CFP: Shakespeare + Canada Symposium
22-24 April 2016, University of Ottawa
Shakespeare + Canada will be a bilingual (English and French) symposium held at the University of Ottawa, Canada, in 2016, and will be part of the University’s Shakespeare 400 celebrations: a wide variety of activities and events subsumed under the general theme of Shakespeare’s “afterlife” — that is, the way in which Shakespeare has influenced, inspired, or otherwise affected a wide spectrum of disciplinary fields. The 400th anniversary offers the opportunity for us to take stock: both to look back — to examine what functions and roles Shakespeare’s works have played in Canada, a country which has given him a home for nearly 200 years – and to contemplate the future. Among the questions we will be posing are What function does Shakespeare serve in Canada today? How might we historicize Shakespeare’s influence in Canada? How has Shakespeare been reconfigured in different ways for particular Canadian contexts? In what ways can we reappraise the history of Shakespearean production, dissemination, and reception in Canada? What is the changing role of Shakespeare in a Canadian theatrical, literary, and/or pedagogical context? What part does Shakespeare play in Quebec? Multicultural communities? Educational institutions? Popular culture? The national imaginary? How have his role and functions changed over the years? What have Canadians – scholars, writers, artists, actors, others – contributed to an understanding and/or dissemination of Shakespeare and his works? What is the future of Shakespeare and Shakespeare studies in Canada? The Organizing Committee invites papers from scholars of all relevant disciplines such as Theatre, English, History, Music, Art, Language and Literature Programs, Film Studies, Cultural Studies, Communication, Canadian Studies, Education, Indigenous Studies, Women’s Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology, as well as from theatre practitioners, and especially encourages comparative and interdisciplinary approaches.
A 250 word abstract of proposed papers, panels, or presentations, along with a brief curriculum vitae, must be submitted electronically (preferably in Word) by 1 September 2014 either in English or French to all the members of the Organizing Committee. Selected conference papers will be published. Pending a successful grant application, limited funding will be available for Canadian graduate students.
For the full CFP, please consult the website for further details.