Call for Proposals
The global pandemic has interrupted academic events and activities all over the world, including the 2020 ISSS Paris Conference, which has been rescheduled for autumn 2022. As we await our next in-person gathering in Paris, the ISSS Board has recently scheduled a virtual conference for November2021. In addition, the ISSS is also coordinating a series of virtual events this Winter and Spring.
Over the last year, we have all shared the experience of physical distance, though this has not diminished intellectual bonds, exchanges, and conversations. The ISSS remains committed to promoting research and fostering intellectual communities around surrealism and its many legacies, despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. Virtual events present the opportunity to bring together interlocutors from different geographical locations, invigorate participation, and spur new collaborations and connections across the globe.
We would thus like to seize the opportunity afforded by remote communication and issue this Call for Proposals for a curated series of virtual events sponsored and promoted by the ISSS for active members over the course of the winter and spring 2021. These events are not a replacement for the ISSS annual conferences in 2021 (virtual) and 2022 (Paris), but are meant instead to maintain and enrich our ongoing collective work on surrealism.
We solicit formats that suit the virtual medium, as well as encourage collaboration and the creation of research networks. Events can take place between early February and late June of 2021.
Events may include, but are not limited to:
– Roundtable discussions
– Discussion of pre-circulated papers
– Reading groups
– Panels with short presentations (5-10 min. each)
– Series of workshops on new collaborative projects
– Media-based creative work
The events may be live on Zoom, pre-recorded, or a combination of both.
Please send a complete proposal to surrealismstudies@gmail.com as soon as possible, although we will continue to accept proposals on a rolling basis. Please make sure to include the following:
– Title of your proposed virtual event. Please make sure to designate it as a “Winter/Spring 2021 Virtual Event”
– Names, emails, and affiliation of leaders and/or known participants (note that all participants/audience members must be active ISSS members; if your event is selected by ISSS, we can circulate your CFP to members if that is desirable)
– Short description and rationale of the event (300 words)
– Date and time of the proposed event (please provide two alternate dates and times; also include time zone)
– Language or languages of proposed event
– Format of the virtual event, including proposed size and composition of audience; pre-recorded or live on Zoom (note that if recording the event, all participants will need to sign permissions waivers in advance—this will be the organizer’s responsibility; ISSS will provide the blank permission waiver; also, please indicate whether your event might host a larger audience of ISSS member-listeners as well as active participants, and what the desirable limit of such a group size might be for your event)
– Technological specifications and plans
Proposals will be peer-reviewed by the ISSS Programming Committee. ISSS will actively disseminate publicity for selected events to the organization’s members and international network through the ISSS website and social media. We also will host a public YouTube page for recorded events with signed permission waivers, although this is wholly optional. ISSS cannot contribute to organizational costs, technological needs and support, honoraria, and other associated expenses. Virtual event leaders will be expected to organize, manage and run all aspects of their event; leaders must supply their own access to Zoom and any necessary digital tools and components.
For more information, please contact surrealismstudies@gmail.com.
ISSS Programming Committee:
Jonathan P. Eburne
Elliott H. King
Effie Rentzou
Abigail Susik
surrealismstudies.org 