Project & Conference
Chair
Amy Shuman
Professor, Department of English
Director, Center for Folklore Studies
This conference and published
volume examine the re-intensification of local cultural practices
and cultural border-crossings that defy political obstacles to
the circulation of culture. The project is designed to provide
a powerful
counter-narrative to claims and predictions for the erosion of
local culture; the participants examine cultural border crossings
across divides of race, class, gender, etc.; the uses of technology
to subvert governmental constraints on the circulation of people,
goods, or ideas; and the strategic uses of folk heritage culture
in public policy.
The participants, whose work collectively encompasses Latin America, Western
and Eastern Europe, North America, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caribbean,
and Asia, examine the circulation of culture in the context of ethnic and international
conflict. We explore the significant role that the re-intensification of local
culture and the circulation of culture across political boundaries play in
international politics and culture. Two central premises inform the project:
- Cultural groups are not static: they are not bound
by place, nor do individuals’ affiliations within
and outside of such groups remain fixed or stable; and
- Political boundaries restricting the flow of people, goods,
or ideas across borders do not constrain cultural productions
and performances; instead, groups find new ways of maintaining
and adapting their practices.
The conference will include Glub, Mixed
Media Installation by Professor
Mieke Bal and Artist Shahram Entekjabi.
Conference Planning Committee:
Georgios
Anagnostu, Department
of Greek and Latin
Dorothy
Noyes, Department
of English & Mershon
Margaret
Wyszomirski, Department of Art Education
Esther
Gottlieb, CIRIT, Office of International Affairs
Amy
Horowitz, Mershon Center, Melton Center
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