Call For Papers

Undisciplined: A Queen’s Cultural Studies Graduate Symposium – October 1st, 2011 – Kingston, ON

Keynote Speaker: TBA

Deadline for Abstracts: Friday, July 15th, 2011

Description of Event
Queen’s Cultural Studies is pleased to announce its first graduate symposium, ‘Undisciplined’. The symposium will be held at Mackintosh-Corry Hall on Saturday, October 1st, 2011. All MA and PhD Cultural Studies students are invited to present. Guests are welcome to attend.

Undisciplined is a one-day graduate symposium designed to provide Cultural Studies students with a forum to present their work (MRP; thesis; dissertation; or project) to interested Queen’s faculty, students and the Kingston community. Unlike a traditional conference, there will be no concurrent panels. Students will present individually to the entire assembly and will be grouped in thematic clusters. Owing to the program’s interdisciplinary nature, Undisciplined will provide a much-needed opportunity for all 80 faculty members to come together and provide valuable feedback to MA and PhD students at the proposal and early research stage of their work. This will provide an excellent opportunity for both students and faculty in the Cultural Studies program, who are dispersed throughout departments, to come together in interdisciplinary dialogue. This symposium will also provide an opportunity for students and faculty who are new to the program to meet the community and learn about the types of projects in progress within the program.

Abstracts
Please submit your abstracts in a 1-page, Word (.doc) format by email.

Please preface your abstract with the following information:
Your name
Year in program as of Sept. 2011 (example: 3rd year PhD)
Your paper title
5 Key words that describe your paper
5 Professors whom you would like to attend your presentation

Abstracts for submission should be no longer than 300 words.

Presentation Format
Each presenter will have 10 minutes to present a synopsized version of their anticipated or in-progress research project, which will immediately be followed by 10 minutes of questions and feedback. We ask that when planning your presentation, you preface with a very brief introduction to your research area and then proceed to focus on a question or problem that is central to your work for which you would like to receive feedback. Please be sure to direct your paper towards an audience of scholars who may or may not be specialists in your field. Making your project clear and intelligible to a diverse range of interests and specialists is a key skill we are hoping our presenters will learn through this symposium. You also want to make your presentation is as interesting as possible so that you will engage your audience and generate ample feedback and discussion.

Power Point slides will be accepted and must be submitted one week before the symposium to allow for adequate technical preparation. Please – no video or sound clips. All presentations will respect hard time stops.

Inviting Professors
We are asking each presenter to identify 5 professors whom you would like to attend your presentation. These may be members of your committee, professors you have taken courses with or professors whom you would like to meet but have not yet had the opportunity. Because this is the pilot year for our Cultural Studies symposium and our goal is to provide presenters with feedback, we are planning to make special efforts to invite the professors whom you would like to attend. We will make every effort to group presentations in thematic clusters in order to facilitate the active participation of professors who might only be able to attend for half of the day.

Poster Presentations
Students who are interested in sharing their work through informal poster presentations may do so. Posters will be hung in the symposium ‘lunch room’ where participants can view them in prior to the conference, on breaks and throughout the lunch hour. Recently graduated MA students are invited to share their completed MA theses, MRP’s and projects in this fashion. Please contact us if you are interested in presenting a poster.

Contact:

If you have any questions or concerns, or to submit your 1-page abstract, please contact us at: undisciplined2011@gmail.com.

You can also stay informed by bookmarking our blog.

Thank you,

Co-Chairs and Organizing Committee

Save the date!

Welcome to our blog!

Undisciplined: A Queen’s Cultural Studies Graduate Symposium will take place on Saturday, October 1st, 2011.

There will be many opportunities for socializing with new and returning CS students and faculty before, during and after the conference. Look forward to inventive presentations, great conversations and delicious food.

Mark it in your calendars and start spreading the word.

We look forward to seeing you there. Stay tuned for our upcoming call for papers.