CFP: Utopia in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

From early ideas of a perfect human condition to a more modern conception of technological or social nirvana, visions of utopia have permeated our histories. Their genesis is often in response to social and political struggle, or is a reaction to imperfect reality. They are commentaries on the aspirations of our predecessors and present dreamers for the potential that lives within us all. This interdisciplinary conference seeks to examine how human experience and culture has impacted our idea of utopia in the present, in times and places past, and in the future. What do these visions of utopia tell us about ourselves? How have they been conceived during centuries past, and how have they changed? How has our conception of utopia propelled us and shaped our intellectual activity and creative output? How does it impact what we do today, and what we envision for the future?

The idea of utopia raises interesting interpretive questions about all of the arts and humanities. These questions are investigations into the nature of humankind. They reflect our curiosity about ourselves, and about our place in the whole human enterprise. We welcome  contributors from all disciplines and on a wide range of topics. Possible themes might include:

• Utopia and creativity
• Social utopia
• Utopia and revolution
• Creating the Garden of Eden
• Utopia and dystopia
• The price of utopia ! Utopia and human rights
• Utopia in human psychology
• Anthropocentrism and utopia
• Utopia in ecology
• Utopia in the creative arts

A selection of contributions to the conference will be published in a a peer-reviewed, edited volume by University of North Georgia Press. Faculty, graduate students, and independent  scholars are welcome.

Please submit an abstract of 200 – 300 words and a brief biography to:

[email protected]by August 1, 2013.