This conference encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to examining issues central to the study of the Humanities. As interdisciplinary scholars and artists, we seek to investigate how we are informed by the scholarship and art that precedes us and how we ratify and revise that dialogue. We welcome papers and artwork that consider issues of cultural, political, social, and institutional significance beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries as well as those that fortify existing connections within and across them.  We are ultimately interested in stimulating a dialogue that will allow for further exploration, academically as well as via creative critique.

The theme for this year’s conference is “The Phoenix Effect: Regeneration, Rebirth, Reformation.” The conference is interested in papers that explore the various conceptions and interpretations of this year’s theme: globally, culturally, and individually.  We encourage presenters to consider the multi-faceted aspects of the phoenix effect, what this concept means, and how regeneration, rebirth, and reformation manifest themselves in the world around us.  These discussions could explore these concepts in the media (reinventing celebrity images, regenerating the language of the media and political groups); adaptation (popular reinterpretations of literature, art, and film; reexaminations of classical themes and motifs); the cyclic nature of history, philosophy, and art, and how we evaluate these events (reoccurring issues and trends, the recasting of currents styles and tendencies through the lens of prior movements and happenings); religious reformations and rebirths (reinterpreting fundamental religious beliefs through historical events, establishing new religious factions out of older traditions), and any other interdisciplinary topics related to this year’s conference theme.

In addition to more critical work, we also encourage creative submissions, including fiction, poetry, performance, or a combination of the above. If submitting creative work, please include details about necessary technology/accommodations.

The conference organizers invite abstracts from graduate students and professional scholars for individual 12-15 minute presentations or panel proposals on interdisciplinary considerations of literature, theory, history, philosophy, the creative arts, language and linguistics, religious studies, women’s & gender studies, ethno-musicology, pop culture studies, ethnic studies, and LGBT studies. All critical presenters should submit abstracts, and all creative presenters should submit query letters, of 300 words by February 4, 2012 to ahalouisville@gmail.com. Please include your name, affiliation, mailing address, and paper title in your email, and please attach an abstract with title only for blind review. Notification of acceptance will be issued by February 9, 2012. Early registration for the conference opens on February 5th; the cost is $15.00. Late registration ($25.00) begins March 1st and will be accepted through March 16th.

Please visit ahalouisville.com for more information concerning this conference, including FAQs for both critical and creative submissions.

Panel Schedule: Ekstrom Library, Chao Auditorium

8:00 – 8:30 am: Registration

8:30 – 9:45 am: Literature and Fanatical Ideas

Chair: Osborne Wiggins, University of Louisville (Philosophy Department)

Williamson, Brandi. “Playing by the Rules Their Forefathers Created – Racial Enlightenment and Social Order in A Lesson Before Dying and Burning Angel.” Middle Tennessee State University

Hays, Sara. “Sola Fide–The Essential Protestantism of Stoker’s Dracula.” Belmont University

Killian, Jeremy. “Faulkner on Descartes–The Sound and Fury and the Mind-Body Problem.” University of Louisville

9:45 – 11:00 am: Creative Fanaticism

Chair: Annette Allen, University of Louisville (Humanities Department)

Stamp, Anna. “Eulogy.” University of Louisville

Batts, Diane. [TBA]. University of Louisville

Katie Wagner. [TBA]. University of Louisville

11:00 am – 12:15 pm: Keynote Address

Chair: Dr. Andrew Rabin, University of Louisville (English Department)

Dr. Scott Nokes, “Professor Awesome vs. the Nazis: Mythic Transference and Fanaticism.” Troy University

12:30 – 1:30 pm: LUNCH

(Location: Ekstrom, 254)

1:30 – 2:45 pm: Social Conditioning Through Medieval and Modern Texts

Chair: Dr. Blake Beattie, University of Louisville (History Department)

Sheehan, Kendra. “The Japanese Cultural Obsession as Glimpsed in Modern Day Media.” University of Louisville

Basso, Vincent. “Mythologizing the Subject–The Labor of Media and the Appropriation of Descent.” University of New Mexico

Harper, Leslie. “Performing Masculinity andProving Womanhood–The Role of Gender in The Clerk’s Tale.” University of Louisville

2:45 – 4:00 pm: Fandom and Identity

Chair: Dr. Matthew Biberman, University of Louisville (English Department)

Howard, Shannon. “Closeted Bullies, Closeted Fans–The Marginalized Online Communities Who Reread and Redeem Glee’s Dave Karofsky.” University of Louisville

Tanner, Jane. “March Madness–Certifiable Insanity or Issue of Identity.” University of Louisville

Bogard, Megan. “A Faith Without Reflection–Tillich and Protestant Church Architecture.” University of Louisville

4:00 – 5:15 pm: Retaliations Against The Status Quo

Chair: Dr. Mike Hagan, University of Louisville (Humanities Department)

