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Storytelling & Trauma
An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Project

Saturday 6th October – Sunday 7th October 2018
Budapest, Hungary

Storytelling is inextricably linked to the history of human beings in a bewildering variety of oral and visual formats. Storytelling is a fundamental tool in recording personal, familial, communal and national narratives. But it can also be linked to a process of expressing and working through trauma, of breaking silence, of finding a voice for suffering and pain as witnessed in the growth of “communal digital storytelling” embodied, for example, in the rise of shared storytellings of trauma such as #MeToo and #TimesUp. The ability to tell other people about what has happened to you brings into focus the uses of storytelling as narrative therapy for traumatic experiences from childhood to adulthood as well as from the personal to the collective.

Storytelling and Trauma seeks to explore both Storytelling and Trauma with particular focus on the inter-relatedness of the two. Stories and images of trauma surround us all the time, to the point of almost desensitising us to the suffering of others and the empathy and compassion we should naturally feel. Storytelling and trauma forces us to face, confront and resolve the suffering and pain of others—a process that involves the acknowledging of the trauma/traumatic event, bearing witness and a working through the trauma and the disruption caused to and in their lives. Thus the response to Storytelling and Trauma engages all levels of human living and thinking, individually and collectively, locally and globally.

Bringing the two together implies an interdisciplinary engagement with a spectrum of disciplines, art forms, geographical and historical contexts as well as multi-lingual and multi-cultural perspectives. Our first global gathering aims to examine the dynamics of Storytelling and Trauma in all its permutations. We welcome and encourage interdisciplinary proposals from all disciplines, professions, NGOs, voluntary sector, artists, scholars, workers, professionals, musicians, to name a few. It is the aim of the conference meeting to provide an interdisciplinary nexus which binds all these layers of theories and practices together in a safe and respectful sharing space.

Unlike other conferences or gatherings, our Event proposes to step outside the traditional conference setting and offer opportunities for artists, photographers, practitioners, theorists, independent scholars, academics, performers, writers, and others to intermingle, providing platforms for interdisciplinary interactions that are fruitful and conducive to broadening horizons and sparking future projects, collaborations, and connections. We are excited to accept proposals for presentations, displays, exhibits, round tables, panels, interactive workshops and more. Below is an indicative but not exhaustive list of possible approaches, all of them residing at the point of connection between Storytelling and Trauma.

Key Topics

Key topics, themes and issues for discussion may include, but are definitely not limited to:

  • Oral / written / visual narratives of identity, belonging, im/migrations
  • Literary, artistic and filmic storytelling
  • Life writing genres (autobiography, memoirs, letters, ethnography, etc.)
  • Testimony as storytelling trauma: fiction vs. non-fiction, official history vs. reality
  • Truth and Reconciliation
  • Private and personal storytelling and trauma
  • Public, political, religious, activist storytelling and trauma
  • Social media: twitter, Facebook, Youtube
  • Trauma and memory
  • Writing trauma: healing and transformation
  • Healing: survival and resilience; forgiveness and reconciliation
  • Therapy
  • Abuse, bullying; the workplace
  • Dis/abilities
  • Sex and sexuality; rape, sex crimes, gender crimes
  • Empathy, allyship, solidarity, activism
  • Popular culture and media
  • Social justice and human rights: war, civil war, conflict
  • Violence, torture, and atrocity
  • Pedagogy, education, and social awareness
  • Digital spaces
  • Comics, graphic novels, animation
  • Young adult literature; children stories
  • Power, resistance, rebellion, revolution
  • Shame, taboo, and suffering
  • Wounding, loss, death, grief and mourning
  • Spectral spaces, haunted geographies, memorialization
  • Fake news

If you don’t see something here that you think belongs, please tell us! We are happy to entertain other ideas that examine the rich, generative and exciting space that these fields create.

What to Send

The aim of this interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event is to bring together academics, professionals, practitioners, NGO’s, voluntary sector workers, in the context of a variety of formats: papers, seminars, workshops, panels, q&a’s, etc.

300 word reviews of your proposed contribution (paper abstracts, proposals for workshops, collaborative works or round tables, overviews of artistic projects or any other relevant forms of participation you are interested in) should be submitted by Friday 11th May 2018.

All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Advisory 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 May 2018.

If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 7th September 2018.

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: Storytelling and Trauma Submission

Where to Send

Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator:

Organising Chair: Cristina Santos: cristina@www.progressiveconnexions.net

Project Administrator: budapeststory@www.progressiveconnexions.net

Details and Information

 
Fees
Key Dates
Venue
Outcomes
Payment

Registration Fees

The cost for attending the conference is £295.
(Please note: in exceptional circumstances this may fluctuate depending on the £ - € exchange rate).
This includes:

~ conference registration fee
~ Saturday coffee/tea on arrival
~ Saturday morning coffee and biscuits
~ Saturday lunch
~ Saturday afternoon tea and biscuits
~ Saturday evening wine and drinks reception
~ drinks in the conference room
~ Sunday morning coffee and biscuits
~ Sunday lunch
~ Sunday afternoon tea and biscuits
~ drinks in the conference room

Calendar of time-lines and deadlines

Friday 11th May 2018
Proposal Submission deadline

Friday 25th May 2018
Acceptance/Rejection notification

Friday 15th June 2018
Booking Form Submissions

by Friday 29th June 2018
Invoices issued

w/b Monday 2nd July 2018
Circulation of Draft Programme

Sunday 23rd July 2018
Final date for payment

Friday 17th August 2018
Circulation of Revised Programme

Friday 31st August 2018
Final programme to website and to printing.

Friday 7th September 2018
Full draft of presentation to be submitted.

The conference is being held at the Art'otel Budapest.

Bem rkp. 16-19,
1011 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: +36 1 487 9487

We have reserved rooms for delegates at the conference hotel on favourable terms and conditions. On having a proposal accepted for presentation at the conference, and on the completion and submission of a booking form, a special booking form will be sent to you along with instructions on how to use it in order to access these terms.
Standard Room - Singe Occupancy
€114 per night including breakfast and all taxes

Standard Room - Double/Twin Person Occupancy
€124 per night including breakfast and all taxes

Details will be sent to delegates on how to access these rates once receipt of the booking form has been confirmed.

Accommodation bookings are made directly with the hotel, not Progressive Connexions. All payments for accommodation are made directly to the hotel as well. A credit card will be required on booking.

You are free to find alternative accommodation. We are offering these arrangements as a convenience to folks who would like to be at the conference venue.

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 complete the online booking form by Friday 15th June 2018 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 Sunday 23rtd July 2018.

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.

Cheque
Payment can be made by cheque, in GBP (£ sterling) only and must be drawn against a bank with headquarters in the United Kingdom. Cheque’s should be made payable to ‘Progressive Connexions’ and sent, with a copy of the booking form, to:

Dr Rob Fisher
Progressive Connexions
Priory House
149b Wroslyn Road
Freeland
Oxfordshire. OX29 8HR
United Kingdom

We cannot and will not accept cheques made payable in currencies other than GBP Sterling.

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
We strongly recommend that all delegates take out some form of travel or other insurance in relation any and all travel arrangements or accommodation booked in regard to the conference. This should include cancellation insurance in the event of unforeseen or unexpected circumstances.

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