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CFP REMINDER
Deadline: 3 March 2014

Excursions Vol. 5 No. 1 “Boundaries”

'To be inside and outside a position at the same time – to occupy a territory while loitering sceptically on the boundary – is often where the most intensely creative ideas stem from. It is a resourceful place to be, if not always a painless one.' -  Terry Eagleton

Boundaries appear everywhere - both physically and psychologically. Some seem definitive and fixed while others move or dissolve over time.  Some we endorse and enjoy, while others are a joy to transgress. As an interdisciplinary journal, Excursions is primarily interested in ways in which boundaries can be overcome, but even this is conditional on certain limits. We invite submissions which engage with a variety of interpretations of the concept of boundaries. These could include, but are not limited to...

Territories : Political and geographical boundaries are constant sites of debate and contestation. This area might involve topics such as:

• Contention, division and non-recognition, e.g. Tibet, Korea, Kosovo
• The feeling of belonging: migrations, diasporas, asylum seekers, globalisation, multiculturalism
• International organisations eg. EU, UN, NGOs
• Pioneers, travellers and the idea of frontiers

Crossing the Line: Some boundaries are less visible than others; some have only recently been invented. What lines do we cross without even being aware? What other lines do we deliberately cross, feeling that we have no choice? Topics might involve:

• Hacking and its increasing ‘legitimacy’
• NSA scandal and state-sanctioned hacking
• Wikileaks
• Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden as line-crossers
• Sabotage, terrorism, espionage, surveillance
• Subversion and disobedience, e.g. political protests, activism, the Occupy movement, riots etc.
  
  

Boundaries of the Self: Theories of the self have gone through many permutations over time. Should the self always be perceived as stable and separate from other selves, or is the self more permeable? Topics might involve:

• Gender and Sexuality
• Political and philosophical conceptions of identity and subjectivity
• Mental Health, e.g. bipolar depression, multiple personality disorders
• The Body, e.g. transformation, morphology, body modification, cloning
• Affect theory and embodied emotion
• Life writing

Boundaries in Science: Science and mathematics are popularly conceived as being governed and defined by rules and boundaries that are stable and unchanging. But how much is this borne out by reality? Topics might involve:

• Sound and Light Barriers
• Earth sciences, e.g. tectonic plates
• No Boundaries: the universe, the infinite
• Cells, mutation and replication
• Ethics in experimentation – what boundaries must/must not be crossed?
• Space exploration, e.g. Voyager 1 crossing out of our solar system

Imaginative Boundaries: The arts have always explored boundaries in a generative way. That which does not fit comfortably within limits has provided inspiration for countless painters, writers, musicians, film-makers and theorists. Topics might involve:

• Boundaries of form and style
• Canonical and non-canonical art
• Boundaries of fiction/ reality
• Censorship/production/consumption
• Genre, sub-genre and ‘the literary’

Scholarly papers should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words and must follow Harvard style guidelines. We also encourage creative submissions in media such as film, photography, or audio. For creative submissions, please include an abstract and a brief biography (no more than 150 words) along with your submission. All enquiries should be directed to [log in to unmask]. Submissions should be made via our website, www.excursions-journal.org.uk, no later than 3 March 2014.

EXCURSIONS is a peer reviewed, on-line, inter-disciplinary journal, showcasing innovative and high-quality postgraduate research, run by doctoral researchers at the University of Sussex. Boundaries will be Vol. 5  No. 1 http://www.excursions-journal.org.uk/