Bache, Lee Anne. “Negotiating an Emerging Celebrity Culture–Eliza Lynn Linton and the Decline of Anonymous Publication in Fin de Siècle Britain.” Indiana University

Gardner, Chad. “Radical Ecology and the Herd-Abstract.” Florida State University

Clarkson, Shaun. “Fanatical Israel in The Counter Life and Operation Shylock.” Texas State University

This conference encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to examining issues central to the study of the Humanities. As interdisciplinary scholars, we seek to investigate how we are informed by the scholarship that precedes us and how we ratify and revise that dialogue. We welcome papers that consider issues of cultural, political, social, and institutional significance beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries as well as those that fortify existing connections within and across them.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Fanaticism: Recollections, Representations, Reactions.” The conference is interested in papers that explore the various conceptions and interpretations of fanaticism: globally, culturally, and individually. We invite presenters to discuss topics related to fanaticism–its past, present, and evolution. These discussions could explore the fanaticisms we see on a daily basis: from cult followings of celebrities; to collectors; to political and moral activists; to subcultures arising out of role-playing (gaming culture, war re-enactors, etc). We also hope to have participants interested in examining fanaticism as it has existed and perhaps changed over time–the role of pilgrimage in medieval Christianity, protest parties of the late 18th century, the Shogunate regime of 17th century Japan, etc.

We encourage submissions both critical and creative. We are interested in stimulating a dialogue about fanaticism that will allow for redefinitions of the concept as well as representations via creative critique. Any form of creative work related to fanaticism is invited: fiction, poetry, visual art (accommodations for a show will be arranged, however, we cannot guarantee that works of art will be insured), performance, or a combination of the above. If submitting creative work, please include details about necessary technology/accommodations.

The conference organizers invite abstracts for individual 15-20 minute presentations/papers or panel proposals on interdisciplinary considerations of literature, theory, history, philosophy, the creative arts, language and linguistics, religious studies, women’s & gender studies, ethno-musicology, pop culture studies, ethnic studies, and LGBT studies. Abstracts for creative submissions are enthusiastically encouraged.

Presenters should submit abstracts of 300 words by January 14, 2011 to ahalouisville@gmail.com. Please include your name, affiliation, mailing address, and paper title in your email, and please attach an abstract with title only for blind review. Notification of acceptance will be issued by February 1, 2011. Early registration for the conference opens on February 1st; the cost is $10.00. Late registration ($20.00) begins March 1st and will be accepted through March 16th.

All presentations are eligible for consideration for the Association of Humanities Academics Prize, which includes possible publication.

 Graduate student presentations all day

 12pm: Keynote speaker, Dr. Blaine Hudson, Ed.D, Activist, and Dean of University of Louisville College of Arts & Sciences will present:

“The Legacy of the Underground Railroad:  Researching, Interpreting and Teaching the ‘Other Side’ of American History”

Friday April 16, 2010

8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Chao Auditorium

Ekstrom Library

For more info: www.ahalouisville.com

Anti:  Revisions, Reconstructions, Refutations: Chao Auditorium APRIL 16, 2010

Session 1   8:30-9:45 Revisions I

“Revisions of Pragmatism: Modernism, Post-Modernism, and Truth”   John Dryden University of Louisville

“They Will Have Landed”: Virginia Woolf’s Modern Revision of Romantic Ideals in To the Lighthouse” Brett Seybert, East Tennessee State University

“Re-visiting and Re-visioning the Kitchen:  Understanding the Food Narrative in African American Women’s Novels”  Maegan Mitchell  Mississippi College

Session 2   9:50-10:45 Reconstructions I

“Female Gothic, Chinese Style—Zhang Ailing’s Chuanqi in Comparison with Stories by Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers.”  Caroline Ma  University of Louisville

 “Writing What One Knows:  The Written Document Within Restoration and Sentimental Comedies” Katherine Wagner, University of Louisville

Session 3   10:50-11:45 Refutations I

 “It Turns out Aristotle was Right All Along: Theseus as the Tragic Hero of Euripides’ Hippolytus.”  Jeremy Killian, University of Louisville

 “Only Our Citizens May Kill Themselves: Suicidal Capacity and Social Membership”  Michael Lewis, Indiana University

11:45-12 Break

12-1 Keynote Speaker Dean Blaine Hudson: “The Legacy of the Underground Railroad:  Researching, Interpreting and Teaching the ‘Other Side’ of American History”

1-1:30 Lunch

Session 4   1:30-2:20 Revisions II

“Resolved Dependence: Axiologus Meets the Other” T. Renee Harris,  University of Arkansas

“‘The Old and the New’ Ekphrasis: Randall Jarrell’s Problematic Intervention” Joshua Steffey, Marquette University

