Welcome to the July edition of the bimonthly Progressive Connexions Interdisciplinary Life newsletter.
Upcoming…
At Progressive Connexions, we’ve always been huge proponents of the way that personal connections develop in face-to-face conference settings. With COVID-19, of course, that’s on hold. We’ve been working around the clock to develop COVID-friendly events that will still be as personal and exciting as our face-to-face events – and, this July, we’re finally launching the first of our virtual conferences!
Sport: Power to Inspire Change is a two-day, four-session online conference taking place on the 21st and 22nd of July. The cost of registration is only £35 (€40), to make it maximally accessible to people who don’t usually have a conference-going budget. It involves panels from four amazing speakers, short presentations from people of diverse sports and sport-studies-related backgrounds, and lots of spaces for conversations and Q&As. If you’re outside the European time zone, no problem – you can have access to the streamed presentations, and even ask questions after the first day for people to answer on the second! The deadline for abstract submissions has passed, but you can still register as an attendee here.
Previously…
The last two months have seen massive protests sweeping the globe as people stood up against racism and police brutality. During the period when the protests were most present in the news and on social media, many people were sharing wonderful educational and practical resources about racism. To support the continued sharing and spreading of these resources, and make sure they don’t slip back into the background of the internet, we’ve built a list of Black Lives Matter Interdisciplinary Resources. If you have recommendations for resources, share them with Progressive Connexions on social media, or send them directly to lorraine@progressiveconnexions.net.
Currently…
Calls for Papers will shortly be opening for our next in-person conferences, which will – knock on wood – be taking place in Lisbon next March! These were our cancelled events from summer, so if you were planning to attend already, stay excited! But, since so much has changed since then, we’ll also be accepting new proposals until September 4th.
Visit the conference web pages to read more details, and keep an eye on our Calendar page and social media for more upcoming events.
The upcoming conferences are:
- Care
- The End-of-Life Experience
- Fashion and Photography
- Nostalgia
- Storytelling and the Body
- Storytelling and Trauma
- Spirituality and Culture
- Supernatural Connections
Beyond our conferences, exciting new publishing projects are on the horizon for Progressive Connexions! If you are interested in being involved in the development of our upcoming open-access journal, please write to susanne@progressiveconnexions.net with a brief CV and statement of interest. We are specifically looking for members of an editorial board, but if you have other skills that you could lend to an e-journal, don’t be shy about sharing them!
We are also seeking posts for our Interdisciplinary Life blog about life and research during the time of quarantine. Have you written an essay, article, or creative response to COVID-19 that you would like to see featured in our blog and shared with a community of creative interdisciplinary thinkers? Send it to lorraine@progressiveconnexions.net with the subject line “BLOG POST SUBMISSION – [title].” We are accepting blog post submissions on a rolling basis.
In our Network…
A Call for Papers will soon be coming your way, for a volume on Monsters and Reproduction co-edited by our Director of Programmes Teresa Cutler-Broyles. When the Call opens, we’ll share it on our social media, so stay tuned – especially conference-goers from our “Monsters” conference!
If you’re looking for a publication opportunity but monsters and reproduction aren’t quite your thing, then you’ll be excited to hear that submissions for Issue 9 of the literary journal FU Review, of which our Director of Communications Lorraine Rumson is editor-in-chief, are open! The theme of the issue is INTERRUPT, and the FU Review accepts submissions of poetry, prose, and creative nonfiction from authors of all backgrounds and all walks of life. You can submit your work here until August 16.
From our Network Director, Rob Fisher, comes a new radio show called Our Progressive Planet that will run four times per year, about the diversity of progressive rock music around the world. You’ll be able to tune in to it on Progzilla Radio.
We want YOU!
Have you done something exciting with a project you brought to a Progressive Connexions conference? Brought it to another conference? Expanded it into a publication, lecture, or new project? Want to have it featured in the newsletter? Email lorraine@progressiveconnexions.net so she can share it with our network!
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