Call For Papers: Real Objects or Material Subjects?

Michael passes along the following. Please re-post and spread the word.

Real Objects or Material Subjects? A Conference on Continental Metaphysics

March 27th and 28th 2009, University of Dundee, Scotland

Keynote Speakers: Graham Harman (American University, Cairo) and Adrian Johnston (University of New Mexico)

The aim of this conference is to stage a debate between two dominant strands of contemporary continental thought, as represented by the object-oriented realism of Graham Harman, and by the transcendental materialist theory of subjectivity recently proposed by Adrian Johnston.

Along with the debate between Harman and Johnston, we hope to attract papers from both advanced graduate students and early career researchers on related topics.

Suggested topics include:
realism v. materialism, the contemporary relevance of ‘critical realism’, materialist theories of subjectivity, object oriented ontologies, the place of the political in the realism/materialism debate, the persistence of dialectical materialism, recent continental appropriations of eliminative materialism, realism and materialism in contemporary Anglophone philosophy, continental naturalism, the role of the physical sciences in contemporary philosophical materialism, the persistence of religious themes in recent materialist philosophy, the continued importance (or lack thereof) of thinking the ontological in conjunction with the political.

Abstracts of no more than 400 words should be submitted to m.burns@dundee.ac.uk by January 15th, 2010.

Do not hesitate to contact the organizers with any questions.

Political Theology Conference Announcement

Reader Christian Sorace alerts me to a call for papers [pdf] that might be of interest.

Conference Announcement: Spinoza and Bodies

Just a short note to alert readers of a conference coming up in September organized by the Spinoza Research Network and hosted at the University of Dundee. It is called “Spinoza and Bodies: An interdisciplinary conference on Spinoza and the sciences and social sciences” and I’ll be giving a paper entitled “The Ethical Relation of Bodies: Thinking with Spinoza towards an Affective Ecology”.

Graduate students should consider applying for a travel bursary. The deadline to apply for it has been extended to the 22nd of July:

Travel Bursaries:

Bursaries are available for postgraduate students (Masters or PhD) or academics who are unemployed, part-time, or on fixed-term contracts. The bursary reimburses travel expenses (up to £150) and accommodation expenses (up to £60). To apply for a bursary, fill in the relevant section on the registration form and submit your form by July 22.

Conference Announcement

I was recently sent a notice of this and thought some of our regulars here might find it interesting.

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The Fifth Conference on Religion, Literature, and the Arts: Reading the Book of Nature
April 2-4, 2009

The Conference on Religion, Literature, and the Arts is an interdisciplinary meeting held at the University of Iowa and sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and its Departments of Religious Studies and English. This year’s topic—Reading the Book of Nature—focuses on the many ways that artists and thinkers from all traditions interpret the meaning and significance of human emplacement in the “natural” world.

The plenary speakers for the conference are Professor Michael E. Zimmerman, the Director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado and Professor David Jasper, Director of the Center for Literature and Theology at the University of Glasgow. Professor Zimmerman will speak on “Singularity, Posthumanism, and the End of Human/Nature.” Professor Jasper will speak on themes related to his recent work on The Sacred Body.

We invite critical and theoretical papers that reflect on art, religion, or literature as these domains interact with “nature” (in a narrow or broad sense of the term). Graduate students are especially encouraged to submit proposals. The “General Sessions” portion of the conference will be held on Saturday and will feature papers no more than twenty minutes in length to be presented in concurrent sessions, divided into the following panels:

(1) Reading (and Writing) the Book of Nature in Religion and Literature
(2) Living Well on the Earth: Ethics and Examples of Human Flourishing
(3) Redefining “Nature”: Scientific and Philosophical Expansions
(4) Theology, Nature, and the Integrity of Life
(5) Depicting Nature in Art and Literature
(6) Relations between Mythic Floods and the Flood of 2008: Interpreting “Sustainability” on the River’s Edge
(7) Dwelling in a World of Our Own Remaking: Philosophical Confrontations with Nature

Submission of Abstracts:
Submit paper title and an abstract of no more than 350 words, along with your name, institutional affiliation (if applicable), street address, telephone number, and email address by 20 February 2009. Send abstracts and questions to UIowaRLA@yahoo.com.