End Date : April 23, 12:00 am
TBA | Online
Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS)
The annual MESAAS graduate conference has been an enriching space for scholars, activists, and artists to confront and examine issues of political, social, and ethical concern that connect regions of the global south. This year, our conference invites abstracts for the theme,(Re)Tracing Land in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa.
How do individuals, institutions, and arts retrace land, and what do these new geographies look like? Why and how does land capture the essence of major narratives across the globe? What are different meanings of land across languages, histories, and cultures, and how do bodies move through these spaces differently? How do individuals root themselves to land they do not or cannot touch? Amid migration, how does one decide when they have landed? How does arrival and departure from land signify the beginning or end of a journey, and which land represents a liminal space? How does land define the statuses of those in movement and those who are settled?
As in previous years, the conference will be hybrid (in-person and online via Zoom), and we especially encourage scholars from the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa to apply, and, if possible, to attend in person. Unfortunately, we will not be able to support with funding for travel or accommodation.
