********* CALL FOR PAPERS: LIFE-WRITING AND THE GENERATIONS ***********
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY UNIT FOR STUDIES IN BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The La Trobe University Unit for Studies in Biography and Autobiography will
hold a life-writing conference in July 2002. We're planning a large scale
international event under the umbrella of the IABA. As agreed during
discussions at the UBC conference in July last year, the general theme of
the La Trobe conference will be "Life-writing and the generations". The
conference will be held on July 15, 16, 17, 2002, at the La Trobe campus -
about 25 minutes north of the Melbourne city center by car. Our title is
meant to be very inclusive; but in general terms we have in mind the ways in
which the generations write about one another. Here is an indicative - but
by no means exhaustive - list of some ways in which the title might be
construed:
- Gender and the generations
- Generations of life-writing criticism and theory
- Cross-cultural dimensions
- Indigeneity and the generations: Australia and the Pacific
- Generational writing in Asia and the Pacific
- Science, life-writing and generational change
- Psychoanalytic dimensions
- Sociological dimensions (in addition to those already mentioned)
- Historical dimensions (in addition to those already mentioned)
- Spiritual dimensions: discipleship, generational aspects of religious
experience etc.
- Oral narrative and generational memory
- Philosophy of the self/subject and its representation: papers reflecting
various philosophical/theoretical orientations on the self/subject and its
representation in life-writing narrative
- Life phases: individuals writing at and/or about different stages of their
lives
- Other
We'd like to see a wide range among the presentations in terms of
approaches, text types, 'periods' and cultures represented etc.
Proposals for papers should be no more than 300 words in length, and should
be submitted by Monday 4 June 2001. Please send your proposals to the Unit
Administrative Officer, Dr Trish Dutton, at <P.Dutton@latrobe.edu.au>
Please also direct all logistical questions to Trish, cc'd to me. If you
have queries about intellectual content of possible papers and related
matters, please send them to me, cc'd to Trish.
We hope to have some accommodation available on campus. Rates for a single
room with shared facilities will probably be around $50 Australian (though
this is an approximate figure at this stage). Decent accommodation near the
CBD, in fun area called Carlton (rich in restaurants, book shops etc.), can
currently be obtained at around $100-150 Australian. For those in the US
and the UK the good news is that the Australian dollar is shot to pieces
relative to your currency. Today it buys about 52 cents US, and 36 p UK.
(Others should check their exchange rates against our enfeebled currency.)
So once you get here your cash will go far.
There's not much point in trying to give plane fare estimates from this end;
but perhaps anyone who discovers good deals in the northern hemisphere could
post details on the link. If you have questions about further travel here,
before or after the conference in Australia, or in the region, please direct
them to Trish in the first instance. In addition to Trish and myself, the
other members of the Unit Management Committee will be taking responsibility
for aspects of conference planning. The other members are: Dr John Jenkin,
Philosophy (John trained as a physicist but saw the light and now has a
particular interest in science biography and related issues); Profess John
Gatt-Rutter, Italian (among other things, John is the author of the Oxford
biography of Italo Svevo); Dr Greg Kratzmann, English (Greg, Deputy-Director
of the Unit, is writing the authorized biography of a major Australian poet,
Gwen Harwood, and will soon publish a volume of her letters); Dr Michael
Shortland (Michael is Head of Menzies College at La Trobe, is trained in
science and social science, and is the co-editor of a Cambridge volume of
essays about science biography); Dr Sue Thomas, English (Sue is the
Coordinator of the La Trobe English program; her work on Jean Rys and many
other figures is informed by detailed biographical research). Trish Dutton
works on Australian, and particularly Aboriginal material, and has a
particular interest in Jungian approaches to life-writing. We may shortly
add another member to the Committee. If we do, I'll let you know.
We are hoping to have as many as four keynote speakers from abroad, and two
from within Australia. Negotiations are well advanced in most instances.
As soon as they're concluded we'll let you know.
One session of the conference will be devoted to Australian content,
specifically to the 'Stolen Generation' of Australian aborigines and their
narratives.
We'll keep the information coming, so stay tuned.
Hope you can make it - and please spread the word.
Dick Freadman (for Trish and the Committee)
Richard Freadman
Professor of English
Director, Unit for Studies in Biography and Autobiography
Room 531, Humanities 2 Building
La Trobe University
Victoria, Australia 3086
Office phone:(03)94792406; Home phone:(03)98893234; Office fax:(03)94793637
English Website: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/english/english.html
Unit for Studies in Biography and Autobiography Website:
http://www.edu.au/www/english/usba/usba.html
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