Conference
LUCAS Conference Bodies Matter 2021
- Prof. Elleke Boehmer, University of Oxford
- Dr. Willemijn Ruberg, Universiteit Utrecht
- Frans Willem Korsten
- Date
- Thursday 15 April 2021 - Friday 16 April 2021
- Location
- Online 9.00 - 16.00 GMT +2
- Room
- to be announced
On April 15th and 16th, 2021, the Conference Committee of the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) will be hosting a conference called: Bodies Matter.
This is an opportunity for humanities researchers from diverse backgrounds and all levels (PhD students, Post-docs, early-career, and mid-career researchers) to converge, present, and discuss their research results in an international and interdisciplinary environment.
The conference will feature keynote lectures by Elleke Boehmer, Professor of World Literature in English, University of Oxford and Willemijn Ruberg, Associate Professor in Cultural History, Universiteit Utrecht. Final remarks and a concluding session will be supervised by Prof. Frans-Willem Korsten, Senior University Lecturer at LUCAS.
Since global antiquity, the body has played a central role in culture and society. From physical figures to political metaphors, objects of analysis to sources of value, bodies take multiple forms. They ground emotions, desires and identities, and are inflected by technology. They connect to histories of place and space, both online and offline, and are framed by political, environmental, spiritual, and other discourses. All too often, conceptions of the body have been to delimit or exclude bodies deemed “other” for reasons of race, gender, class or other markers of identity. Never isolated, bodies are also arranged into larger units, from cultural groups to nation states. Thinking through the body not only reshapes our body of knowledge, it also moves us to rethink our lives otherwise in a time of political, ecological and health crises.
In keeping with these critical tendencies, Bodies Matter presents a unique opportunity for all interested parties to explore the multiple actions, states and meanings of bodies from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Thinking through the body does not only reshape our body of knowledge, it also moves us to rethink our lives otherwise in a time of political, ecological, and public healthcare emergency.
By drawing attention to such concerns, we would like to invite participants from a wide spectrum of disciplines to contribute to this intriguing field of inquiry.
The conference will be held online (timezone UTC/GMT +2). Registered attendees will receive an email notification 24 hours prior to the conference with the Zoom link to join the event. To register, click here.
Programme and abstracts
For the Conference Bodies Matter 2021 Programme and Abstracts, click here.