The Scipionic Circle coined the term humanitas in the 2nd century BC, creating an indivisible link between the arts and relational humanity, a link that distinguishes human beings from their ancient beginnings. However, in the contemporary world, the problematic aspect of interpersonal relations and relations between humans and nature (animals, corporeality, the land), as well as between humans and the abstract (divinity, the fantastic, art, technology), has become an unavoidable concern. Current scholarship has indeed recognized the urgency of reigniting discussion of and interest in the complexity of social, anthropological, textual, artistic, and performative forms that characterize the relationship with the Other in its multiple shapes (see M. Halliwell & A. Mousley, Critical Humanisms: Humanist/Anti-Humanist Dialogues; C. Watts, Relational Archaeologies: Humans, Animals,Things).
The University of Toronto’s Graduate Students’ Conference Committee welcomes proposals for its annual conference in Toronto, Canada. The conference will be interdisciplinary and multi-genre in its perspective and, thus, is open to international scholars with a variety of academic specialties.
Papers may be in English or Italian and should address issues of relations through various themes from any time period. We welcome papers that focus on literature, theatre, visual arts, film, and other disciplines. Discussion topics may include, but are not limited to, the following dichotomies:
Human – The Fantastic Human – Machine Human – The Sacred
Human – Nature Human – Corporeality Human – Native Land
Human – New World
Please send a 300-word abstract of your paper and a brief biography (including affiliation and full contact information) to
[log in to unmask]. Presentations should be a maximum of fifteen minutes (audio and visual accompaniments included; an additional five minutes will be allotted for questions).
We thank you in advance for your submissions. For further information, please e-mail
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