Proposals are invited by the deadline of November 15 for a conference on “Perspectives on Interculturality” Conference at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, February 28-March 1, 2013. Increased understanding of interactions between different human groups is a major challenge of our time. A half-century of critique of the concept of culture has made significant contributions, including foregrounding ethnocentrism as a source of research bias across disciplines; incorporating power into cultural studies; and expanding scholarship on cultures beyond ethno-linguistically defined groups. Likewise, study of processes that transcend group divisions–globalization, empire, neo-colonialism–has flourished. Meanwhile, understanding mechanisms of interactions between cultures has not kept pace. Intercultural studies are due for reflection and refinement.
The Center for Intercultural Studies at Saint Louis University invites proposals for papers taking a critical approach to interculturality, and exploring the potential as well as the limits of the concept. The focus of the Conference, and the invitation for paper proposals, is specifically on innovative theoretical frameworks–preferably combining methods from more than one discipline–designed for analyzing interactions between different cultures. A paper would ideally include a specific case study illustrating the application of the analytical framework proposed. The goal is to assemble a theoretical and methodological toolbox for researching and understanding interculturality. Selected papers will be published in a volume by an academic press. Proposals should include: a one-page abstract of the paper, with a title and name of the author; the author’s brief curriculum vitae; postal address; email address; and phone number. Complete proposals should be emailed as attachments in MS Word to: Michal Jan Rozbicki (rozbicmj@slu.edu). The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2012.