Call for Papers: Constructions of Race and Identity in Diasporic Communities

The sixth annual Herman C. Hudson Symposium, hosted by the African American and African Diaspora Studies Graduate Society at Indiana University Bloomington, invites abstracts for papers exploring "Constructions of Race and Identity in Diasporic Communities" from interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary perspectives.

These papers will be presented at our annual conference on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

Papers should explore persons or groups who comprise and/or continue to reconstitute Diasporic communities.

The research should engage the chosen community from a cultural, intellectual, social, historical, or political vantage point, engaging constructions of race and identity from a distinct perspective.

The African Diaspora should be referenced but does not have to be paramount in this research. We are also interested in expanding our scope this year to include presentations that employ and give voice to the performing and visual arts, as these are instrumental forms of expression found within the Black Diaspora.

Interested graduate and undergraduate student presenters should submit a one-page abstract to hchs@indiana.edu.

Presenters who are interested indisplaying visual art should submit a digital CD of their work along with their one-page abstract. Panel proposals should include a description of the panel's theme, the name of the panel chair, and a one-page abstract from each participant.

All abstracts should include the name, discipline, and academic affiliation of each participant. All materials and questions should be sent to the attention of Heather Essex, chair of Abstracts and Panel Development, at hchs@indiana.edu. All abstracts are due by January 16, 2009. For further information visit the AAADS Graduate Society website at www.indiana.edu/~afroamer/.