Call for Papers

Dear colleagues, the period for previously unpublished paper submissions to the Fifth International Congress on Cultural Studies – Gender, Human Rights and Activisms, is open until November 30, 2015.

The event, which will take place on 7, 8 and 9 September 2016, held at the Department of Languages ​​and Cultures (DLC) of the University of Aveiro, in Portugal, is another event organized by the Doctoral Program in Cultural Studies UA/UM and the Irenne – Research, Prevention and Action against Violence and Exclusion.

1. Gender, Human Rights and Activism

It is becoming increasingly necessary in contemporary societies to build bridges between activism and academia in both theory and practice regarding gender inequality. From femicide to transphobia, from equal marriage to the adoption of children by same-sex couples and assisted reproduction, the recognition of gender identity of transgender people, the right to pleasure and free expression of affection, gender issues multiply , intersect and, of course, overlap, but without losing their specificities.

The V International Congress on Cultural Studies – Gender, Human Rights and Activisms invites researchers and activists to gather, from the 7th to 9th September 2016, in Aveiro, to think about theories and practices around these issues, seeking complementarities between scientific and activist practices, not to dilute the differences between them, but to find the possibilities to enrich each other, precisely because they are different. Thus, this Congress will host presentations of scientific papers, artistic works and experiences of activists in social movements.

In addition to presentations and discussions in plenary sessions and symposia, the organization committee challenges participants to produce a document, for which we suggest the name “Aveiro Charter”, laying out the conclusions and claims identified during the Congress, at the last plenary session. This document, once the consensus on its final form is reached, will be widely publicized in the media and sent to the Portuguese and European policymakers as a means of informing the general public and the direct agents of public policy on issues that the participants consider to be the most relevant in the field of gender studies and activism in Portugal.

2. Sessions

The Fifth International Congress on Cultural Studies – Gender, Human Rights and Activisms welcomes three types of presentations, seeking exchanges between academia and the world of activism: lectures, symposia and video presentations. In addition to the presentations, the event will also feature various workshops.

2.1. Keynote Lectures

Lectures will be delivered by guests whose work as scientists, artists and / or activists is of notable national and international recognition. In this Fifth Congress, we decided to combine individual conferences and roundtables, where our guests can discuss topics of interest for the event.

2.2. The Symposia

The symposia will be the preferred format of the Congress’ sessions. The aim is to provide a more interactive version than traditional parallel sessions, with fewer papers presented simultaneously and an atmosphere more likely to allow for discussion between the authors and the public. Every symposium will be organized around a theme and consists of up to 5 papers that will address the topic from different perspectives, and join activists and researchers in the discussion.

The maximum presentation time of each paper is 10 minutes, followed by a longer period of discussion. The model of each presentation is up to each speaker, and creativity and multiplicity of formats are encouraged. The organization committee of the Congress challenges participants to find alternative formats to the already strained use of PowerPoint presentations and warns that the availability of such equipment will be limited. All speakers should send the pictures they wish to share in their presentations, slides, videos, photographs, etc., until 31 March 2016. This material will be made available at the Fifth Congress website and can be viewed during sessions. To facilitate the logistical organization, we suggest that everyone to bring their own laptops.

Until March 31, 2016 an English translation of the accepted papers should be sent (see item 4).

All texts are available online at the Fifth Congress’ website and may be consulted at the time of the event. This allows the lecturer to present in the language of his/her comfort without hampering the understanding by members of the group and audience.

2.3. Video Presentations

Besides participation in symposia, the Fifth Congress allows participants who cannot travel to the congress venue, to submit presentations in video format. The approved videos will be published on the conference’s website and will allow the public to have access to the author’s contribution to the topic. The same submission procedure as the one for symposia papers applies.

Videos must be between 5 and 10 minutes. The technical specifications will be sent to the authors after the proposal’s approval.

2.4. Workshops and Artistic Performances

The Fifth Congress also makes room for the organization of workshops targeted to activists, researchers and the general public. Proposals should include name, duration, objectives and a description (500 words max.). The workshops may be associated to artistic performances, when appropriate. Proposals will be evaluated for their feasibility given the structural conditions available at the event.

The workshops will be open to all congress participants, as well as to the outside public. In both cases, registration through is required for the desired workshop, until 30 June 2016.

3. Topics

The symposia will be organized around key topics in the debates on Gender, Human Rights and Activisms in the context of Cultural Studies. Thus, more critical and less descriptive approaches will be privileged, both for more academic papers as well as for contributions of activists (who may or may not be part of an NGO, association, institution or community). Some topics are suggested, but the authors are free to submit proposals on different topics:

1 – Violence: femicide and LGBTQ-fobias;
2 – Sex Economy: rights, pleasures and autonomies;
3 – Body Uses; quotidian post-gender behaviors as agency strategies;
4 – Art and activism: queer poetics and agency;
5 – New (and old) Gender technologies: biopower, micropolitics and devices;
6 – Public Policy gender and agency: from body discipline to inclusion rights guarantees.

4. Author Guidelines

4.1 Paper Submission (full text)

Individual papers may be submitted, which will be grouped by the organization committee of the Congress around the topic indicated by the author as well as closed sessions, with 3 to 5 participants. This proposal (full text) must be submitted in one of the two official languages ​​of the Fifth Congress (Portuguese and English), until 30 September 2015.

To allow for communication in the multicultural context in which we find ourselves we ask authors of approved proposals submitted in Portuguese to deliver an English version of the texts until 31 March 2016.

If the proposal is submitted in English, a version in the author’s mother tongue may be sent until 31 March 2016.

This request relates to the need to make ourselves understood by speakers of different nationalities and different mother tongues. All texts will be made available online at the Fifth Congress’ website and may be consulted at the time of presentation. Thus, the lecturer can make his/her presentation in the language of comfort without hampering the understanding of other group members and the audience.

4.2 Rules for text formatting and paper presentation

All languages ​​are welcome and may be used in the electronic publication of the Fifth Congress’ Proceedings. However, in order to broaden the possibilities of dissemination of knowledge in an international context, we ask authors to submit their full articles in both versions – one in the language of their preference and another in English by March 31, 2016.
Articles must have between 8 and 10 pages; font: Georgia, 11 pto. (body), 10 pto.(quotes), 9 pto. (footnotes); spacing 1,5 (body), 1,0 (quotes and footnotes); paragraph: 10 pto; references at the end. See the template for text formatting.

Article submission is made through a system that requires prior registration.

5. Publication

The proceedings of the papers presented at the Fifth International Congress on Cultural Studies will be made available in digital format with ISBN at the time of the event. Some papers may subsequently be selected for publication on a special issue of the Doctoral Program in Cultural Studies UA/UM’s journal, the Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies, or possibly an e-book. In these cases, authors will be duly consulted about their interest in the referred publication.