10th Annual Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Graduate Student Conference and Workshop

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, March 23-24, 2018

Identities in Motion: Communities of Belonging and Exclusion in Diasporic Spaces

Keynote lecture to be delivered by: Dr. Abdourahman Waberi, George Washington University

"Here's to the security guards who maybe had a degree in another land." -Ijeoma Umebinyuo,
Immigrants. First Generation.

Is identity contingent upon space? Individuals often struggle to either maintain or alter and adapt their identities in the process of assimilating into the customs and laws of a new community. This conference seeks to question how identity is formed and informed by a change in location, whether such shifts occur through immigration, forced exile, temporal relocation, or any other means of movement. By examining these various modes of relocation and displacement, papers could explore the different avenues taken—physical, virtual, or imaginary—when attempting to form an identity within a diasporic space. In particular we seek papers which address the ways displaced people find, create, and perpetuate communities, and the ways societies at large excludes these populations.

We pose these questions specifically to fields pertaining to literature, anthropology, cultural studies, digital humanities, philosophy, art history, history, and sociology, but gladly welcome submissions from all fields pertaining to the topic of the conference.

Possible session topics include but are not limited to:
• Communities of exclusion and the formation of identity
• (Mass) migrations, diaspora, refugee crises
• Space: borders, colonization, imperialism, exile, and isolation
• External and internal displacement of populations
• Alienation and exclusion: forming (or disjuncting) identity in a diasporic space
• Communities of belonging in both physical and digital spaces, and methods within digital humanities
• Representations of communities of belonging and narratives of transition
• Sexual orientation, gender, and other identity qualifiers
• Transitional experiences: homelessness and displacement

Conference Structure: This conference/workshop will be comprised of the keynote address and panels on Friday, followed by additional panels on Saturday. Central to the conference is a graduate seminar style workshop on Saturday. This workshop is led by the keynote speaker and designed to explore the issues presented and discussed in more detail and depth. Presenters are requested to arrange their travel so that they can participate in the entire event, including the workshop. There will also be a closing reception Saturday evening, which is open to all participants and audience members.

Please send a 500 word abstract along with a brief biographical statement, in a separate document, to csconference.unm@gmail.com by January 12, 2018. Selected participants will be notified by January 22, 2018.