THE SOCIETY FOR UTOPIAN STUDIES
39th Annual Meeting
Global Work and Play
23-26 October 2014
Delta Montréal
475, Avenue Président Kennedy
Montréal, Canada
http://utopian-studies.org/conference2014
Utopias have nowhere left to hide in an era of global capital and information flows. Imagining the perfect society means envisioning global as much as, or more than, national or local change. Labor is transformed as heavy industry relentlessly relocates. Post-industrial refugees chase immaterial wealth flowing across borders that are porous for information and capital, but not for bodies. Even leisure becomes work when corporations mine Twitter and Facebook for content to monetize, while gamifying daily life. Under such conditions, visualizing a utopian balance of work and play grows both more difficult and more urgent.
Papers are welcome on all aspects of the utopian tradition, from the earliest utopian visions to the utopian speculations and yearnings of the 21st century, including art, architecture, urban and rural planning, literary utopias, dystopian writings and films, utopian political activism, theories of utopian spaces and ontologies, music, new media, and intentional communities. We especially welcome papers and panels on games, gamers and gamification; utopian and dystopian aspects of globalization; and non-Western utopian traditions.
Additionally, we are introducing a new poster and demonstration track. We invite abstracts for presentations featuring interactive games, apps, digital artifacts, tools, projects, websites, or works in progress with a utopian or dystopian dimension. Those invited to participate will be given a backdrop and table for a poster and/or computer in our exhibition hall. Indie developers and digital humanists are especially welcome.
Abstracts of up to 250 words are due 15 July 2014, and may be for:
a 15-20 minute paper
a panel: include a title, designated Chair, an abstract for the panel and for each of 3-4 papers
an informal roundtable of 3-6 presenters, or a combination of presenters and respondents
a presentation or performance of a utopian creative work or artifact
a poster and/or demo
Please use our online form for submissions here.
*All submissions must include 3-5 keywords to assist in forming cohesive panels. The official language of the conference is English.
For information about registration, travel or accommodations, please contact Brian Greenspan, brian.greenspan@carleton.ca
For information about panel topics, assistance finding co-panelists, and other questions about the conference, please contact Peter Sands, sands@uwm.edu
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