CALL FOR PAPERS

Iconotopoi/Bildkulturen (Cultures of the Image)
Current Academic Practices in the Study of Images
Joint Eikones-McGill Graduate Conference
Department of Art History and Communication Studies
McGill University, Montreal
December 3 to 5, 2008

The joint McGill-Eikones Graduate Conference Iconotopoi/Bildkulturen (Cultures of the Image) aims to identify and challenge cultural and linguistic barriers within the academy, so that the study of images may one day become as mobile as its objects of inquiry.

Since the early 1990s, at least two interdisciplinary fields dedicated to understanding images attest to the differences in cultural/academic approaches to the study of images: Visual Studies in America, and Bildwissenschaften in German-speaking Europe. Each of these fields traces its roots back to the Linguistic Turn, and both stem from the Pictorial or Iconic Turn (cf. W.J.T. Mitchell’s Critical Iconology and G. Boehm’s notion of Bildkritik). Bildkritik emphasizes the singular image, its inner tensions and structures, and its temporal and affective interplays. In contrast, Visual Studies often focus on the social and political contexts of image production
and reception, thereby broadening the field in which images are considered.

Iconotopoi/Bildkulturen aims to confront these diverse critical cultures of the image through case-study presentations by international scholars. The conference will forge a constructive dialogue between German-, French-, and English-language academic cultures, at a time when allegedly international discourses tend to lose sight not only of the singularity of the image, but also of singular approaches to understanding images that can be found in
different cultures.

Proposals in English or French from graduate students in all relevant
fields are welcome. We especially encourage reflections on
interdisciplinary and/or cross-cultural methodologies in the study of
images. Possible research topics include:
–Affective imagery (Anthropology, Art History, Dance Studies,
Performance Studies, Religious Studies, Theatre Studies)
–Imaging knowledge (Information Design, Scientific Visualisation)
–Non/narrative imagin(in)gs (Anthropology, Literature, Philosophy,
Psychology)
–Digital Images (New Media Studies, Informatics)

Send a 250-word abstract, along with a 100-word biography, to
iconotopoi@gmail.com <mailto:iconotopoi@gmail.com> by May 30, 2008.

All submissions should be identified with your name and complete contact information, as well as details about your institutional affiliation.

Additional information: http://www.mcgill.ca/ahcs/iconotopoi
<http://www.mcgill.ca/ahcs/iconotopoi>