The Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada invites proposals for a conference on Victorian Humanity and its Others. The conference, hosted by the University of the Fraser Valley and Douglas College, will take place 27-28 April 2013 at the Coast Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located right near English Bay and the beautiful Stanley Park seawall walk.
We seek proposals for papers that examine the theme of humanity and its others in Victorian culture and society. We warmly welcome papers from the perspectives of history and art history, literary studies, gender studies, race and ethnicity studies, animal studies, and science. Papers will address Victorian definitions, expressions, and contestations of humanity and its others, as well as the way these definitions and debates were shaped by new developments in natural science, anthropology, religion, technology, and industry.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- human others/other humans
- the animal/human divide
- technologies of the human
- human/gender rights
- the divine vs. the human
- philanthropy
- the (in)humanity of imperialism/colonialism
- reproductivity
- (un)dignified labour
- human-machine relationships
- visual representations of the human
- human environments
- human (dis)ability
- human improvement and perfectibility
- disciplinary histories
- Sciences vs./and Humanities
The conference’s keynote speaker will be Amy King (Department of English, St. John’s University), author of Bloom: The Botanical Vernacular in the English Novel (Oxford UP, 2003). Dr. King has published extensively on the nineteenth-century novel, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between Victorian science and literature. Her current book project, “Reverent Form: Natural History and Natural Theology in the British Novel, 1789-1867,” examines the role of natural history and theology in the early-Victorian novel.
Please submit proposals of not more than 500 words plus a 75-word biography and 100-word abstract to Heather.McAlpine@ufv.ca by 1 October 2012.
The conference will also feature a publishing workshopentitled “How to Get Published: Top Ten Tips from Two Editors.” Victorian Review co-editors Lisa Surridge and Mary Elizabeth Leighton will offer a Saturday panel on publishing advice for graduate students and recently minted PhDs, followed by a 3-hour workshop on Monday 29 September (9-12 a.m.). Participants will submit a draft article (on any Victorian topic) via email a week before the conference, receive 20 minutes of individual oral feedback during the conference plus written editorial advice, and revise part of their own article during the 3-hour workshop. Their names will appear in the conference programme. The workshop will be limited to 10 participants and will run on a first come, first served basis; all participants must register for the conference. To participate, send an email to vreview@uvic.ca with “Victorian Humanity and its Others Conference” in the subject heading.