.

* PROPOSALS FOR BOOK PRESENTATIONS

Publishers and delegates with recent publications of relevance to the conference themes, are welcome to propose book presentations in the days during, before and after the conference. The book presentations will be open to the general public and the press and will take place in the evening as special sessions, after the regular conference sessions.

Libreria Educal ? Biblioteca Vasconcelos, which is a bookstore founded by the Ministry of Culture, that serves the function of commercialising and distributing books published by the cultural institutions of Mexico will host the book presentations.

These book presentations will usually have duration of 2 hours. In the podium will be the author, 2 or 3 presenters and a moderator. The publisher or the author are free to suggest one or two presenters, while the moderator and a further presenter will be appointed by the Academic Committee of the conference.

Publishers and book authors who would like to be considered for book presentations during the conference, should send a review copy to Agustin Villalpando, news editor in Enkidu Magazine:

Agustin Villalpando
Centro Cultural Enkidu
Calle Ezequiel Montes #37, int. 2
Colonia Tabacalera
06030 Mexico D.F.
Mexico

Together with the review copy, please send a synopsis of the book (max 500 words), a short bio of the author and if available, an image which we may use for posters and promotional materials for the book presentation in electronic form (on CD or by e-mail). If you have suggestions for a book presenter, please include a short bio.

Publishers can also sign up for information and sales stands in the conference for a modest daily fee. Please, contact the organisers for more information.

* REGISTRATION FEE for "Aids in Culture":

- Waged delegates (speakers): 200 USD
- Students and unwaged delegates (speakers): 100 USD

Payment received via PayPal or bank transfer in advance (Payments
completed before 1..October. A supplement of 50 USD applies after this day and for payments on location). We recommend everyone to arrange their payment of the registration fee before the conference. On location, we have no possibility to process credit cards, nor issue official receipts and the registration desk will generally be staffed with volunteer students who are not entitled to receive payments in cash. If you for any reason prefer to pay on location in Mexico, please inform the organizers in advance, and we will find a solution for you.

Enkidu and the participating organisations will not be able to provide travel support for conference delegates. It is therefore strongly recommended to apply for a scholarship or a grant from other sources.

Delegates from non-OECD countries and students and unwaged delegates from any country who do not receive financial support from their institution, or other sources, to attend the conference, can apply for a reduced registration fee.

For further information, please contact the organizing committee at:

Coordinador de Sida y Cultura
Conference Coordinator for Aids in Culture
Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein Borge
Email: liowlb-AT-enkidumagazine.com
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main
Enkidu Magazine, Mexico City

Aids in Culture V, (Mexico City, 9 - 12 December 2008)

Aids in Culture IV (Mexico City & Puebla, 9 - 13 December 2007)

Aids in Culture III (Mexico City, 8 - 13 December 2006)

Aids in Culture II (Papantla, 9 - 12 December 2005)

Aids in Culture I (Mexico City, 9 - 12 December 2004)