Co-hosted by Circle 4: An/Other\not-I/(m)\Other in Feminist Philosophy

”How can I touch you if you´re not there?“ (This Sex Which Is Not One, 205)

“Truth is necessary for those who are so distanced from their body that they have forgotten it.“ (This Sex Which Is Not One, 214)

Call for Papers, Participation and Creative Works

for the 12th Meeting of the Luce Irigaray Circle in collaboration with NSU

Touching the World

June 6-9, 2024

University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

The 12th meeting of the Luce Irigaray Circle is a three-day interdisciplinary conference devoted to the scholarship and creative work on, or inspired by, the thought of Luce Irigaray. Luce Irigaray’s work has influenced scholarship across multiple fields including Philosophy, Gender Studies, Queer Theory, Trans Studies, Literary and Culture Studies, Indigenous Studies, Classics, Religious Studies, Political Theory, Linguistics, Art, Architecture, Music, Performance Studies, and Legal Theory, etc. The Circle cultivates a space for honoring and interrogating the question of sexual difference by supporting the multiple research trajectories, methods, and projects inspired by Irigaray’s thought.

Luce Irigaray has called for a new human being and a new way of thinking based on her philosophy of sexual difference. Central to this idea of being and thinking are touch and being touched as forms of interaction and inter-affections that are endless processes of becoming and transformations. This year´s conference draws its theme from touching and being touched by the world in all its manifestations. Reflections on the following topics are welcome:

• Sexes, genders, differences
• New human being and humanity
• Sharing desire, sharing the world
• Erotic thinking
• Embodiments and languaging
• Ethics of sexual difference
• Temporalities and spatialities
• Vegetal thinking, breath and breathing
• Artificial Intelligence
• Self-affection and the sensible transcendental
• Liberation and repression
• Race and racism
• Disconnection, coloniality, war
• Climate change
• Capitalism as patriarchal economy and polarization

Papers should be delivered in 20 minutes to leave 10 minutes each for discussion. Please note that the IC conference organizers are planning an edited volume based on the conference and request the right of first review on all accepted papers. If you would like to submit a proposal, please send the following information at https://forms.gle/CJDHLwiWaCwuyx1d6 by January 10th, 2024:

• For individual papers and works in progress: the title of your paper, an abstract (500 words maximum); 5 keywords; a list of no more than six references (not to be included in the word count)
• For complete panels (approx. 3 papers per panel): the title of the panel; an abstract explaining the theme of the panel (300 words maximum); 5 keywords for the panel; titles and individual abstracts for each paper (300 words each maximum, plus a list of up to six references for each paper).

Creative Work:

In addition to academic presentations, the Circle invites proposals for creative work related to the work of Luce Irigaray. Past events have included theatrical and musical performances, poetry readings, art installations, and more. Submissions should include an abstract describing the work, materials that represent it (for example, poetry excerpts or photos) and an explanation of the technical needs related to presenting the work.

Work-in-Progress Session(s):

In addition to traditional academic presentations, we welcome works and thinking in progress. If you would prefer to participate in a closed discussion section for works in progress, indicate “Works in Progress” in the subject line of your submission. If you are admitted to the works in progress track, we will ask you to send in an unfinished piece of writing (non-academic as well as academic texts are welcome) ahead of the conference (by 1st of May 2024), which will be shared with others who have signed up to join the WIP-session(s). During the conference small presentations and conversations around these works will be hosted in closed sessions.

Karen Burke Memorial Prize:

The Irigaray Circle will sponsor the Karen Burke Memorial Prize, awarded to the best paper submitted by a graduate student or recent PhD (PhD awarded in 2019 or later). This paper should be unpublished at the time of submission. The winner of the competition will give the Karen Burke Memorial Prize Lecture at a keynote session of the 2024 conference. Submission instructions:

• In addition to applying at https://forms.gle/CJDHLwiWaCwuyx1d6, Complete papers of no more than 4000 words should be submitted to irigaray2024@irigaray.org in an email with the subject line: ‘Burke Prize’.
• papers should be prepared for anonymous review and submitted in *.doc or *.rtf format.
• accompanying email should list the paper title and the applicant’s name, affiliation, and email address.
• Deadline for submissions: January 10th, 2024.

Funding:

Thanks to the support of Nordplus, funding for participants from Nordic and Baltic countries to support travel and accommodation costs will be available. (This funding is based on residency and not nationality.) When applying to the conference, please indicate whether you would like to make use of this opportunity and what your estimated travel costs will be.

About the Luce Irigaray Circle:

The Luce Irigaray Circle is an interdisciplinary society dedicated to stimulating and supporting scholarly and creative endeavours that are inspired by or informed by the philosophy of Luce Irigaray. The Circle was established at Stony Brook University in 2006 by the philosophers Sabrina L. Hom, Serene J. Khader, and Mary C. Rawlinson with support from the Office of the President. Scholars and artists from all disciplines who are interested in the Circle’s activities and research are invited to join the Circle. For more information, see the Luce Irigaray Circle website: http://www.irigaray.org

Nordic Summer University

This conference is co-organised by the Study Circle An/Other\not-I/(m)\Other in Feminist Philosophy of the Nordic Summer University. NSU is a voluntary organisation started in 1950 to bring together academics, policy makers, artists and others to further the ideals of folkbildning. The study program is organised around thematic study circles which are democratically established annually by NSU’s members. More information: www.nsuweb.org

Special thanks to the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Iceland and the Nordic Summer University (Circle for feminist philosophy) for hosting the 12th meeting of the Irigaray Circle.

For more information, please contact irigaray2024@irigaray.org