[Air-l] Obscentiy CFP deadline approaching

[Karla-Tonella at uiowa.edu]

Call for Papers - Deadline December 1, 2006 for abstracts

Obscenity: An Interdisciplinary Discussion
2007 Obermann Center Humanities Symposium

The University of Iowa
March 1-4, 2007

In 1966, anthropologist Mary Douglas published 
her groundbreaking study, Purity and Danger:  An 
Analysis of the Concept of Pollution and Taboo, 
asserting that "dirt" is a "universal theme 
across human societies."  Douglas issued her book 
during a period of massive liberalization of 
censorship practices in English-speaking 
societies that led lawyer Charles Rembar to 
declare "the end of obscenity."  Where Douglas 
saw a universal cultural theme, Rembar saw a 
concept that had lost its cultural significance. 
 The proximity of these claims indicates a 
persistent paradox:  while the category of 
obscenity would appear to be "universal," its 
meaning is so vague and variable that it is 
almost impossible to pin down in what this 
universality consists.   

The opening of the 21st century is a felicitous 
time to interrogate the "universality" of 
obscenity in terms of the globalization of 
culture and postmodern skepticism in the human 
sciences. This symposium is intended to enable an 
interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue 
that will analyze this notoriously vague yet 
apparently perennial concept in an historical and 
global context.  

Possible topics will include, but will not be limited to, the following:  
- How do definitions of obscenity vary across 
cultures and historical periods?  
- How do identity categories of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and
    disability inflect or inform issues of obscenity?  
- What is the relation between verbal and visual instances of obscenity?
- To what degree is religion implicated in definitions of obscenity?  
- How is obscenity inflected or informed by family structures and practices?  
- How do issues of obscenity vary across institutional locations?  
- In what ways are attacks on obscenity related to media ownership and
    the development of new media?
- How is obscenity related to cognate concepts such as indecency,
    pornography, and profanity?

Speakers include Nadine Strossen (New York 
University), Michael Taussig (Columbia 
University), John D. Peters (University of Iowa), 
Laura Kipnis (Northwestern University), Linda 
Williams (UC Berkeley), Judith Krug (American 
Library
Association), and Lamia Karim (University of Oregon).

Please submit 300-word abstracts online at
<http://www.uiowa.edu/obermann/obscenity>http://www.uiowa.edu/obermann/obscenity
by December 1, 2006.

Address any questions to Loren Glass at obscenity at uiowa.edu