Dear Colleagues,
For your information the deadline for workshop proposals has been extended to January 22 so please do consider sending us a workshop proposal. This promises to be a very interesting conference on a fascinating theme - Do join us in Finland in September 2016.
Wishing you all the best for the new year,
Susanne Ådahl
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Please feel free to forward this CFP to interested colleagues and relevant mailing lists.
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Wild or Domesticated – Uncanny in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives to Mind
An interdisciplinary conference organized by Mind and the Other Research Project
Helsinki, Finland (The House of Science and Letters)
September 20-22, 2016
Keynote speakers:
Tanya Luhrmann, University of Stanford
Simo Knuuttila, University of Helsinki
Diana Espirito Santo, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Uncanny experiences, the search for the inexplicable, or the belief in supernatural beings or universal energies trigger disputes about at least ontology, rationality, sanity, and the limits of the mind. Modern Western society is for the most part characterized by principles such as rationality and efficiency. Quoting Max Weber, these ideas comprise the leading forces of modern society and science. However, what several scholars in religious studies currently call post-secularism has given rise to new spiritual tendencies and movements in society. These post-secular tendencies have brought about something that several authors term ‘re-enchantment’: new spirituality and uncanny experiences are perhaps more than ever a part of Western everyday life. Some scholars define the situation as a crisis of rationality, whereas others again accentuate the recurrent nature of historical phenomena, pointing to recurring waves of thought stretching from the Ancient past to the present. Still others claim that in practice the rational and the uncanny are intertwined in a new mode. In historical and ethnographic explorations the uncanny can be understood, not as a boundary between rational and its “outside”, but as an element of connection and compromise between them practiced by ordinary people and practices of institutions, such as modern medicine and science.
Promising discussions are put forward along the ontological approach, based on the actor-network studies. Nonetheless, at least in the Finnish society, supernatural or uncanny experiences are still generally considered abnormal or at least something to hide or to feel ashamed of. People with uncanny experiences are prone to be categorized as deviant and to become heavily stigmatized.
In this conference we argue that the boundary between normal and pathological is socially and culturally made, and several social institutions such as science, medicine and religion play remarkable roles in this making. We ask if the very notion of the human mind, as it is defined in the current scientific discussions, is too narrow to capture phenomena and experiences which are important to people.
We invite papers, which discuss the broad problem area of the uncanny. Topics for papers may include but are not limited to:
• Cross-cultural approaches to the study of human mind
• Problems and new approaches to "evidence"
• The cultural construction of normality and abnormality
• The questions about "reality" and belief
• The crisis of rationalism and the changing relationship between rationality and magic
• Historical approaches to the irrational in science and philosophy
• Science and technology approaches to alterity
• Discussions of front line research – e.g. hearing voices, spirit writing
• Contesting discourses and narratives of reality and ontology
• Challenging the boundaries between life and death
We welcome submissions for both individual presentations and workshops.
For your information the deadline for workshops has been extended to January 22, 2016.
Conference conveners invite proposals for workshops that relate to all aspects of research into the uncanny and particularly those that:
1. Open new research areas, themes or emerging issues
2. Develop and report on research in progress; or
3. Showcase the findings of research projects
Workshop instructions
We are looking for workshops that provide a forum for discussing provocative, controversial, innovative, and emerging issues. The best workshops often are structured to provide ample time for discussion. We especially encourage workshops that will engage the audience, that address critical and contemporary topics, and that engage multiple disciplines in productive dialog. Slots for workshops during the conference are 90 minutes. This serves for 3 papers, time for discussion and a brief closing statement of the convenor.
A workshop format which is known to work very successfully is for the convenor to provide a brief introduction of no more than 5 minutes and then, allow each of the workshop participants 15 minutes for the presentation and five minutes for brief questions. After all the workshop participants have spoken there is an open discussion period. It may be advisable to appoint a discussant to the workshop. Alternatively, convenors are requested to have questions prepared for the workshop participants in case the discussions do not develop smoothly.
Criteria convenors may apply when selecting papers are:
- Is the proposal relevant to the theme of the workshop?
- Does it have potential to become an interesting paper?
- Does it make a reference to methodology?
- Does it make a reference to theory or is it a more empirically based paper?
Submissions for workshops follows two steps. In step one the workshop proposer sends in an abstract (max 400 words) which should contain the following information:
- Overall title
- The main questions/topics of the workshop
- Description on the workshop’s relevance to the conference theme
- Description on the background of the workshop (what theories and emerging issues it wishes to address)
- email and institutional affiliation of the convenor.
Step two of the submission process:
Once the workshop theme has been accepted the convenor can advertise the workshop to collect paper submissions. The workshop will also be advertised on the conference page. It is up to the convenor to select the papers for the workshop. Once the participants have been selected the final submission should include:
1. Overall title
2. The abstract text of the workshop
3. The name of the worlshop convenor
4. The names of the participants and their institutions
5. The title of each individual presentation
6. The abstract texts of the workshop papers (listed in the order in which they will be presented)
Please note the extension: Deadline for workshop proposals: January 22, 2016
Notification of acceptance of workshop proposals: February 1,2016
Deadline for paper abstracts (max 400 words): March 15, 2016
Notification of acceptance of paper abstracts: April 15, 2016
Specifications for paper abstract format:
Abstracts may be in word or RTF format and should contain the following information and in this order
1. Author(s) (in bold)
2. Affiliation as you would like it to appear in the conference programme
3. Email address
4. Abstract title (in bold)
5. Abstract text
6. Up to 10 key words
All papers accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English.
Where to send abstract: [log in to unmask]
More info: [log in to unmask], project coordinator Ella Vihervuori ([log in to unmask]) and Marja-Liisa Honkasalo, the person in charge of the project ([log in to unmask]).
Organizer: Research Project "Mind and the Other", University of Turku (funded by the Academy of Finland)
For the details of the research project, please see www.mindandother.com.
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