CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE 1ST WORLD HUMANITIES FORUM

The First World Humanities Forum is co-organized by UNESCO, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Korea, and Busan Metropolitan City and will take place in Busan from 24 - 26 November, 2011. Uniting researchers, scholars and practitioners in the humanities, the forum aspires to facilitate a collective reflection on the key challenges and questions confronting the world in the 21st century under the general theme of “Universalism in a Multicultural World.” Debates on universalism and multiculturalism are part of the discourse, ideological grounds, and daily flows of what we refer to globalization or hyper-modernity. And while social scientists have made vast contributions to exploring these issues over the course of the last 30 years, the role of the humanities in the critical examination of globalism, universalism, and multiculturalism has yet to be adequately foregrounded and explored. The World Humanities Forum will thus draw on the humanities to respond to the challenges of being human in the 21st century. Moreover, understanding globalization to be a dynamic and processual phenomenon, the Forum will attempt to reassess concerns about universalism and multiculturalism in light of the new global configurations and processes.
Researchers and practitioners in the field of humanities are invited to submit abstracts for paper presentations for the upcoming World Humanities Forum. Abstracts relevant to any session themes and research and practice of humanities and its effects will be considered. All the session themes are listed on the official website: http://www.worldhumanitiesforum.org. The Steering Committee will endeavour to schedule abstracts according to authors’ preferences but reserves the right to decide on the final form of presentation.
We are particularly seeking proposals on the following topics within the realm of humanities (See Appendix 2 for further Details):
- Cultural Relativism and Universalism
- Multiple Identities in the Age of Globalization
- Status and Prospects of Conflicts among Civilizations
- Universal Ethics and Dialogue of Cultures
- Global Ethics: Inclusion and Exclusion
- The Boundaries of the Human
- Beauty and the “good”: Poesis, Aesthetics, and Ethics

IMPORTANT DATES

- Deadline for Paper Abstract Submission: August 31st, 2011
- Notification of Acceptance: September 9th, 2011
- Deadline for Full Paper Submission (Camera-Ready Copy): October 20th, 2011
- Conference Date: from November 24th to 26th, 2011

LANGUAGE
Abstract(s) must be written in either ENGLISH or in FRENCH

SUBMISSION
We welcome abstracts submitted via e-mail (whf_paper@unesco.or.kr) or by fax (+82-2-6958-4123). Please make sure to use the right template (available in Appendix 1). In addition, please fill in and submit the identification form (Appendix 3) with your abstract.
All abstracts must not exceed 500 words (excluding bibliography) and should include Minimum 3 / Maximum 5 keywords that reflect the content.
Please do not submit multiple copies of the same abstract. All abstracts will be subject to review. Once submitted, modifications cannot be made to the abstracts. In case of technical difficulties, please contact us at whf@unesco.or.kr.

PROCESSING
Each author will receive a confirmation e-mail informing that the abstract has been received. If there is no confirmation after abstract submission, please contact us at whf_paper@unesco.or.kr. Abstracts will be reviewed and information regarding acceptance and schedules will be sent to authors by September 9th, 2011.
Abstracts accepted for presentation will be duly published. Instructions on the preparation for full text papers will be included in the acceptance notification.
FUNDING

There is no registration fee to participate in the forum, but please note that other incurred fees related to travel and accommodation should be borne by each participant. Applicants who need financial support for participation can apply to the WHF Secretariat for funding. A limited number of applicants, based on their financial status, will be selected and provided with full or part support for the participation costs. For more details, please contact the Secretariat by e-mail (whf@unesco.or.kr).


APPENDIX 1
Full Paper Title (Font 14 points, Arial font, bold)
Author First Name Author Last Name (Font 12 points, Arial, bold)
Organization (Font 10 points, Arial), Country (Font 10 points, Arial)
Presenting Author’s E-mail address

(Introduction)
1. Abstract(s) must be written in English or French.
2. Abstract(s) must not exceed 500 words (excluding bibliography) and should include Minimum 3 / Maximum 5 keywords that reflect the content.
3. Use line spacing of 1.5
4. Preferred fonts: Arial
5. Font size to be used :
Title 14 points, bold Author 12 points, bold
Organization 10 points Country 10 points
Email Address 10 points Body text 12 points
Captions 10 points References 10 points
5. Set paper size: A4 format with 20mm margins
6. Once sent to be reviewed, abstracts cannot be edited or modified.



