To mark a year since its premiere, the Australian Centre for Indigenous History at the Australian National University and the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia present:
Baz Luhrmann's Australia Reviewed: An interdisciplinary conference on history, film and popular culture
7 & 8 December 2009National Museum of Australia, Canberra
Keynote Address:
Meaghan Morris, Chair Professor of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University (Hong Kong), and Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney
Confirmed speakers include Peter Stanley (National Museum of Australia), John Docker (University of Sydney), and Ann McGrath (Australian National University)
'In his fabulous hyperbolic film Australia, Baz Luhrmann has leaped over the ruins of the 'history wars' and given Australians a new past a myth of national origin that is disturbing, thrilling, heartbreaking, hilarious and touching'. Marcia Langton, 2008.
Arguably Luhrmann's epic film Australia is the most ambitious, creative, and expensive engagement with our nation's past since the opening of the National Museum of Australia in 2001. Even though it is ostensibly a 1940s romance between the English aristocratic fish-out-of-water, Lady Sarah Ashley and the Drover, a quintessential Aussie bloke, the film engages with recent debates in Australia's national history from the removal of Aboriginal children from their families to the bombing of Darwin. The backdrop to this mismatched romance is the contradictory racial frontier of northern Australia, where official segregation, casual and entrenched discrimination, and sexual and labour exploitation coincided with inter-racial friendships, illicit relationships and mixed-race children. Luhrmann's engagement with our nation's racial past is explicit; the film begins with a definition of the Stolen Generations, and concludes by commemorating Prime Minister Rudd's 2008 apology.
The film's release met with both praise and sharp criticism from film critics, politicians, and other public commentators. This conference presents an opportunity for scholars to review and extend these initial debates on Luhrmann's re-visioning of Australia's past. We invite scholars from the disciplines of history, Indigenous studies, Australian studies, literary criticism, cultural studies, gender studies, film studies, tourism studies, and anthropology to explore the myriad ways in which this film engages with Australia's national history, self-fashioning, and identity.
Themes and topics for 20 minute papers may include, but are not limited to:
Australia's national and popular imaginings
notions of genealogy and inheritance in national imaginings
reconciliation narratives and shared histories
land, sovereignty and questions of possession
the idea of home and belonging
sexuality and national imaginings
images of race on the northern frontier
Selling Australia through Australia
Australia and histories
histories of cattlemen and droving, including Aboriginal workers
imperial connections and dynasties
Aboriginal and Chinese labour on the frontier
World War II, including the bombing of Darwin, the Japanese 'threat', and
Aboriginal servicemen
frontier violence and racism
-'mixed-relations': inter-racial relationships and marriages
Stolen Generations
native title and dispossession
Australia's borrowings and the language of film
filmic references and histories, ie Wizard of Oz, Jedda etc
histories and representations of Indigenous people in film
melodrama and constructions of race
cinematic representations of country and landscape
material culture studies and film
Australia and Australian literary influences
We welcome proposals from post-graduate students and Indigenous scholars.
We will be looking to publish selected papers from this conference.
Please send a title, 200 word abstract and short biography to Shino Konishi by Friday 31 July 2009.
Rediscovered Past: China in northern Australia is a second, exciting publication by CHINA Inc. As its title suggests, this publication contributes to 'the important work of reporting on and disseminating the research into the involvement of early Chinese settlers with the development of northern Australia, largely during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries'.
CONTENTS:
Forward
Darryl Low Choy
Chinese ginger growing in Queensland
Leonie Ryder
Beyond the coast : Chinese settler patterns of the western gulf region, north Queensland
Sandi Robb
Behind the wattle fence : the Chinese market gardeners of early Cooktown
Kevin Rains
Queensland’s ‘Assassin of Gallipoli’ and other Chinese Australian heroes of World War One
Alastair Kennedy
Commemorative stelae from Cooktown south : an ancient form of Chinese historical record adapted to Australian conditions
Kevin Wong Hoy
Heritage as living culture : the Lit Sung Goong collection of Cairns
Mary Low, Julie Ramsbotham & Darryl Thomas
To order copies please complete the attached form.
Call for Submissions - Peril #8 - "Why Are People So Unkind?"
