Dear Colleagues,

Apologies for Crossposting.

Deadline Extended to Feb 20

Call for Papers: PSFG/ATHE 2017 Emerging Scholars Panel

The Performance Studies Focus Group (PSFG) of the Association of Theater in Higher Education (ATHE) conference invites submissions of papers for its Emerging Scholars Panel. The theme of this year’s conference, which will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, August 3-6, is “Spectacle: Balancing Education, Theory, and Praxis”

The PSFG Emerging Scholars Panel is an opportunity for researchers to present their work at a major international conference at the outset of their career. All graduate students who have not yet presented at ATHE are eligible to apply. Selected emerging scholars will be paired with a mentor from the field of Performance Studies who will offer critical feedback on papers in preparation for the conference. Successful applicants will receive a $100 stipend as well as complimentary registration to the ATHE PSFG pre-conference. The PSFG may elect to award an Honorable Mention to an additional emerging scholar, who will be invited to attend the conference and join the focus group.

Located at the boundaries and intersections of scholarly and artistic practice, Performance Studies theorizes and analyzes embodied practices and events, and explores the ways in which performance creates meaning and shapes social life. This year’s PSFG will develop a conversation on the theme of spectacle using the political and aesthetic backdrop of Las Vegas. Questions we will consider include: What is the role of spectacle in producing affective geographies and political actors? What are the hidden structures of labor that allow spectacle to flourish? How does spectacle mask or reveal the real in contemporary society? How does spectacle operate within unstable boundaries of place, space, and identities?

Submissions to the PSFG Emerging Scholars panel may engage these questions generated by the conference theme, or may address issues raised by Performance Studies more broadly. Papers across performance modes and historical periods are welcome. Topics may include:

• Contested boundaries between performance, theater, and other art forms/disciplines
• Performance as a modality of (historical) knowledge
• Historiographical approaches to performance
• Negotiating and building identity through performance
• Situating performance in terms of race, gender, and sexuality
• The role of performance in shifting configurations of power and resistance
• Performative strategies of the avant-garde
• Conflict, confrontation, and dissensus in the performance encounter
• Intersections of performance and philosophy
• Performance within postcolonial and neocolonial contexts
• Performativity and theatricality
• Embodiment and technological culture

Papers for the PSFG Emerging Scholars Panel should be formatted using MLA or Chicago style and adhere to a strict 2000-3000 word limit. The extended deadline for submission is Sunday, February 20, 2017. Please send completed papers (as attachments in Microsoft Word) along with a current CV to William Lewis at William.Lewis-2@colorado.edu.  Successful applicants will be notified in late March 2015.