CALL FOR PROPOSALS THE USES OF UTOPIA
26 June 2016 Clare College, University of Cambridge A SYMPOSIUM AND CELEBRATION ON THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THOMAS MORE’S UTOPIA with support from the Cambridge School of Arts and Humanities Graduate-Led Conference Scheme
In Fredric Jameson's Archaeologies of the Future, he writes: “can we invent a way of reading Thomas More's Utopia (1516) so as to recover something of the shock and freshness of its elegant new Latin for the first European readers?” This symposium is both interdisciplinary investigation provoked by this question, and a celebratory reading for the 500th anniversary of More’s text.
The symposium welcomes researchers from diverse disciplines to read utopia today from their own fields, which may include but not be limited to:
politics theology visual arts early modern studies
literature divinity architecture geography
philosophy sociology theatre music
We invite abstracts for 15-minute papers, which may be inspired by Jameson’s provocation, or on topics related to :
- More and his audiences - Humour, satire, and shock in political critique - The “indirect approach” to politics: form and function - Utopias before and after More - Utopia and theology - Catholic and religious utopias today - Neologisms and the imagination: inventing words for good - Utopian ideas and education - Translating utopia / utopian translation - Utopia and art
Presenters from outside the traditional confines of the academy are encouraged, and we also welcome contributions from artists and creative professionals. Alternative presentations might include:
- Provocations on the topics listed above (maximum 15 minutes) - Visual artworks to be exhibited on the day of the conference - Performances (max. 15 minutes)
Please send a 250-word proposal to Naomi Woo and Sasha Amaya at utopiaconferencecambridge@gmail.com by FRIDAY 15 APRIL. Any further inquiries in advance of this date can be directed to Naomi Woo at nw334@cam.ac.uk.