UCLA Graduate Student Conference – Performing Proximity
UCLA Department of Theater and the Center for Performance Studies
2021 Graduate Student Conference:
Contact – Performing Proximity
Keynote Speakers:
Sarah Bay-Cheng (York University)
Daphne Brooks (Yale University)
GLAM Collective (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums): Heather
Igloliorte (Concordia University), Julie Nagam (The University of Winnipeg),
Carla Taunton (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University)
Date: Feb. 19-21, 2021
From its Latin roots, contact describes encounters facilitated by and through touching (con-tactus). In an increasingly globalized and mediatized world, touch between audience and performer, the human and non-human, the material and the virtual, the past and the present, all evoke explorations of how contact is shaping and is shaped by performance, both within the everyday and the aesthetic realm. From the #MeToo movement to the rise in global protest following the murder of George Floyd, from the increased detention of immigrants to the COVID-19 pandemic and its myriad repercussions, contact reverberates with possibilities for connection, violence, healing, and desire.
This graduate conference invites work that explores the performance and
potentiality of contact, both problematic and utopic, as a means of curating a larger discussion on how performance studies can inform readings of touch, connection, and communion between and across disciplines. We seek diverse, interdisciplinary approaches to the topic of contact, especially in relation to:
– Affect, intimacy and the senses
– Alienated/racialized/minoritarian positionalities
– Borders, migration, Indigeneity and the (post)colonial
– Ecological relations and post-humanism
– Historiography and touching/embodying the past
– Human and nonhuman engagement with music/soundscapes
– Immersive/interactive performance
– Materiality in performance
We are seeking submissions for papers, performances, digital humanities
projects, and other creative engagement practices. Please submit an abstract,
performance description, or project description no later than Nov. 1, 2020.
Graduate students, faculty, and practicing artists are encouraged to submit.
Any questions can be directed to uclatapsconference@gmail.com. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by Dec. 15, 2020.
Submissions: https://forms.gle/BN61ffcYAAeuaaEr5
Conference website:
https://www2.tft.ucla.edu/cps/contact-performing-proximity.cfm
CPS Website: https://www2.tft.ucla.edu/cps/