Session 5  2:25-3:40 Reconstructions II

 “Uncertainly, Lord: The ‘Radical Reordering’ of Black Church Tradition in Women’s Black Arts Movement Poetry” Charisse Montgomery, University of Toledo

“Child-free Women & ‘Womanhood’” Tanya Watson, University of Ottawa

 “Instigations, Corruptions and Monstrous Births: Critique as Desire and Deformation in Friedrich Nietzsche and Georges Bataille” Elijah Pritchett, University of Louisville

Session 6  3:45-5  Refutations II

“Critical Thinking in the Humanities: Can the Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework Bridge the Gap?” Brian Barnes, University of Louisville

“White, Not Quite; Black, Get Back!: Ambivalence, Posturing, and Signifyin(g) in the Poetry of Langston Hughes”  Jason Hertz, Western Carolina University 

“Religious Practice in Transatlantic Perspective: The Case Study of Nineteenth-Century Louisville (Anti)-Catholicism”  Jeffrey Bain-Conkin,  University of Notre Dame

Closing reception 5-7pm

Humanities Building-Room 300

Julie is creating a third collection of lyric essays for her creative dissertation.  The Missing Sister and Other Stories will be a memoir from childhood through high school.  She has written about her childhood before but always from the perspective of an adult looking back in time.  For this project, she will use the perspective of the child at the time the events occurred.  When writing about her life at age twelve, she will use her perspective at age twelve, not knowing what the future holds or how events will unfold.  She states that the expectations of her parents were strong and she knew she would have to fight to get out of her childhood and create her own life as an adult.  The essays will turn on issues of gender, sexuality, and faith.

At age twelve, Julie and a friend created a newspaper, sold subscriptions, and wrote all the stories.  The newspaper continued for five years.  Although not particularly interested in journalism, the newspaper was, she says in hindsight, a means of self-publishing what she wrote. She went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in creative writing, an MA in English, and an MFA in poetry.  She recently began to explore writing fiction again after a long hiatus and hopes to have a work of fiction published by the time she completes the Ph.D.  Just for the experience, she would also like to tackle writing a play.

Reviews and Interviews:

Southern Indiana Review

A River and Sound Review

Purchase A Book of Birds via Amazon.com

If you enter any of the professions that are typically recognized as useful and industrious, you will not be asked to justify your decision.  On the other hand, if you decide to enter the broad discipline of Humanities, you will never stop having to explain why you made a career choice that is too often considered “unproductive” or even a “waste of time.”  Without question, it’s much easier to do something that you don’t have to explain to everyone at your high school reunion.  But Humanities, I think, allows you to do something peculiar, idiosyncratic, something irremediably odd; it allows you the opportunity to devote your time to entering the conversation about what a productive life looks like, and why it might be worth living.

Teaching, studying, con-  versing – the Ph.D. program in the Humanities at the University of Louisville has provided me a wealth of experiences, which have been some of the most significant in my life.  The level of scholarship is made richer through the breadth of expertise brought to it by both the students and the faculty.  As much as the ideas, though, it is the people who’ve challenged me, who’ve encouraged me, who’ve become my friends, that I cherish most.  In the end, they are reminders to me of what a truly productive life looks like, and why I think it’s worth living.¨

Derek Penwell is a Ph.D. student at the University of Louisville currently writing his dissertation.  He teaches in both the Humanities Department and the Religious Studies Department at U of L.

From Dr. Annette Allan, chair of the Humanities Doctoral Program at the University of Louisville:

The Humanities Doctoral Program at the University of Louisville began in 2003 and it has already started to receive national recognition. There are about forty-five graduate students enrolled in the University of Louisville program and eighteen Chinese students at dissertation stage enrolled from Beijing. The breadth of the field of Humanities is well reflected in the wide spectrum of research projects that our graduate students are pursuing. Even a brief perusal of the recent dissertation titles lends credibility to the variety and range of scholarship.

The goal of the Humanities Ph.D. Program is to preserve and explore humankind’s cultural legacy through the study of the languages, the literatures, the artworks, the religious traditions and the philosophies that constitute the Humanities. Thanks to the global network of knowledge that has affected even the most traditional areas of scholarship, the scope of cultural works – as well as the breadth of geographical areas – that can be studied within the Humanities has expanded considerably. One need only think of how the visual arts have been altered by the new technologies and how this has brought about entirely new ways of understanding art and its role in our culture.

For all these reasons, studying the Humanities today is, to say the least, challenging. We are proud to say that the graduate students who have chosen the University of Louisville have proven themselves up to the challenge. They are sharing their interdisciplinary research and creative works in prestigious conferences and symposia nation-wide. Indeed several have published or are publishing books. In the process, students are helping spread the word about the significance of the Humanities in the academic and the larger world. Their success is our gain as an institution and the best publicity our program could hope for.