"Why Are People So Unkind?" has become a famous, perhaps notorious, Australian catchphrase. It's attributed to our kaftan king and iconic Australian performer, Kamahl. Among other things, this issue of Peril challenges you to think about the ways in which cultural icons are created and maintained - what and who ARE our Australian icons these days? Do you relate to celebrities like Hugh Jackman, 'Our Nic', and Warnie? What about Charlie Teo, Anh Do, or Penny Wong? Do flourescent dim sims and Chikko rolls fit into your life, and would you give up Tom Cruise for roast lamb? Did you know that Ned Kelly's armour is of Chinese origin, and that "Two Wongs don't make a White"?
Below are some prompts that we hope are only the start of what you might do with the theme:
Being UnAustralian - yes, please?
Represent! - Finding role models, creating your own, nixing cliches, forging new communities
Culture makes me / I make culture
The 'Asian' thing? Get over it.
Let's see and hear what you think about "Why Are People So Unkind?" – write, create, draw, compose, collaborate! We accept submissions of any kind of text, sound or visual art, as long as it can be presented online (e.g. essays, blog entries, reflections, poetry, fiction, memoir, spoken word tracks, photos, etc.). Text limit is 1000 words, preferably submitted in .txt format.
We are fortunate enough to have two issues sponsored by the Australia Council for 2009, and will be paying contributors for this issue. The deadline for Issue 8 material is September 30, to be published online by December 2009.
There will be impressive numbers of postgraduates presenting at this year's ASAL conference in Canberra. To take advantage of this gathering of Aust lit postgrads, we will be running a postgrad workshop on Wednesday 8 July from 11am to 1.30pm (including lunch).
This will be an opportunity for postgrads to discuss their research projects with others working in the field and with participating academics including Leigh Dale and Ian Henderson. Leigh (editor of Australian Literary Studies) and Ian (editor of Studies in Australasian Cinema) will provide some advice on getting your work published, and on Life After Thesis.
The cost for the workshop is $20 which you can pay when you register for the conference. If you have already registered, you can pay for the workshop on the day.
If you would like to attend, please fill in the attached form and return it to Julieanne Lamond by email to ensure the workshop is useful and pertinent to you.
Please feel free to contact Julieanne with any questions:
The new issue leads with Paul Genoni and Gaby Haddow's analysis of the contentious ERA journal rankings and Peter Otto on Romanticism and Virtual Reality. A special section on 'Naturecultures', inspired by the work of Bruno Latour and Actor-Network Theory, features essays by Gay Hawkins, Michael Dieter, Emily Potter and Zoë Sofoulis. The Ecological Humanities features Val Plumwood's 'Nature in the Active Voice', the essay she was working on before her untimely death in February 2008, and responses to Plumwood's work from Thom van Dooren, Kate Rigby, Gerda Roelvink and J.K. Gibson-Graham. And there is the usual range of book reviews, from Simon Robb's review of Ross Gibson's Summer Exercises to Ed Wright's appreciation of the new edition of G.A. Wilkes' Stunned Mullets and Two-pot Screamers.
The editors are seeking submissions for the 2010 issues of AHR:
We welcome proposals in the form of 250 word abstracts in the first instance, from across the range of humanities disciplines, including literary and film studies, cultural and media studies, gender studies, history, politics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology and of course ecological humanities. Please note that we do not publish poetry or creative writing, though we do welcome fictocritical approaches to academic writing. Initial submissions for the May 2010 issue should reach us no later than 30 September 2009, and for the November 2010 issue no later than 31 March 2010.
Call for Papers/Abstracts/Submissions:8th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities
January 13 - 16, 2010
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa and Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel
Honolulu Hawaii, USA
Submission Deadline: August 21, 2009
(Submit well in advance of the above deadline and take advantage of our NEW low early bird registration rate. See website for details!)
Sponsored by:
University of Louisville - Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods
The 8th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities will be held from January 13 (Wednesday) to January 16 (Saturday), 2010 at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa and the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. The conference will provide many opportunities for academicians and professionals from arts and humanities related fields to interact with members inside and outside their own particular disciplines. Cross-disciplinary submissions with other fields are welcome.
