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CO-SPONSORED EVENTS HELD AT THE HUMANITIES CENTER
On Activism and Academia: A Graduate Student Conference
Friday October 12, 2012 | 08:00 AM -07:00 PM | Stanford Humanities Center Levinthal Hall
2011 witnessed a proliferation of protest and political movements around the world, with the “Arab Spring” and the “Occupy Movement” perhaps being the most visible and controversial of all. These events pose questions which have never been too far from the minds of academics and activists: What roles do both universities and academics play in the political struggles of the “present”? Should academics use the knowledge they produce to help advance political goals and agendas? Should they get directly involved in political action? And should they be involved in crafting public policy and legislation? If so, in what ways should they contribute, how, and what are the dangers and promises of doing so?
On the face of it, these questions seem straight-forward and may even prompt a quick reply. But they harbor several presumptions ranging from what counts as “politics” to debates about language, structure, history, transformation, agency, individuals, universality and empire—especially as many of these terms articulate particular (hegemonic) visions of “the good.” And while these presuppositions are often discussed in academic debates (e.g., Feminism, Queer Theory, Critical Race Theory, Semiotics, Deconstruction, Marxism), the link between them and direct political action deserves regular and critical scrutiny.
As such, the graduate students at Stanford University are hosting a conference to investigate these and many other questions related to academia and political struggles. Our aim is to convene scholars, policy makers, and activists to talk both about the presuppositions mentioned above and about political strategy and tactics. We’re hoping to examine the discursive fault-lines that animate as many debates and disagreements as they do coherence and agreement.
We’re soliciting essays that examine these questions in a variety of ways. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Economics, resource distribution, “democracy”
• Political ecology, the environment, conservation
• Universality, translation, personhood
• Art, aesthetics, and the (limits of the) imagination
• Law, constitionality, sovereignty
• Traditional and innovative approaches to political action
• Violence: repressive, symbolic, structural
• Policy making: domestic and international institutions.
On Activism and Academia: A Graduate Student Conference
Friday October 12, 2012 | 08:00 AM -07:00 PM | Stanford Humanities Center Levinthal Hall
2011 witnessed a proliferation of protest and political movements around the world, with the “Arab Spring” and the “Occupy Movement” perhaps being the most visible and controversial of all. These events pose questions which have never been too far from the minds of academics and activists: What roles do both universities and academics play in the political struggles of the “present”? Should academics use the knowledge they produce to help advance political goals and agendas? Should they get directly involved in political action? And should they be involved in crafting public policy and legislation? If so, in what ways should they contribute, how, and what are the dangers and promises of doing so?
On the face of it, these questions seem straight-forward and may even prompt a quick reply. But they harbor several presumptions ranging from what counts as “politics” to debates about language, structure, history, transformation, agency, individuals, universality and empire—especially as many of these terms articulate particular (hegemonic) visions of “the good.” And while these presuppositions are often discussed in academic debates (e.g., Feminism, Queer Theory, Critical Race Theory, Semiotics, Deconstruction, Marxism), the link between them and direct political action deserves regular and critical scrutiny.
As such, the graduate students at Stanford University are hosting a conference to investigate these and many other questions related to academia and political struggles. Our aim is to convene scholars, policy makers, and activists to talk both about the presuppositions mentioned above and about political strategy and tactics. We’re hoping to examine the discursive fault-lines that animate as many debates and disagreements as they do coherence and agreement.
We’re soliciting essays that examine these questions in a variety of ways. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Economics, resource distribution, “democracy”
• Political ecology, the environment, conservation
• Universality, translation, personhood
• Art, aesthetics, and the (limits of the) imagination
• Law, constitionality, sovereignty
• Traditional and innovative approaches to political action
• Violence: repressive, symbolic, structural
• Policy making: domestic and international institutions.
All events take place at Stanford University, unless otherwise noted.
The Calendar of Events lists events sponsored and co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. For a more comprehensive listing of university-wide events, see the Stanford Event Calendar.
The Calendar of Events lists events sponsored and co-sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center. For a more comprehensive listing of university-wide events, see the Stanford Event Calendar.