| Testimony: Memory, Trauma, Truth, Engagement 3rd Global Interdisciplinary Conference Friday 8th July 2022 - Saturday 9th July 2022 Athens, Greece The increased visibility of police brutality, forced disappearances, discoveries of unmarked and mass graves, and gendered killings, among other manifestations of systematic violence compels us to grapple with stories of loss, grief, and mourning. To give testimony, to tell and retell what one has witnessed, across time and generations - an historical inheritance of memory, trauma, and engagement. These accounts often take the form of testimony, that is, autobiographical narratives that present evidence of first-person accounts of human rights abuses, violence and war, and life under conditions of social oppression. Testimony strongly encourages us to rethink the concepts of memory and trauma, closure, grieving and mourning, and to (re)imagine the entanglement of past, present, and future by opening a space for voices that have been historically silenced and/or censored. It is a genre that continues to thrive in the twenty-first century - perhaps even more so since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic - and one that encompasses a diversity of expression or representation from oral to written as well as nonfictional to fictional. Testimonial production implies a spectrum of disciplines, art forms, geographical and historical contexts as well as multi-lingual realities, that includes topics such as: human rights and storytelling; trauma and memory; ethics, witnessing, and reconciliation; affect theory and empathy studies; critical pedagogy. Scholars continue to engage questions that address issues of generic hybridity and metamorphosis; uses, reception, and production of testimony; ethical and aesthetic contexts of testimony; and legal and juridical frameworks of testimony. It is through interdisciplinarity that an examination can be made of the impact and contributions of testimonial production within the cultures of redress and transnational justice processes for both the producers of testimony and their audience. The third conference in the Testimony series marks the launch of a new five year Special Collaborative Project. Key Topics This call for proposals asks for proposals in the context of a global pandemic, war, rape, and State crimes, and drawing on the concepts of memory, trauma, truth, and engagement. This conference aims to examine the genres and contexts of testimonial production that considers testimony in terms of its trajectories into questions dealing with memory, trauma, truth, and/or witness engagement. Examples of the above can be seen in, but are not exclusive to, the following categories: Genre and Production ~ Literary and filmic witnessing: documentaries, witness testimonies ~ Life writing genres (autobiography, memoirs, letters, ethnography, etc.) ~ Testimonial writing: fiction vs. non-fiction, official history vs. reality ~ Social media: Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, vlogs, blogs ~ Street Art: urban interventions, performance, activism, monuments, and anti-monuments ~ Digital storytelling: multimodal stories, podcasts Trauma and Memory ~ Historical memory: spectral spaces, haunted geographies, memorialisation ~ Collective memory: oral history, culture of acknowledgement ~ Healing and recovery: survivor groups, support groups, activist groups, public mourning ~ Official history; cultures of erasure ~ Intergenerational trauma, storytelling Truth and Reconciliation ~ Cultures of redress: personal, collective ~ Political persecution and torture ~ Challenges of truth and reconciliation commissions ~ Juridical testimony Pedagogy and Civic Engagement ~ Culture of acknowledgement ~ Human rights and social justice: social activism and awareness ~ Methodologies and pedagogies of testimony What To Send This interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event aim to bring together academics, professionals, practitioners, NGOs, voluntary sector workers, etc., in the context of a variety of formats: presentations, seminars, workshops, panels, performances, etc. 300-word reviews of your proposed contribution (paper abstracts, proposals for workshops, collaborative works or round tables, overviews of artistic projects, or any other relevant forms of participation you are interested in) should be submitted by Friday 11th February 2022. All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by an international panel drawn from the Project Advisory Team and the Advisory Board. In practice, our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed. You will be notified of the panel's decision by Friday 25th February 2022 If your submission is accepted for the conference, a complete draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 20th May 2022 Proposals may be in Word, PDF, RTF, or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order: a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of the proposal, f) up to 10 keywords. Emails should be entitled: Testimony Submission Where To Send Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator: Cristina Santos: cristina@progressiveconnexions.net Len Capuli (Project Administrator): athenstestimony@progressiveconnexions.net What's so Special About a Progressive Connexions Event? A fresh, friendly, dynamic format - at Progressive Connexions we are dedicated to breaking away from the stuffy, old-fashion conference formats, where endless presentations are read aloud off PowerPoints. We work to bring you an interactive format, where exchange of experience and information is alternated with captivating workshops, engaging debates and round tables, time set aside for getting to know each other and for discussing common future projects and initiatives, all in a warm, relaxed, egalitarian atmosphere. A chance to network with international professionals - the beauty of our interdisciplinary events is that they bring together professionals from all over the world and from various fields of activity, all joined together by a shared passion. Not only will the exchange of experience, knowledge and stories be extremely valuable in itself, but we seek to create lasting, ever-growing communities around our projects, which will become a valuable resource for those belonging to them. A chance to be part of constructing change - There is only one thing we love as much as promoting knowledge: promoting real, lasting social change by encouraging our participants to take collective action, under whichever form is most suited to their needs and expertise (policy proposals, measuring instruments, research projects, educational materials, etc.) We will support all such actions in the aftermath of the event as well, providing a platform for further discussions, advice from the experts on our Project Advisory Team and various other tools and intellectual resources, as needed. An opportunity to discuss things that matter to you - Our events are not only about discussing how things work in the respective field, but also about how people work in that field - what are the struggles, problems and solutions professionals have found in their line of work, what are the areas where better communication among specialists is needed and how the interdisciplinary approach can help bridge those gaps and help provide answers to questions from specific areas of activity. An unforgettable experience - When participating in a Progressive Connexions event, there is a good chance you will make some long-time friends. Our group sizes are intimate, our venues are comfortable and relaxing and our event locations are suited to the history and culture of the event. Ethos Progressive Connexions believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract or proposal for presentation. Please note: Progressive Connexions is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence, nor can we offer discounts off published rates and fees. Please send all enquiries to the project email address: athenstestimony@progressiveconnexions.net For further details and information please visit the project web page: https://www.progressiveconnexions.net/interdisciplinary-projects/narratives-persons-communities/testimony/conferences/ Sponsored by: Progressive Connexions |
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