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2011 Call for Proposals

The Mosse/Weinstein Center For Jewish Studies is pleased to announce the 2011 Conney Conference on Jewish Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

Jewish Identity and the Arts

April 6-8, 2011

Call For Proposals Deadline: February 1, 2011 2011 Conney Conference Keynote Speaker: We are very pleased to announce that Connie Wolf, Director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, will be our keynote speaker. Jewish Identity and the Arts, our third bi-annual conference, will focus on the contribution of Jewish artists and theorists to world culture through the spectrum of arts practice. The conference is intended to raise questions about both the nature of Jewish Art and Jewish identity in the 21st century. Honoring George Mosse and Laurence Weinstein This year’s conference honors the contributions of two of the founders of the Center for Jewish Studies: George Mosse and Laurence Weinstein. Laurence Weinstein’s invaluable work in establishing the center helped to create a home for an exploration of Jewish identity in the arts and in all areas of culture and scholarship. George Mosse was a lover and leading scholar of the arts in modern society. He wrote with eloquence and great insight about how artistic movements in the 19th and 20th centuries influenced new political movements, new cultural identities, and re-definitions of justice and belonging. Mosse’s work inspires many contemporary studies of identity in the arts. The Conney Project on Jewish Arts Jewish Identity and the Arts, an initiative of the Conney Project on Jewish Arts, Directed by Douglas Rosenberg, continues and extends our previous efforts in the area which have included, symposia, conferences and think tanks as well as visiting artist programs and the Conney Media Lab. Previous symposia and conferences organized by the Conney Project on Jewish Arts have focused on inscribing Jewish Identity in art practice and art practice by Jewish artists. The 2011 conference seeks to open up new discussions that inspire critical debate around both traditional and contemporary approaches to creating and circulating work of Jewish content in literature, theater, the visual and performing arts as well as in art-related scholarly writing and research.  We are interested in expanding the field of discourse surrounding Jewish identity in the histories and visual cultures of artmaking, scholarship, literature, music and other art related practices in which Jewishness exerts a significant presence.  We welcome all models of presentation from artists and scholars ranging from the traditional to the performative. To Submit a Proposal: We welcome proposals in the following areas (as well as others we may have overlooked):
  • Papers that reflect scholarly research
  • Panels that engage a number of scholars focused on the same area of research
  • Performative presentations that merge theory and practice
  • Performances that engage Jewish Identity
  • Curated film and video presentations
Please provide an abstract of no more than 500 words when applying electronically. For Visual Art Submissions: We are planning satellite exhibitions of visual art in spaces around the university.  As physical exhibition space will be limited, curators will select work that addresses issues of Jewish content and that fits within space limitations as possible. Please send documentation (dvd, jpegs, etc.) by mail if necessary, or provide a link to online materials. Include a description of work to be considered in online submission.  Please note that we will be creating an online exhibition as well. For Performance Submissions: We will also be including a limited number of performances during the conference.  Space and resources are limited, but we welcome proposals for performance work that addresses issues of Jewish content.  Please send documentation (dvd, jpegs, etc.) by mail if necessary, or provide a link to online materials. Send synopsis of proposed project with electronic submission. Accommodations/Hotels, etc. We have reserved a number of hotel rooms nearby to the conference site.  You will be able to book them yourself as long as they are available. Contact Kesha Weber in the CJS office for more information: 608-265-8150 or knweber3@wisc.edu Additional questions may be directed to Douglas Rosenberg at: rosend@education.wisc.edu