The Department of World Languages and Cultures is organizing its eighteenth annual conference at James Madison University with the collaboration of the Departments of English, History, Justice Studies, Military Science, Philosophy and Religion, Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, the School of Music, Art and Art History, the Honors College, the AAAD Studies Center, and the faculty of the Università per Stranieri Dante Alighieri, Reggio Calabria, Italy, with the support of the College of Arts and Letters.
Every day, all over the world, people make one of the most difficult decisions in their lives: to leave their homes in search of a safer, better life. There are many reasons why people around the globe seek to rebuild their lives in a different country. Some people leave home to get a job or an education. Others are forced to flee persecution or human rights violations such as torture. Millions flee from armed conflicts or other crises or violence. Some no longer feel safe and might have been targeted just because of who they are or what they do or believe – for example, for their ethnicity, religion, sexuality or political opinions. At the end of 2022, about 110 million people were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. Millions of children are driven from their homes by conflict, poverty or climate change. Far too many encounter danger, detention, deprivation and discrimination on their journeys. They may be forced into child labour, pressed into early marriage, exposed to aggravated smuggling, subjected to human trafficking, and put at risk of violence and exploitation.
We are inviting faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, artists, independent scholars and researchers representing various academic disciplines: anthropology, history, foreign languages, psychology, psychoanalysis, psychiatry, sociology, politics, philosophy, literary studies, music studies, theatre studies, film studies, consciousness studies, gender studies, postcolonial studies, and the sciences to submit abstracts/proposals and convene panel discussions and/or workshops. We also encourage participants to organize and chair sessions.
Presenters from different institutions, both nationally and internationally, will have the option to present via Zoom.
Guidelines for Submitting Abstracts/Proposals
- Submit abstracts of about 300 words.
- Each abstract should include: title, author’s name, affiliation, address, telephone number and e-mail address. Proposals with multiple authors should indicate the person to be contacted.
- The deadline for submission of abstracts/proposals is March 29, 2024.
- Send abstracts/proposals to: Dr. Giuliana Fazzion, Conference Program Director, Department of World Languages and Cultures, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Tel: (540) 568-6128; Fax: (540) 568-6904; E-mail: fazziogx@jmu.edu
- Proceedings: The abstract or full text of your paper(s) presented at the conference may also be published in the Proceedings. Upon receiving acceptance of your paper, please send a copy of your abstract or full paper to the Proceedings Editor, Dr. Stephany Plecker, Department of World Languages and Cultures, by no later than March 29, 2024. E-mail: pleckesg@jmu.edu
Refugees, Displacement, Forced Migration:
Reshaping the World
