[PANEL] Composing Spaces: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference; Foucault and Heterotopias
(May 13, 2011)
From the University of Penn English cfp website
Description
“I am interested in certain [sites] that have the curious property of being in relation to all other sites, but in such a way as to suspect, neutralize, or invert the set of relations that they happen to designate, mirror or reflect. These spaces, as it were…are linked with all others, which however contradict all other sites” —Michel Foucault [1]
Michel Foucault’s theoretical oeuvre reaches far and wide and the study of space is arguably one of the fields most prominently impacted and informed by his work. Specifically, Foucault’s theory of heterotopias, introduced during his 1967 lecture, “Of Other Spaces,” affords a means of countering the basic, societal truths of the realms we occupy while “suspect[ing], neutraliz[ing], and invert[ing] the set of relations they happen to mirror, or reflect.” With this in mind, this panel seeks to examine heterotopic spaces, whether—and by no means limited to—physical, geographical, literary, cyber, social, or cultural, in order to illuminate and perhaps even complicate their cultural implications. Furthermore, papers may seek to answer larger, theoretical questions about heterotopias, the benefits of such theoretical applications, and Foucault’s effects on theories of space, more generally.
Abstracts are invited from all disciplines. Please send a 300-word abstract by March 1, 2011 to Ashley Reis at AshleyReis@my.unt.edu. Deadline for panel proposals is March 18, 2011.
[1] Foucault, Michel and Miskoweic, Jay. “Of Other Spaces.” Diacritics Vol. 16, No. 1 (Spring, 1986): 22-27.
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