TORONTO, June 4, 2004 -- York’s Graduate Program in Social & Political Thought (SPT) is hosting the 5th Annual International Social Theory Consortium, Sunday, June 6 to Wednesday, June 9.
This year’s consortium conference features scores of presentations from academics from Canada – including several from York University – the US, Mexico, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. "There are over 100 papers to be given over four days, and the interdisciplinary scope is dazzling," said York Professor Deborah Britzman, SPT graduate program director. Britzman and York Professor Brian Singer, faculty member in SPT, are the chief organizers of the event.
(Right: Artist Shaun O'Boyle's image of a broken piano, used on posters advertising Discord)
With the conference title and theme, Discord, presentations will focus on the nature of clashes, divergences, disagreements and conflicts in various areas of life. Some will concentrate on discord in international relations, citizenship and globalization; others will highlight discord at the level of thought, conscience and personality; and still others will examine social conflict and tragedy as these are reflected through the media, art and monuments.
"The consortium chose a broken piano as the image for its conference theme, 'Discord', to represent the absence of concord, and to indicate dissension and dissonance," explained Neil Braganza, a member of the consortium's 2004 organizing committee. "We feel Shaun O'Boyle's image of the elegant but old, corroded and eviscerated grand piano, with its smashed keys, captures many of the dimensions that can be in play when thinking about 'discord'."
The International Social Theory Consortium is a grouping of teaching and research programs in social theory from around the world. The purpose of the consortium is to support research that takes place "outside the box" in the cross-over between the humanities and the social sciences. The consortium has over 45 academic programs from Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Lithuania and the United States.
Panel discussions, which include a mixture of faculty and graduate students, will cover a broad range of topics, from "Body and Spirit", "Representing Eros/Death", Capitalism and Critique" and "International Concord and Discord" to "Otherwise than Being", "Familiar Strangers", "Poor Oedipus" and "Alternative Globalization".
A sample of presenters and their papers follows:
· Joshua Bates – MA student in SPT: "Beyond Good and Evil: False Binaries in the September 11th Aftermath"
· Engin Isin – York’s Canada Research Chair in Citizenship Studies: "City of Discord"
· Kristine Klement – PhD student in SPT: "Masochism and Identification: Queer Attachments to Subjection"
· Fuyuki Kurasawa – Professor of sociology, Faculty of Arts: "Alternative Globalization and the Practice of Cosmopolitan Solidarity"
· Jesse Payne – MA student in political science: "Changing the Rules of Engagement: The Role of Videogames in the Struggle for Social Justice"
· Ali Hassan Zaidi – PhD candidate in sociology: "Islam and Modernity: the Promise of a Dialogical Understanding"
For the conference schedule and abstracts, registration visit the consortium’s "Discord" Web site at: http://www.yorku.ca/spt/consortium/
The conference will be held at York’s Glendon campus, 2275 Bayview Ave.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, media should contact:
Ken Turriff, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100, ext. 22086 / kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/078/04
