“Spaces of War: France and the Francophone World”

October 26-28, 2006
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Organized by the Departments of History and French & Italian, University of Minnesota

Wars have marked the history, thought, and culture of France, wars that extend well beyond the geo-political boundaries of this European nation. The aim of this conference is not so much to recount the story of these wars once again, but rather to reflect critically upon their effects. The conference title, “Spaces of War,” is meant to suggest that these effects are both local and far-flung. The spaces the conference will investigate can be thought of as symbolic and discursive as well as geographical – “theaters of war” in which cataclysmic events are made visible and can be seen to raise issues that are political, social, ethical, and esthetic.

The conference is designed to be an encounter between and across disciplines. Proposals are invited from individuals working in such areas as history, literary and cultural studies, film or art history, political theory, human geography, and philosophy. Possible topics to be treated could include:

* the State and theories of sovereignty
* legacies of war
* war and the military
* medicine
* gender and the gendering of war
* terrorism and war
* the justice/injustice of war
* rites and rituals
* trauma
* commemoration
* war and race / class / gender
* borders and boundaries
* images of war – documents, documentaries, the archive
* writing/filming/staging war
* etc.

A 300-word summary of the conference paper proposed must be submitted by February 15, 2006. The summary should be submitted electronically either in the body of an email or as a MS Word or PDF attachment to “Spaces of War” esc@umn.edu. All presentations will be considered for publication in an edited volume of essays.

Conference web site: http://www.esc.umn.edu/SpacesofWar.htm

For further information, please contact Patricia Lorcin or Daniel Brewer, at esc@umn.edu.