Call for Papers
Fourth Annual Humber Liberal Arts and Sciences Conference
October 4th & 5th, 2013 • Humber College, North Campus
Keynote Speaker: Prof. Shahrzad Mojab (OISE/University of Toronto)
Telling stories is a fundamental human need. As American scholar Jonathan Gottschall argues, we are
“storytelling animals”; our narratives “make us human.” Stories both told and untold have influenced our
understanding of individual and social realities. Considering what we store, transport and transform in these
stories reveals much about what we seek from the world and our study of it. So too does considering both the
silences that may figure in these stories—and the stories that can refigure these silences.
This year’s Humber LAS Conference will address two themes in particular:
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What are the narratives of knowledge? What stories do our professions and academic disciplines tell
about themselves, and why? What questions might we raise about these stories?
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How do narratives serve as knowledge? How does the act of storytelling contribute to explorations of
human experience? What can it reveal? What can it hide?
We invite proposals from all Ontario college faculty and staff members interested in pursuing links between
such questions and their own investigations of anthropology, architecture, art, business, computing,
criminology, cuisine, culture, design, education, film, gender, geography, history, identity, journalism, law,
literature, mathematics, media, philosophy, politics, psychology, race, religion, science, sexuality, sociology,
technology, or any other scholarly concern.
Possible topics for presentations include
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Dominant narratives and their effects on work in a discipline
How story-telling or retelling histories creates pathways for social and political action
Myths of a profession or discipline and their part in shaping that enterprise
The value or limitations of narrative form as a means of presenting information (e.g. considerations of
historical narratives or anthropologists’ case studies)
How stories figure in the creation and definition of culture and identity
How corporations, governments and other institutions form or reinforce dominant narratives that
marginalize alternative views
How marginalized individuals or groups push back against dominant narratives
Different versions of the same story and what these differences reveal about the tellers
Links between technology and message, or how the medium in which a story is told influences its
meaning and reception
Teleology, eschatology, and other attempts to “finish off” a story
Please send your presentation proposal (max. 200 words) as a .pdf or .docx attachment to the LAS Conference
committee (lasconference@humber.ca) by SUNDAY, MAY 19th, 2013. Successful applicants will be contacted
by the committee in early June.
Proposal for the Humber LAS Conference
October 4-5, 2013
Name:
E-mail:
Institution and School/Department:
Proposal for (Circle or Underline):
Proposed Title:
Abstract (250-500 words):
Presentation Requirements:
Paper
Panel
Workshop