Transnational Italy. National Identity and the World Atlas - University of reading 13-14 July 2012

Another interesting upcoming conference especially for those of you interested in Italian Studies.
The conference called Translational Italy. National Identity and the World Atlas is the Society for Italian Studies 2012 Interim Conference and is organized by the Italian Department of the University of Reading. There's a beautifully made website very informative and detailed.
The conference will take place on the 13th and 14th of July 2012.

Displacement, Resistance, Representation - Queen Mary University of London 28-29 June 2012

 

Please join us at the conference Displacement, Resistance and Representation organized by the Centre for the Study of Migration (Queen Mary University of London). I'll be there presenting a paper on "Bodies of Lampedusa. Migration, Law and the Image".
All details (including the programme) of the conference can be found here.There is also a dedicated facebook page!

This is the abstract of my paper:

Lampedusa, a tiny island that belongs politically to Italy and geographically to Africa, is today the most controversial place within the Mediterranean. It lives off tourism for nearly eight months a year but it is forced to deal almost daily with what is commonly perceived, in public opinion, as an ‘invasion of Europe’ by migrants from the African continent. This paper aims at analysing on the one hand, the legal, political and mass-media discourses, with their related construction of normative practices, that influence the public imagery of the ‘others’; and on the other, the representation of these subjects in visual discourses, from mass media to cinema and visual art.

For a variety of reasons that this paper intends to explore, migrants are most commonly considered and represented as ‘bodies without words’ (Agamben 2005). The paper will show how the aesthetics of the migrant body can lend a ‘voice’ to alternative ways in which we may imagine and reconsider the conditions under which contemporary migration challenges Italian and European politics, ethics and aesthetics. In particular, the focus of the paper will be the representation of migrant bodies of Lampedusa under three specific forms: compressed bodies in containers and boats, floating or drowned corpses and clandestine bodies within Italy and Europe.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

CRONEM Annual Conference 26-27 June 2012

Just a reminder about this upcoming conference organied by the Centre for the Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (University of Surrey) in collaboration with the UCL Migration Research Unit. The topic of this year conference is The Future of Multiculturalism: Structures, Integration Policies and Practices. 
Find all details here.

Amnesty International Human Rights Camp in Lampedusa (14-21 July 2012)

This is an exciting news. The first Amnesty International Human Rights Camp will take place 14-21 July in Lampedusa. You can find all details of this initiave here.

Lampedusa in Festival 19-23 July 2012

Support the Lampedusa in festival. Find all details about the Festival here.

Love in the Time of the Frontier - Film Screenings UCL 16 May 2012

It's with great pleasure that I announce this coming event. The Italian journalist Gabriele del Grande, known especially for his contribution to the study of immigration into Italy and for the incredibly informative blog he has created called Fortress Europe (an indespensable source of information on migratory catastrophes) will be at UCL on Wednesday 16th of May 2012. He will present the three short movies he produced, by director Alexandra D'Onofrio who will also be present. The event is organized by Alice Elliot (UCL Social Anthropology) Hope to see you there! [Wednesday 16th of May 2012, 5-7pm. UCL Anthropology Department, 14 Taviton St, London WC1H 0BW. Daryll Forde Seminar Room] Download the flyer of the event below!

Call for Paper: DISPLACEMENT, RESISTANCE, REPRESENTATION: Culture and Power in Contexts of Migrancy 28-29 June 2012 Queen Mary University of London

_________________________________________

CONFERENCE
Call for Papers

DISPLACEMENT, RESISTANCE, REPRESENTATION:
Culture and Power in Contexts of Migrancy


The Centre for the Study of Migration at Queen Mary, University of
London is pleased to announce a Call For Papers for a conference to be
held on June 28th and 29th 2012.

This conference takes its cue from the mobilization of popular modes
of resistance witnessed in the course of 2011 both through the Arab
Spring and the Occupy movement. Its aim is to connect such mass
resistance to wider existing contexts of collective displacement and
migrancy. By focusing on cultural representation (understood in the
widest sense to include the media and the arts), it seeks to address
the role of culture in negotiating resistance and representation for
those who have been displaced or cast into migrancy for a variety of
reasons that range from the economic to the political to the ecological.

Proposals for papers are invited on a range of topics of global and
comparative focus relating to questions of representation for the
displaced. The following themes are some examples of the questions and
issues that will be addressed:
- the role of culture in negotiating displacement
- the role of culture in forging modes of resistance
- the political relevance of cultural representation for the displaced
- negotiation and empowerment in contexts of displacement

Proposals are invited from academics, postgraduate research students,
artists, cultural performers and those working in the areas of culture
and migration. Papers should last no more than 20 minutes. Abstracts
and a brief bio-data of 250 words should be sent to Professor Parvati
Nair (p.nair@qmul.ac.uk) by no later than May 2nd 2012.