Keynote Speech: Geisha, Pop Star, Princess: Japan Miscast?

Keynote Speech at The Symposium on Gender Studies across Languages and Disciplines
September 21, 2009 at 12:00PM in Room 157 Bernhard Center

Dr. Jan Bardsley, Associate Professor at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill will be speaking on the controversial question of "Who can represent Japan?"

This event is granted the support of the 48th Annual Visiting Scholars and Artists Program.
Please direct any questions about the event to Rika Saito, the symposium organizer, at 269-387-3020 / rika.saito@wmich.edu

CFP 25th Conference on Medievalism

25th International Conference on Medievalism, jointly organized with Modernités médiévales

Transatlantic Dialogues / Speaking of the Middle Ages

University of Groningen (The Netherlands), 8-10 July 2010

Call for papers

Studies in Medievalism, in collaboration with Modernités médiévales, invites session and paper proposals for its annual interdisciplinary conference, July 8-10, 2010. We welcome papers that explore any topic related to the study and teaching of medievalism, and especially those that focus on this year's double theme of “Transatlantic Dialogues / Speaking of the Middle Ages.” The two conference languages will be English and French.

This year’s conference theme is inspired, on the one hand, by its European venue and, on the other, by the legacy of Paul Zumthor, who started his academic career at the University of Groningen in 1948 and whose book Parler du Moyen Age (in English: Speaking of the Middle Ages) is one of the seminal works of academic medievalism. As a Swiss scholar who worked in Europe and later emigrated to North America, Zumthor represents an outstanding example of the transatlantic nature of medievalist studies. While the Middle Ages we refer to today are European, it is North American scholars (in particular) and artists, who have developed new ways of imagining this era in literature, film, music, painting and other media. At the same time, Zumthor’s work reminds us of the importance of theoretical reflection on the concept of the medieval.

A double key-note address, which will itself take the form of a transatlantic dialogue, will be given by Joep Leerssen (University of Amsterdam) and Richard Utz (Western Michigan University).

Papers, in English or French, might address the following questions and topics (or any other topic relevant to the general theme of medievalism):

• what can European theory bring to North American medievalist scholarship?
• how are the European Middle Ages reconceptualized in other national genres and traditions (e.g. American westerns, Japanese anime)
• whose Middle Ages do we speak of when speaking of the Middle Ages? who defines what is medieval? who “owns” the medieval?
• varieties of American Gothic (architecture, painting, music)
• South American medievalisms, from Amadis to Borges, as a reflection on/of Europe
• medievalism and American feminism / American feminist scholarship
• medievalism and translation studies (particularly French-English)
• cultural mediators
• medievalism and transatlantic travel and/or tourism
• etc. etc.

Symposium on Gender Studies across Languages and Disciplines

Monday, September 21, 2009, 12:00-5:00 PM
(Open at 11:30AM Reception after 5PM)

Bernhard Center Rm 157, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008

Symposium on Gender Studies across Languages and Disciplines will be held to promote research presentations on gender to collaborate with different linguistic/cultural backgrounds and the various disciplines of Japanese studies.

Please direct any questions about the event to Rika Saito, the symposium organizer, at 269-387-3020 / rika.saito@wmich.edu

Roundtable on Language Pedagogy: Theory, Practice, Technology

Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

3025 Brown Hall
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008

The roundtable primarily gives the foreign language faculty, graduate assistants, and those who are interested in foreign language studies opportunities to discuss effective practices in foreign language pedagogy. ATIS (Academic Technologies and Instructional Services) representatives also participate in the roundtable, to provide hints of how to use technologies for foreign language pedagogy and course development more effectively.
We have initially a few presenters to talk about issues on gender, pedagogy, foreign language teaching and learning, and move to more free, informal discussions.

Please direct any questions about the event to Rika Saito, the symposium organizer, at 269-387-3020 / rika.saito@wmich.edu

New Issues Seeking Student Workers

New Issues Poetry & Prose, WMU's literary publisher, is seeking one or two undergraduate or graduate students to work in our office, located off Oakland Drive in the Ernest Wilber Building. Students must be approved for work-study through financial aid. 10 to 20 hours a week. Hours are flexible. Duties will range from clerical to editorial depending on experience, current needs, etc. Please e-mail Managing Editor Marianne Swierenga at new-issues@wmich.edu for more information or to express interest.