Graduate Association of French & Italian Students, 31st Annual Symposium (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)

Graduate Student Association of French & Italian Students

University of Wisconsin-Madison

31st Annual Symposium

April 6-7, 2018

Keynote Speaker: Jessica Burstein, Department of English, University of Washington

CALL FOR PAPERS

Skin.  We all have it and yet, somehow, it manages to separate us all the while it unites us, both individually and socially.
Skin establishes geographical origin, denotes sex, marks the potential for physical agility, creates & inspires difference, arouses, hides internal sickness, changes shape & form over the course of our lifetime, and marks a boundary and a bridge to the natural world. 

What types of skin exist? What are the ways in which skin is valued and devalued, discussed and analyzed? How is skin constructed, articulated, and represented ?

The Graduate Association of French & Italian Studies (GAFIS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invites submissions to further explore this theme at our annual graduate student conference.  While the conference is hosted by GAFIS, we encourage interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives, and invite submissions from other departments and academic disciplines.

General topics include, but are not limited to:

*Sex & sexuality; gender studies

*Body modification 

*Race & racism 

*Gender & gender identity 

*Fashion design & body art 

*Costuming/costumes, textiles & disguise

*Medicine & History of Medicine

*Post-colonial (&neo-colonial) studies               

*Ecocriticism

*Art & Art History 

*Linguistics & Foreign Language communities

*Illustration & graphic arts 

*Disability studies 

*Religion 

*Animal Studies

*Bionic skin & robots; prostheses

Graduate students are invited to submit proposals for 20-minute presentations. Proposals should include a title, 250–300-word abstract, affiliated institution, and contact information. Presentations must be in English. 

The deadline for your abstract submission is January 15, 2018. | Contact organizers Lauren Surovi & Jeffrey Thomas
gafis2018@gmail.com