Topic Areas (All Areas of Arts & Humanities are Invited):
Anthropology American Studies Archeology Architecture Art Art History Dance English Ethnic Studies Film Folklore Geography Graphic Design History Landscape Architecture Languages Literature Linguistics Music Performing Arts Philosophy Postcolonial Identities Product Design Religion Second Language Studies Speech/Communication Theatre Visual Arts Other Areas of Arts and Humanities Cross-disciplinary areas of the above related to each other or other areas.
Submitting a Proposal:
You may now submit your paper/proposal by using our online submission system! To use the system, and for detailed information about submitting see:
Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies ejournalCall for Papers – General Issue
The Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies (ACRAWSA) ejournal is currently calling for submissions for the ejournal’s general issue to be published in January, 2010. The ACRAWSA ejournal is a peer reviewed publication. It is published at least once a year. We welcome submissions of articles and review essays. As an online journal, we are also keen to accept submissions that utilise new media such as photography and film (subject to Copyright Requirements). The journal seeks to showcase innovative scholarship in the area of critical race and whiteness studies. The journal is multi-disciplinary in its approach and accepts papers from a wide range of areas in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Education and Law, including:
Indigenous and Native American Studies
Asian Australian and Asian American Studies
Race and Ethnic Studies
History and Historiography
Museum Studies
Tourism and Heritage Studies
Post-colonial Studies
Literary Studies and Comparative Literature
Cultural Studies and Media and Communication Studies
Psychology
Sociology and Boundary Studies
Anthropology
Women's Studies, Gender Studies and Queer Studies
Social Theory and Political Science
Legal Studies
Drama and Performing Arts
Visual and Design Studies
Submissions for the issue are welcomed from now until August 30th 2009.
Articles should be between 4,000-8,000 words in length (double spaced pages) including tables, notes and references. An abstract of 200-300 words should accompany the article. Submission guidelines can be found at ACRAWSA’s website: www.acrawsa.org.au
We also welcome shorter pieces of creative or analytical writing (up to 1000 words), visual material, or reviews of books, films, plays etc.
Submissions and enquiries about the issue should be sent to Dr. Holly Randell-Moon: postgraduate@acrawsa.org.au
Earlybird registration for this year's ASAL conference, 'Common Readers and Cultural Critics', at the ANU Canberra July 8-11, has been extended to 7 June.
Updated information can be found on the ASAL2009 website:
Press On is the initiative of a number of novelists, publishers & booksellers to intervene actively in the publication & promotion of new fiction in Australia.
Adopting the classic 18th & 19th century strategy of subscription publishing that worked for Henry Kendall & others, it needs just 200 subscribers to get the first three titles of this innovative, exciting program into print & onto the web.
Subscribe now for $50 ($80 overseas) and save a third off the recommended retail price on the first three titles.
Send a cheque or money order to Press On, PO Box 3162, Rundle Mall 5000 with your name and mailing address.
Or pay with credit card by PayPal on our web site:
and discover more about these new novels by Peter Corris (Wishart's Quest), Michael Wilding (The Prisoner of Mount Warning), Phillip Edmonds (Leaving Home with Henry), & Inez Baranay (With The Tiger).
For more information phone Michael Wilding in Sydney (02) 9979 7689,
From Ross Fitzgerald's article about Press On in the Spectator:
'A subscription-based press might be just the sort of endeavour to resonate in 2010. At the very least, it deserves a red-hot go and support from fiction writers throughout the nation'.
Media use has escalated greatly throughout the world, leading to more extensive and varied visibility of the arts. Using metaphors of the ocean in cooperation with the viral and the virtual ties popular imaginaries of Southeast Asia with the ability of media to spread and replicate “virally”. As Jean Burgess uses Henry Jenkins’ argument about the “spreadability” of values within the dynamic relationship between media and cultural production/consumption, “Through reuse, reworking and redistribution, spreadable media content ‘gains greater resonance in the culture, taking on new meanings, finding new audiences, attracting new markets, and generating new values’” (Burgess 2008, 3). Media outputs then become ports of contact and inspiration for other members of the social network.
