CfP: Lessons on Resilience from Literary Studies and Intellectual History: Feminist Pedagogies for a Post-Pandemic Future in the Western Balkans
Funded through the DAAD Program: East-West Dialogue: Higher Education Dialogue with the Countries of the Western Balkans 2023
March 24 – 25, 2023
University of Belgrade, Serbia
In March 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 virus a pandemic, the lives of people were turned upside down. The unexpected, and thus unprepared move to digital teaching and learning rendered “face-to-face” interaction impossible, forcing teachers, researchers, educators, and students to reconsider what responsible pedagogy should look like during a crisis.
From the experience of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and from the exploration of resilience with the tools of literary studies and intellectual history comes the idea of feminist pedagogies for a post-pandemic future. Practicing feminist pedagogy, either in formal or informal setting, involves critical dialogue and conflict, intense discussions on important social and ethical questions, self-reflexive use of authority, and showing vulnerability if the situation asks for it. These lessons on resilience provide concepts, methods, and tools for understanding crisis and help us rethink teaching and learning, especially in the humanities, for a post-pandemic future.
The goal of our interdisciplinary workshop is to bring together a transnational group of literary scholars, cultural and intellectual historians, as well as Western Balkan civil society activists. Invited speakers include activists associated with the organizations BeFem and Reconstruction Women’s Fund from Belgrade, which have been promoting feminist politics and culture, serving as platforms against war, nationalism, and other kinds of violence against women, and acting as networks for the establishment of diverse cooperation on both local and international levels. The workshop aims to facilitate a two-way exchange between academia and civil society.
The pressing question of the planned event is: What are the possible resources of ideas, practices, and social experiences that could help us navigate the aftermath of crisis in a post-pandemic context? The workshop invites contributions that decenter the traditional focus on “high” culture and “prominent” thinkers in scholarship, and instead aim to expand the scope of what has traditionally been understood as “intellectual and literary elites,” to broaden the source base beyond high-culture, and to put the questions of societal relevance and public engagement at the core of our scholarship. Participants will reflect on the topics of feminist pedagogies and resilience and work towards proposing a syllabus for a potential interdisciplinary course “Feminist Pedagogies of Resilience.”
Workshop themes:
- Ideas and practices of resilience in literature and intellectual history
- Feminist biographies and women’s stories of resilience in literature and history
- Educational models and ideas about education in times of crisis
Discussants:
Prof. Dr. Gesine Drews-Sylla (Würzburg), Prof. Dr. Katarina Lončarević (Belgrade), Prof. Dr. Schamma Schahadat (Tübingen), Prof. Dr. Dunja Dušanić (Belgrade)
Organizers:
Prof. Dr. Ana Kolarić (Belgrade), Dr. Aleksandra Konarzewska (Tübingen), Dr. Adela Hîncu (Budapest), Una Blagojević (Vienna)
Application and funding:
The workshop will provide space for 10 early-stage researchers (PhD and post-doctoral) to present their own ideas and projects. Participants must be affiliated with higher education institutions in Western Balkans or partner countries (specifically: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Hungary). We also strongly encourage applications from researchers working with non-academic actors who would like to reflect on projects bridging academic and non-academic work.
Accommodation for three nights (64 EUR per night) and travel costs of 300 EUR will be provided.
The conference will take place at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, between March 24–25, 2023.
In order to apply please send your abstract (maximum 300 words) for a 15-minute presentation and a short biography including affiliation, research profile, and a few sentences on why you wish to join the workshop. The deadline for abstracts is February 10, 2023. Successful applicants will be notified by 19 February at the latest.
Applications can be sent to Adela Hîncu adela.hincu[at]gmail[dot]com and Una Blagojevic blagojevic_una[at]phd[dot]ceu[dot]edu