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Canadian Disability Studies Association - 2015 Conference Call for Abstracts

The Canadian Disability Studies Association/Association Canadienne des Études sur l’Incapacité (CDSA-ACEI)  2015 Conference will take place in Ottawa in June, 2014 as part of the larger Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Capital Ideas is this year's theme. From Tuesday, June 2  Thursday, June 4, 2015 Congress delegates will gather at the University of Ottawa. The Canadian Disability Studies Association is now accepting abstracts for the Congress which relate to the theme of Capital. Submissions can be made through this page of the CDSA website: http://www.cdsa-acei.ca/conference.html
 
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS: December 15, 2014

“There is no longer, there never was, a single capital, nor a single capitalism, only capitalisms state or private, real or symbolic, always linked to spectral forces capitalizations whose antagonisms aree irreducible.”[1]
 
Capital has many different meanings. The meanings of capital range from the most important place in a region, to a place associated with an activity or product, to wealth and the people who possess wealth, or a valuable resource of a particular kind, to characteristics of significance, excellence, and expanse. Capital can also be understood as an adjective that expresses approval, satisfaction or delight.
 
This year’s conference explores capital, capitalisms, capitalizations and the “spectral forces” the social, cultural, political, historical and economic conditions that have informed the development of “capital ideas” regarding disability and disability studies. The Canadian Disability Studies Association-Association Canadienne des Études sur l’Incapacité (CDSA-ACEI) invites abstracts that explicate the many meanings of capital as made to appear in relation with disability; that consider what is and is not capitalized (or treated as important) within disability studies and fields that study disability; and that trace the institutions and processes involved in the materialization of privileged ways of knowing, communicating, doing, being and feeling. CDSA-ACEI calls for works that examine the following question:
 
WHAT IDEAS, PRACTICES AND APPROACHES HAVE SHAPED HOW DISABILITY IS UNDERSTOOD?
 
Prospective presenters may want to consider the following questions: What disability ideas, approaches and paradigms are centred and celebrated as innovative? What breaks, disruptions and antagonisms have shaped what is treated as important within the field of disability studies? What ideas get circulated, and how are they circulated? How do academic disciplines get capitalized (and marginalized) within the university? Which bodies, minds, senses, emotions and names are capitalized as timely and worthy of attention? What role do diagnostic and bureaucratic forms of expertise play in their capitalization? What spaces and places take priority in work within disability studies research, education, art and activism? What (and whose) futures are imagined as capital futures, and what values and assumptions are capitalized in their pursuit?
 
CDSA-ACEI invites abstract submissions for papers to be presented at the 12th annual conference to be held at University of Ottawa. Our CDSA-ACEI meeting is part of the Congress 2015 of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Works and works in progress may take the form of reflections, empirical studies, statistical analyses, theorizing, cultural critique, methodological developments, professional or pedagogical interventions, and artistic, activist and performance pieces.
 
CDSA-ACEI’s 2015 conference theme “Capital Ideas” reflects the overall Congress theme. All abstracts that reflect disability studies, Deaf studies and mad studies perspectives are welcomed, and abstracts that demonstrate a connection to the theme “Capital Ideas” will be given special consideration. This year’s conference will directly address the development of disability studies as a scholarly field, an assemblage of artistic and activist interventions, and professional pursuits as well as a space that supports disabled people in realizing aspirations outside of the field itself. Questions of knowledge, education, training, professional development and employment will be addressed in featured panels in the conference program.
 
This call for abstracts also extends a special invitation to community members and undergraduate students to submit abstracts for works and works in progress. Instructors, professors and community leaders are encouraged to share the call with their students, colleagues and comrades, and co-submit where appropriate. Submissions are peer-reviewed by panels composed of university and college faculty and students and community members.
 
CDSA-ACEI is pleased to announce that as part of the conference program, Dr. Jay Dolmage, University of Waterloo, will deliver a keynote presentation titled, "Capital Ideas: Disabling Studies, Disability Studied, Disability Studies."
 
All submissions must identify which of the following thematic streams their abstract falls into:
 
OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Abstracts that share explorations within the fields of disability studies, Deaf studies and mad studies or that adopt these perspectives but may not directly relate to the overarching conference theme of “Capital Ideas.”
 
Capitalized Ideas and Institutions:

This subtheme broadly explores the ideas and institutions that shape how disability is understood. We welcome submissions exploring:
Disability and the law
Disability and the family
Disability and education
Disability at work  (e.g., employment, workplace accommodations, educational, skills and professional development programs for disabled workers)
Disability and religion/spirituality
Disability and institutionalization/incarceration and deinstitutionalization/decarceration (e.g., custodial, residential and community-based long term care)
 
Capital Investments:

This subtheme broadly explores currencies of belonging and becoming. We welcome submissions exploring:
Cultural currencies and counterfeits (e.g., passing)
Disability and social capital/cultural capital
Disability and affect
Disability and language
Disability, race and ethnicity
Disability, gender and sexuality
Disability and age/ing/ism
Disability and fashion/fitness/style
Disability and sport
 
