please find here with information about an Internationalconference to be held at Canada on may2008 **************************************************
Being Human;Being Tamil: Personhood, Agency and Identity
Call for Papers Thethird annual Tamil Studies Conference, "Being Human; Being Tamil:Personhood, Agency and Identity", organized by the University of Torontoand the University of Windsor, will be held at the University of Toronto from May 15 - 17, 2008. The conference organizers invite submissions ofpaper abstracts from all disciplines and welcome abstracts with aninterdisciplinary focus. Scholars, graduate students, artists, writers, performers and activists are welcome to present scholarly papers inEnglish or Tamil at this conference. The organizers also welcome theparticipation of non-Tamil Studies specialists whose work addresses thetheme of this conference. The organizers encourage the submission of new scholarly work that can also be included in the conferencepublication.
The objective of this conference, in response toquestions posed by scholarly critiques of universal conceptions of thehuman and unified notions of identity, is to invite papers thatinvestigate how "human" or "personhood" have been imagined, conceptualized, practiced and performed throughout history within theTamil regions and traditions. What is the intellectual, cultural, andliterary history of Tamil understandings of the human person? Was there ever a conception of a universal human being? What are the sources forimagining the self and the practices of its construction and expression?What are the continuities and transformations in Tamil conceptions of the self, particularly in defining men and women and casteidentities?
What are the religious and secular sources of the self?What ritual practices have played a seminal role in constructing theidea of being human? How have texts and print shaped or altered theroles and functions of individuals? What is the relation between geography, landscape and individual identity? How does one understandthe relation between ideology and classification? In the modern era howhave concepts of "individual" and "collective" rights" affected Tamil articulations of personhood, particularly in relation to gender andcaste? How do diaspora and hybridity inform or structure Tamilconceptions of identity and affiliation?
Papers on the Tamil Diasporacan address subjects other than those indicated in the Call forPapers. Proposals can also be submitted for an entire panel. Thoseinterested in presenting a paper or panel must submit an abstract of nomore than 300 words or the full details of the panel (all the scholarsand their abstracts), in the language they wish to present (English or Tamil) by August 31, 2007 to tamils@chass.utoronto.ca Please note that all scholars are expected to meet the costs of their accommodation,registration and transport.
The conference website,www.chass.utoronto.ca/~tamils, has details of the 2006 and 2007conferences. Organizers:
Chelva Kanaganayakam Professor, Departmentof English, University of Toronto
R. Cheran Assistant Professor,Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University ofWindsor
Darshan Ambalavanar Visiting Fellow, Centre for South AsianStudies, University ofToronto.