Progressive Connexions ~ Interdisciplinary Life
Interdisciplinary Research, Publishing and Explorations
The Stories Bodies Tell
An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Conference
Saturday 24th July 2021 - Sunday 25th July 2021
Online: ShockLogic Platform
The Stories Bodies Tell is an inclusive interdisciplinary symposium exploring the many and diverse ways bodies tell and reveal their stories, with or without intention.
In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” a heart lies thumping under the floorboards, driving the narrator from his senses. The body betrays, the ears hear what the mind denies. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian tries to escape having the consequences of his actions inscribed on his own body by trapping his soul in a painting, so that he himself will never grow ugly or old. But he can’t stop looking at the sickly-looking portrait. Body obsession becomes the downfall of the evil queen in Snow White as well, just as it does for Narcissus; a mirror is a dangerous place to live.
We struggle to escape physical representation. Beauty, illness, monstrosity, body art and modifications, fashion, culture, subcultures, history, and more all impact bodies and the stories they tell. Life is visibly inscribed on every line and in every pore of our body. What is beautiful and who is expected to be so seems intimately tied to the present; a relative story that changes with fashion and culture. And while some use personal expression to frame their own narrative, others seek to challenge the notion that the body says anything valid about what lurks inside on its own. The body may become a prison, when illness, disability or age takes over. It can be the vehicle of the warrior, surviving battles, enduring childbirth, committing astounding feats, revealing abilities we never knew we had. It can survive incredible things, and the scars left behind tell stories of what we went through. Even the corpse, cold and stiff, may hide a last few secrets, readable by those who understand.
My body. Your body. Our bodies. Whether we accept them, attempt to change or modify them, or even outright reject them, they remain inescapable, reminders of all we and others have experienced, vehicles of expression, storytellers we can never really silence.
Join The Stories Bodies Tell discussions to share and explore some of the surprising, startling and challenging ways bodies can become storytellers and what they reveal as they do.
Key Topics
Key topics, themes and issues for discussion may include, but are definitely not limited to:
- Body horror, haunted bodies, uncanny bodily experiences
- The body as a tattle-tale: the physicality of trauma, fear, and desire
- The body as narrator: what stories are written on our skin or in our blood?
- Corpses, decaying or diseased bodies, the stories told by crime scenes
- Devouring bodies, the nature of flesh, complicated eating.
- Non-human bodies; animal bodies. The human animal.
- Gendered, racialized storytelling
- Queer history, burlesque, and performance art as negotiation of body narratives
- Transitional states: chrysalis, metamorphosis, becoming something different
- The body and the senses.
- The body as my home. The body as my friend. The body that betrays.
- When bodies fail. Broken bodies. Body parts. Transplants. Surgery. Prosthetics.
- Living with disability, reframing disability
- Plastic surgery, cosmetic enhancement, posthuman bodies
- The symbolic language of tattoos and scarification
- The role of body, touch, and movement in ritual
- “Bad” bodies: freaks, sluts, monstrous transgressors of the normal
- Sex and sexuality as expression
- Fashion and fetichism through history – from Chinese foot-binding to tight-laced corsets
- Victimized bodies
- The affective experience of touch and intimacy
- Thin bodies, fat bodies, body shame and body celebration
- Body doubles and doppelgangers, the fear of being replaced
- Pregnancy, birth, the myths and metaphors of motherhood
- The symbolism of individual organs: what have the lungs, the thumping heart, or the genitals to say?
What To Send
The aim of this interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event is to bring people together and encourage creative conversations in the context of a variety of formats: papers, seminars, workshops, storytelling, readings, performances, poster presentations, panels, q&a’s, round-tables etc.
At the end of the conference we will be exploring ways in which we can develop the discussions and dialogues in new and sustainably inclusive interdisciplinary directions, including research, workshops, publications, public interest days, associations, developing courses, etc which will help us make sense of the topics discussed during the conference and ensure that our efforts are continued in our own communities.
300 word proposals, presentations, abstracts and other forms of contribution and participation should be submitted by Wednesday 23rd June 2021. Other forms of participation should be discussed in advance with the Organising Chair.
All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Development Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.
You will be notified of the panel’s decision by Friday 25th June 2021.
If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Monday 19th July 2021 at the latest.
Abstracts and proposals may be in Word, PDF, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.
E-mails should be entitled: Body Stories
Where To Send
Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator:
Freja Gyldenstrøm: freja@progressiveconnexions.net
Len Capuli (Project Administrator): storiestold@progressiveconnexions.net
Details and Information
Registration Fees
The cost for attending the conference is £151/€173. This includes:
~ conference registration fee
~ book of Abstracts
~ a discounted rate for any of the outputs emerging from the event
~ discounted access to further Progressive Connexions events
~ exclusive access to the ShockLogic platform
~ private networking and chat facilities
Calendar of time-lines and deadlines
Wednesday 23rd June 2021
Abstract/Presentation submission
Friday 25th June 2021
Acceptance/Rejection notification
Booking Form Submissions Opens
by Friday 29th June 2021
Circulation of Draft Programme
Invoices issued
Friday 16th July 2021
Final date for payment
Monday 19th July 2021
Circulation of Final Programme
Full draft of presentation to be submitted
The conference is a virtual event, staged on our bespoke platform provided by ShockLogic.