4. Capital Centres, Peripheries and Flows:

This subtheme broadly explores how disability is located and dis/dys/re-located. We welcome submissions exploring disability as made to appear within the context of:
Capital technologies and flows of communication
Processes of knowledge integration/exchange/translation/mobilization
(Trans)nationalism/cosmopolitanism
Diasporas, colonial continuums and post-/anti-colonial critiques
Transportation/travel/tourism
Environmental sustainability/sustainable development
Futurity, Utopias and/or dis/dystopias
 
5. Capital Regimes:

This subtheme broadly explores how disability is both capitalized and resisted in and by various structures, systems and knowledge regimes. We welcome submissions exploring:
Disability and social and/or health policy and recommended practices
Disability as it relates to processes of securitization and/or militarization
Disability, imperialism, financialization and privatization
Disability and neoliberalism
Disability and humanitarianism/social activism
Disability research and/or (bio)ethics
 
Submission Guidelines:

Submit a completed submission template form, including a 50 word description of what the presentation is about and an anonymized abstract with title on a separate WORD document enclosed via email attachments to cdsa.acei@gmail.com by December 15, 2014. The subject line should read, “CDSA-ACEI proposal for Capital Ideas.”
 
Abstract Guidelines:

Session formats are 60-90 minutes in length. There will be 2-4 papers per session and each paper will be 15-20 minutes in length, depending upon the number of papers within the session. Please indicate on your submission if you require an accommodation for more presentation time.
 
Authors can submit multiple abstracts, but only one individual paper in which the author is listed as first author will be accepted for inclusion in the conference program. If more than one abstract for an individual paper is accepted that lists an individual as first author the author will be informed and asked to choose which one will be included. Submitters may have multiple submissions accepted if the other submissions take the form of a workshop, performance and/or podcast, or if the submitter is listed as a second author on individual papers.
 
Individual Papers:  Individual presentations will be placed alongside 2-3 other panelists who share a similar focus. A submission must include a paper title and a 250 word abstract; the abstract should consist of the following:
stated purpose and relevance to one or more of the conference themes
significance of the proposal to the field
include relevant literature to support your abstract
explicit use of disability studies theory, perspective or concepts
describe how the work was done
contributions to research, theory, activism, advocacy or social change
4 or 5 key words that describe your abstract
details of audiovisual needs (e.g., DVD, LCD projection and/or VHS)
 
Panels (3-4 persons)  People submitting a panel absstract are asked to identify and submit proposals around a central topic, theme or approach. The abstract should include the following:
all information as stated in the Individual Paper section as appropriate
a panel title and a 100 word abstract that illustrates the coherence between each of the panel presentations  
individual presentation titles and 250 word abstracts for each individual presentation
 
Workshops:  Interactive sessions organized around a ccentral theme. People submitting workshops should include:
all information as stated in the Individual Paper section as appropriate
workshop title and a 350 word abstract; the description of the workshop’s objectives and content should be as specific as possible  
 
Performances: This may include poetry reading, dancce, a viewing or an installation (art work, poetry, zine, etc.). We will do our best to provide a suitable space but please be prepared to improvise! Abstract should include:
all information as stated in the Individual Paper section as appropriate
a performance title and a 350 word abstract; the description of the performance content should be as specific as possible  

Submission Template:
 
Author(s) name(s)
Affiliation(s)/Organization(s)
Email(s)
Address(es)
Biographical Note(s) (100-150 words per author):
Thematic Stream:
 
Format: (1) Individual Paper; (2) Panel; (3) Workshop; (4) Performance; (5) Podcast
 
Title of Presentation(s):
 
50 word description of what the presentation is about (abbreviated abstract)
 
Language of Presentation (ENG/FRE/ASL/LSQ)

About CDSA-ACEI

The Canadian Disability Studies Association-Association Canadienne des Études sur L’Incapacité held its first annual meeting at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg in May 2004.

In 2004, the association began building the foundation for our organization based on the By-Laws adopted on June 1, 2005 at CDSA-ACEI’s 2nd Annual Conference at the University of Western Ontario in London. That same year CDSA-ACEI became a "provisional" member association of theCanadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences (link opens in a separate window).

CDSA-ACEI is dedicated to:
    Providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and scholarship regarding disability,
    Networking among individual members, community groups, and other academic organizations, and
    Maintaining and building a commitment to a scholarship that remains connected to, informed by, and in ongoing dialogue with community and consumer organizations and agencies.

An essential value of the CDSA-ACEI is the promotion of the “Nothing About Us Without Us” approach to research and scholarship. That is to say, we intend to maintain a firm commitment to supporting research and scholarship which is fully inclusive of and informed by the perspectives of people with disabilities.

It is a central value of the CDSA-ACEI to bring uniquely Canadian perspectives into the global scholarship that is currently growing regarding disability issues and disability rights. Visit the CDSA website for futher information on the organization: http://www.cdsa-acei.ca/home.html