International Conference on Representations of European Identity

Paper and/or panel proposals are invited for a 3-day multi-disciplinary international conference on representations of European identity: ‘Europe in its Own Eyes / Europe in the Eyes of the Other.' (October 1-3, 2010)

Submissions are encouraged from a wide range of disciplines, with particular emphasis on literature, film, history, music, art, and political science.

As Manfred Pfister observes, “each description or definition of the other culture implies a self-description or self-definition. A culture defines itself by defining other cultures; the self defines itself by defining the other.” As the title suggests, this conference is intended to be as wide-ranging as possible in addressing the manner in which European identity has been and continues to be represented, including European self-representations as well representations by others, whether ‘internal' or ‘external' to the entity that is Europe. These categories are of course different in today's post-millennial Europe than they were earlier in the 20th century or further back in history – a dimension of such representations which cannot be ignored if one seeks to understand contemporary manifestations of European ‘nationalism', or other forms of collective identity. The conference organizers invite papers on the themes of:

· Migration

· Linguistic identity

· Memory

· Nationalism and postnationalism

· Domestic politics and governance

· Civil society and democracy

· European integration and regionalism

· The north/south and, conversely, the east/west divides

as these questions are defined and perceived in the humanities and in the social sciences.

Prospective delegates are invited to submit an abstract, of no more than 250 words, by July 31, 2009.