The Human and Humanities in Literature, Language and Culture, an international conference hosted by the University of Sydney, will be held from 4 to 6 February 2009

The 35th Congress of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association (AULLA) will be a landmark event. As the first decade of the twenty-first century draws to a close, it is time for a major reassessment of the human and humanities in literature, language and culture. Scholars in these fields are invited to submit proposals for papers and panels relating to this theme throughout history and into the future. The conference has a dual aim of promoting: (1) detailed research into the human (and inhuman) in literature, languages and culture; and (2) broad-scale exploration of the past, present and future definitions of and directions for the humanities. There will be opportunities for delegates to have their papers considered for refereed publication including proceedings of the conference published within 2009 as a special electronic edition of the association's journal, AUMLA.

 

Plenary Speakers 

Professor Deirdre Coleman, Robert Wallace Chair of English, University of Melbourne 

Dr Debjani Ganguly, Head of the Humanities Research Centre, ANU

Professor Elizabeth Grosz, Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University

 Professor Jeffrey Riegel, Head of School of Languages and Cultures, University of Sydney

Professor Bob White, English and Cultural Studies, The University of Western Australia

 

Presenters are invited to consider the following issues:

  • How are the human and inhuman represented, constituted and reconfigured in literature, languages, film and culture?
  • What do the human and inhuman signify to authors, directors, translators, compilers, readers, spectators and thinkers?
  • What are the filmic, literary and cultural theories of the human and inhuman that resonate with and illuminate our texts?
  • What are the ethics, politics and aesthetics of the human and humanities?
  • What are the human and humanities in 21st century and what have they been in the past?
  • What are limits of and possibilities for our current disciplines within the humanities?
  • What are the specifically Australasian contexts for the human and humanities?

Early bird registration by 31 October 2008.

Abstracts (200 words) for papers and suggestions for themed panels should be sent to abstracts@aulla.com.au by 14 November 2008.

For full details and to register, see the conference website: http://aulla.com.au/AULLA09.html