UNIVERSITY of
CHICAO’S English Graduate Conference, Words
Unofficial: Gossip, Circulation, and Mediation, is still accepting papers
for their conference on November 19th and 20th, 2015. Abstracts
are due August 15th. See below for more information.
University of Chicago
English Graduate Conference
November 19-20,
2015
Keynote Speaker:
Prof. Susan Phillips, Northwestern University
Associate Professor
of English and Alumnae of Northwestern Teaching Professor
Faculty Roundtable:
Prof. Natasha Barnes,
University of Illinois at Chicago
Associate Professor
of African American Studies and English
Prof. Peter Coviello,
University of Illinois at Chicago
Professor of English
Prof. Patrick Jagoda,
University of Chicago
Assistant Professor
of English
Prof. Lynn Spigel,
Northwestern University
Frances Willard Professor
of Screen Cultures
Moderator: Prof. Julie
Orlemanski, University of Chicago
Assistant Professor
of English
From Chaucer's House of Fame to Gossip Girl, the distortive
power of rumor and gossip has long generated both
fascination and anxiety across media, genres, and periods. In the
digital age, unofficial discourse has acquired the potential for
frenzied transmission, often substantiating established fears
surrounding the nebulous nature of the intermediary. The fascination
and paranoia attached to the spread and (mis)handling of information
speaks to a deeply-rooted unease around origins, third-parties, and
modes of exchange. To label gossip as solely nefarious,
however, ignores its positive manifestations as participatory,
subversive, and empowering, as well as its potential role in
anti-hegemonic discourse or storytelling.
The University of Chicago Department of English Language and Literature
seeks proposals for its 2015 Graduate Conference, “Words Unofficial:
Gossip, Circulation, Mediation.” This conference will explore how
various forms and modes, both literary and otherwise, have
treated information misplaced and in motion. We are interested in
fostering a cross-disciplinary and cross-temporal conversation,
reflecting on various interpretations of unrecognized or cryptic modes
of communication.
We invite papers including but not limited to the following:
-
Chatter, babble, and nonsense
-
Oral tradition
-
Authorship, authority, and ownership
-
Editorial intervention and print culture
-
Misprints, typos, and misinterpretations
-
Translation and intertextuality
-
Spaces/structures of transmission
-
Social media and global consciousness
-
Tabloids, scandal, and celebrity culture
-
Privacy and publicity
-
Libel and slander
-
Surveillance and ethics
-
Social network theory