The conferences, meetings and events we organise are not single ‘one-off’ events. They are part of a continual stream of conversations, activities and projects which grow and evolve in different directions. At the conclusion of every meeting, the question needs to be considered: What happens next? After all, there is little personal, educational or professional benefit in gathering people together from around the world and sharing all sorts of fascinating conversations if nothing further is going to happen as a result!
The possible ranges of ‘outputs’ which can productively flow from our meetings is a dynamic response to the dialogues, issues and engagements that take place during the events themselves. And as our meetings are attended by folks who come from different backgrounds, contexts, professions and vocations, what people would like to see developed as a result of our time spent together will always be potentially diverse, fluid and appropriate to what took place.
One range of possible outputs involves publication as a way of continuing the work of a project. Where publishing is a possibility, it is directly referenced in the Call for Papers, Presentations and Participation. Other possible outputs may include, but are not limited to:
~ social media platforms such as Facebook pages and groups, blogs, wikis, Twitter, as vehicles for continuing dialogues, disseminating knowledge and information and bringing new people into the work of the project
~ reviews; reports; policy statements; position papers/statements; declarations of principles
~ proposals for meetings, workshops, courses, schools
~ collaboration gateways, platforms and media
~ personal and professional development opportunities: faculty development; mentoring programmes; cultural cruises; consultancies; summer schools; personal enrichment programmes
The range of outputs is dependent on how little or how much you would like to become involved. Don’t let the end of the meeting signal the end of your involvement with the project. Please get involved, bounce ideas around, think out loud – we’d love to hear about what you’d like to do and are always happy to talk about what is possible.
Payment Process
Participants must register and complete an online booking form which will be available from Friday 25th June 2021 at the latest.
After the deadline has expired, an invoice will be drawn up and sent to you; the invoice will contain all the necessary information for you to pay by bank transfer, cheque, Paypal or credit card.
The invoice must be settled by Friday 16th July 2021.
It is the responsibility of delegates to ensure that payment is made by this date. Failure to receive payment will result in your booking being cancelled.
Payment Methods
There are a number of ways payment can be made.
Bank Transfer
Payment may be made using bank transfer. There will be an option to pay in either GBP (£ Sterling) or Euro (€). Full details to enable a bank transfer are made available on your conference invoice. If paying by this method, you must agree to pay all charges at the sending and receiving banks.
By Invoice
You may request that an invoice be sent to you which you may forward to your institution. It is your responsibility to ensure that the invoice is paid before the payment deadline.
Online
Your invoice will include a link to pay through a secure and encrypted online payment system. Please click the link to use this method.
Credit Card
Payment may also be made using credit card. We cannot accept American Express or Discovery as a form of payment.
Paypal
Payment may also be made using Paypal. If paying by this method please send us the email account connected with your Paypal account and we will forward you a request for payment.
IMPORTANT
All fees are payable in advance. No delegate will be permitted entry to the conference if an invoice is still unpaid.
What’s so Special?
A fresh, friendly, dynamic format – at Progressive Connexions we are dedicated to breaking away from the stuffy, old-fashion conference formats, where endless presentations are read aloud off PowerPoints. We work to bring you an interactive format, where exchange of experience and information is alternated with captivating workshops, engaging debates and round tables, time set aside for getting to know each other and for discussing common future projects and initiatives, all in a warm, relaxed, egalitarian atmosphere.
A chance to network with international professionals – the beauty of our interdisciplinary events is that they bring together professionals from all over the world and from various fields of activity, all joined together by a shared passion. Not only will the exchange of experience, knowledge and stories be extremely valuable in itself, but we seek to create lasting, ever-growing communities around our projects, which will become a valuable resource for those belonging to them.
A chance to be part of constructing change – There is only one thing we love as much as promoting knowledge: promoting real, lasting social change by encouraging our participants to take collective action, under whichever form is most suited to their needs and expertise (policy proposals, measuring instruments, research projects, educational materials, etc.) We will support all such actions in the aftermath of the event as well, providing a platform for further discussions, advice from the experts on our Project Advisory Team and various other tools and intellectual resources, as needed.
An opportunity to discuss things that matter to you – Our events are not only about discussing how things work in the respective field, but also about how people work in that field – what are the struggles, problems and solutions professionals have found in their line of work, what are the areas where better communication among specialists is needed and how the interdisciplinary approach can help bridge those gaps and help provide answers to questions from specific areas of activity.
An unforgettable experience – When participating in a Progressive Connexions event, there is a good chance you will make some long-time friends. Our group sizes are intimate, our venues are comfortable and relaxing and our event locations are suited to the history and culture of the event.
Ethos
Progressive Connexions believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract or proposal for presentation.
Please note: Progressive Connexions is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence, nor can we offer discounts off published rates and fees.
Progressive Connexions is a not-for-profit network inspiring inclusive interdisciplinary research, publishing and collaboration
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