In this fascinating process, the arts are inevitably expanding and evolving into an outlet or carrier for (re)thinking identities in relation to socio-political and economic issues, discussed and solved in what Ien Ang et.al. calls the “field of culture” (2000). This field contains uneven complexities, contradictory approaches, avoidances, identifications, disidentifications, collusion and conflict that form, articulate, and contest hybrid identities “in and through artistic expression, media representation, popular culture consumption, cultural criticism and intellectual reflection” (Ang et. al., 2000:xxx).
The emphasis on the arts and media in this conference should open more comprehensive ways of thinking about Southeast Asia and its diasporas as a whole. This conference reflects on Arjun Appadurai’s call for a “new architecture of area studies” which is driven by the concept of process geographies—areas are spaces of action, interaction, and motion (Burgess 2004: 127). The theme of ‘arts and media in everyday life’ engages with these geographies in motion by highlighting the dynamic, multidirectional networks of culture within Southeast Asia and through its diasporic communities throughout the world in addition to addressing complexities that make a contribution to developing new approaches of thinking.
We define media broadly to include (but is not limited to) genres of film, TV, radio, Internet, digital games. Media connects with various forms of the arts such as dance, music, and theatre that bind and detach Southeast Asia and its diasporas. We invite graduate students, artists, scholars, and community/cultural workers to submit work based on the theme.
Viral Video Festival: Please read more about viral video upload instructions after sample topics.
Topics might include, but are not limited to:
Reality Bites: Southeast Asian youth culture, viral videos and the influence of transnational television programming.
Herzfeld’s Arenas of Agency: Sensing the feel and sound of Southeast Asian diasporas.
“Bebot, Ikaw Ang Aking …” Pop Music Links to Philippine Transnational Ethnic Identities
Everyday Nationalism in the Arts: Artists joining together in national expression from the ground up.
Capital Movements: Revitalizing classical Cambodian dance through tourism, globalization, and political policy.
Upload/Download: Internet ties and communicating community through cyberspace.
Screening SEADs: ecological filmic representations of performing Southeast Asian diasporic subjects.
Scoring High Karma: the Ethics (Video) Game sharing Thai Buddhist morals around the world.
Indonesian Pop Divas negotiating Islam and Sex for the record.
The Culture Show Wars: Fighting for community and identity in southern California college Vietnamese culture shows.
Media fiksi, Mekanis berharap: Nationalism, science fiction, and media imagery in modern Indonesian graphic novels.
TRANS-itions in Sound, Venus Fly Trap: music video vixens engendering space and feminine bodies for multisensory consumption.
Call for VIRAL VIDEO Uploads based on the conference theme!
We invite submissions of viral videos of no more than 5:00 minutes from all over the world exploring our conference theme. Share your stories and issues about Southeast Asia and its diasporas! Please upload your video to http://www.youtube.com and send us your YouTube screenname and email address. You may also send us a hard copy of your video on CD through snail mail. Please make sure videos are saved with extensions that can be read in both MAC and PC format (e.g. avi, mov, mpg, wmv). Early submissions are encouraged. Deadline for submission is September 4, 2009. You may send hard copies to:
SEATRiP
c/o 2009 Conference
3149 Interdisciplinary Building
University of California, Riverside
900 University Avenue
Riverside, CA 92521
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Papers may be submitted individually or as part of organized panels. Creative panel formats that encourage discussion and exchange are especially welcomed.
INDIVIDUAL PAPER proposals should include the full title and a brief abstract of the paper (250 words or less). Individual papers will be assigned to a panel according to topic and should be short enough to present in 15 minutes.
A SELF- ORGANIZED PANEL consists of 3 or 4 papers organized around a common topic or theme, and a chair (who may also be one of the panelists). All panel proposals should include: a title and brief abstract of the panel (250 words or less) along with a title and brief abstract for each paper (250 words or less). Panels will run for an hour and a half, and papers should be short enough to allow for questions and discussion.
All panel and paper proposals must include the name and full contact information of all participants, and can be submitted through email to paul.atienza@email.ucr.edu
Please address all inquiries to the email address shown above. Submissions are due no later than June 15, 2009. Notification of acceptance: July 6, 2009.