APPENDIX 2
CALL FOR PAPERS ON WORLD HUMANITIES FORUM
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES – CONFERENCE THEME


1. CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND UNIVERSALISM

1-1. How is multiculturalism being discussed among the disciplines of humanity, particularly in the fields of literature, history, and philosophy?
1-2. What are the historical, social, and political origins of the discourse on
multiculturalism?
1-3. What are the evidences indicating the failure of the multicultural approach? What is impeding the lasting effects of the multicultural approach?
1-4. Is the cultural universalist approach compatible within a multicultural society?
1-5. How can the centre of culture and its peripheries be defined, and how should their relationships be arranged?

2. MULTIPLE IDENTITIES IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

2-1. How are multiple identities understood in the various fields of human sciences?
2-2. Does a hierarchy exist among multiple identities?
2-3. How can multiple identities contribute to individual growth and development?
2-4. What are the origins of the newly appearing ideals such as neo-nationalism and popular patriotism, and how are they in conflict?
2-5. Can there be a global identity for global citizenship?

3. STATUS AND PROSPECTS OF CONFLICTS AMONG CIVILIZATIONS

3-1. What are the cultural, historical, and philosophical debates related to conflicts and convergence of civilizations?
3-2. What are the common elements for possible universal ethics embedded in different religions, and how does the distorted vision of other people’s religions and their systems lead to a negative evaluation of those religions?
3-3. How is the state of conflicts and encounters among religious beliefs at the national level and the different civilizations of the world?
3-4. What are the possibilities of creating a new universal human civilization that can resolve the conflict of civilizations, and how should it be discussed?

4. GLOBAL ETHICS AND DIALOGUE OF CULTURES

4.1. GLOBAL ETHICS: INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION

4-1-1. What are the conditions and the possibilities for global ethics across historical and physical boundaries?
4-1-2. Is it possible to envisage the evolution or development of ethics?
4-1-3. What are the ethical issues underlying the notion of development, which aims for an affluent world?
4-1-4. What will be the new ethical values for global citizens, and how can they be achieved?

4.2. THE BOUNDARIES OF THE HUMAN

4-2-1. What are the ethical implications of human-technological convergence and post-humanism?
4-2-2. It is becoming fashionable amongst many green ecologists to insist on the embeddedness of human in nature. What constitutes such embeddedness and what are its limits? Is there something fundamentally wrong in the way that we conceive human nature, animal nature, and “nature” itself?
4-3-3. If humanism needs to indeed be guarded as a concept, how do we re-forge it as one that is produced precisely from the interface among humans, nature, and technology, one that is responsible and rational but not domesticating or imperial, and one that strains towards the universal while recognizing its presence in difference and diversity?
4-4-4. Environmental transformation and ecological degradation illustrate the consequences of the myth of progress, unlimited growth, and technological mastery over nature. At stake here is not only the present state of humanity but also its future. What obligations do we have to future generations and how should they be morally and ethically conceived?


4.3. BEAUTY AND THE “GOOD”: POESIS, AESTHETICS, AND ETHICS

4-3-1. How do we theorize, against the backdrop of our contemporary moment, the relationship between the beautiful, the good, and the just? Does there still exist a connection between aesthetics and ethics and how should this be theorized?
4-3-1. Post-modernism has done much to discredit classical notions of beauty, “art,” and aesthetic experience. Do such concepts merit to be salvaged and in what form? Is the end of history also the end of the history of art?
4-3-1. The beautiful is not simply an aesthetic notion but potentially one tied to questions of greater human well-being and security. How do we begin to reevaluate the beautiful in terms of psychic well-being, particularly in a world notorious for its celebration of the abject and the low?
4-4-1. A full life is also a creative one. Does globalization necessitate new reflection on human creativity and its phenomenology?


APPENDIX 3
The 1st World Humanities Forum
Busan, Republic of Korea
November 24th to 26th 2011

Identification form for the submission of abstracts


Surname:

Given Name:

Mr/Ms/Dr/Prof:


Past and present occupation (detailed description):


Organization/Institution/University:


Address:


Telephone (+international code):


Fax (+international code):


E-mail Address:

Title of Paper:

Please complete and submit this form with your abstract by August 31st, 2011

Secretariat for the World Humanities Forum
Address: 26 UNESCO Road, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea, 100-810
Tel: +82 2 6958 4123 Fax: +82 2 6958 6252
E-mail: whf_paper@unesco.or.kr