American Studies Association of Turkey*
*32nd Annual American Studies Conference*
*
Perceptions of Space and the American Experience*
November 7 - 9, 2007
Hacettepe University
Ankara, Turkey
According to Michel Foucault, "space itself has a history in
Western experience…Our epoch is one in which space takes for us the form of
relations among sites." However, "despite the whole network of knowledge
that enables us to delimit or formalize it, contemporary space is still not
entirely desanctified… [it is] still nurtured by the hidden presence of the
sacred." Foucault's argument suggests the intractable aspect of the concept
of "space," which is constantly eluding our grasp, and reverting back into
the realm of nature and the "natural." This conference seeks to fill the
scholarly vacuum that continues to exist with respect to space by
*removing*it from the domain of the sacred, questioning its
conceptualization, and
exposing its manifestations within American Studies. We hope such a focus
will advance the interaction between scholars who have conflicting
historical and spatial epistemologies regarding the American experience.
Space is difficult to quantify because it eludes quantification:
it comprises the celestial and the terrestrial, the infinite and the
infinitesimal, and being and nothingness, all at once. Despite its
indefinable framework, it has been a perpetual theme within the American
context. For example, in *Call Me Ishmael*, Charles Olson takes "SPACE to
be the central fact to man born in America, from Folsom cave to now," and he
"spell[s] it large because it comes large here. Large and without mercy." On
the other hand, it can also be large enough "for all modes of love and
fortitude," as Ralph Waldo Emerson posits. Above all, it has a multitude of
meanings, encompassing unlimited progress and its discontents; the visual
and the invisible; the present and the absent; and as Foucault maintains,
the sacred and the desanctified.
The American Studies Association of Turkey invites proposals that consider
space, broadly conceived. We particularly encourage proposals which
incorporate transdisciplinary explorations of space, and welcome proposals
from any field of study.
Possible themes include, but are not limited to:
- Spatial Boundaries/Spatial Relations
- Outer Space/Inner Space/Interspace/ Interstitial Space
- Walking Space/Living Space/Lebensraum
- Psychological/ Mental/Physical/ Space
- Private/Public/ (Inter)Personal Space
- Environmental/ Ecological Space
- Marginal Space and Agency
- Landscapes/Terrains /Regional Space
- Technoscapes/ Cyberspace/ MySpace.com
- Real/Virtual Spaces
- Urban Space/Cityscapes/ Walking Space
- Commercial(ized) Space/(Over) used Space
- Heartland/Hinterlan d
- Theatrical/Dramatic /Performance/ Performative Space
- Space, Time and Memory
- Travel Narratives/Space- phobias
- Sites/Countersites/ Utopias/Heteroto pias
- Subversive/Resistiv e Space
- (Non)violent Space
- Active/Activist Space
- Chaotic/Ordered Space
- Liminal Space/Zones/ Boundaries
- Poetics of Space/Textual/ Linguistic Space
- Space and the Body/Gendered Space
- Racial/Ethnic/ Political Space
- Imaginary/Imagined Spaces/Geographies
- Museums/Ethnographi c/Indigenous Space
- Classroom/Education al Space
- Modern/Postmodern Spaces
- Mythic/Sacred/ Symbolic/ Religious Spaces
- (Anti)Social Space
- (Sub)Cultural/ Traditional/ Spiritual Space
- Artistic/Musical Space
- Pioneering/Explorat ion Space
- Expansionism/ Manifest Destiny/Imperialism
The time allowance for all presentations is 20 minutes. An additional 10
minutes will be provided for discussion.
We also invite submissions for an undergraduate student panel.
Proposals for papers, panels, performances, exhibits, and other modes of
creative expression should be sent to Tanfer Emin Tunc (asat2007@gmail. com)
and Bilge Mutluay Cetintas (mutluay@hacettepe. edu.tr) and should consist of
a 250 – 300 word abstract in English, as well as a 1 – 2 paragraph
c.v./biographical description for each participant.
- Deadline for submission of proposals:* July 15, 2007. *
- Notification for acceptance of proposals: *September 1, 2007*.
*Further information (e.g., on accommodation and registration) will be
posted on our conference website in the near future:
http://www.ake. hacettepe. edu.tr/ASAT2007*
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