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Call for Papers Canadian Disability Studies Association – Association Canadienne des Études sur l’Incapacité (CDSA-ACEI) 2017 Conference

Call for Papers Canadian Disability Studies Association – Association Canadienne des Études sur l’Incapacité (CDSA-ACEI) 2017 Conference From Far and Wide: The Next 150

Wednesday, May 31 – Friday, June 2, 2017, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

This conference is organized as part of the 2017 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS: December 2, 2016 “By imagining more accessible futures, I am yearning for an elsewhere—and, perhaps, an ‘elsewhen’—in which disability is understood otherwise: as political, as valuable, as integral.” (Kafer, 2013, p. 3). When disability, Deafhood, and madness are not accounted for in any given space, they are not being imagined across time. In and through architectural design, institutional exclusion, political disenfranchisement, curative and rehabilitative treatment regimes, and histories of eugenic and euthanistic practice, othered embodiments are thought incapable or undeserving of futures.

Strategies of resistance—found in our theorizing, activisms, our art, our community building, our enactments of intimacy and reproduction, our storytelling—work to imagine and create new and possible futures. In the year of Canada’s sesquicentennial, Congress 2017 invites reflection on our past as we look to the future.

This year’s theme “From Far & Wide: The Next 150” embraces diversity and difference by interrogating and extending, even upending, the Canadian identity. Reflections on Canada’s 150-year history reveal colonial violence, exclusionary immigration, institutionalization and sterilization programs, and other actions, projects, and processes that have been carried out for the purpose of nation-building. The futures toward which these initiatives were building have been narrowly conceived, meant only for certain kinds of citizens. This year’s conference theme, “From Far and Wide: The Next 150” challenges disability studies, Deaf studies, and Mad studies to reconstruct Canadian histories so as to feature disability, Deafhood, and madness; and to creatively imagine disability into our collective future.

The Canadian Disability Studies Association-Association Canadienne des Études sur l’Incapacité (CDSA-ACEI) invites abstracts for panels, papers, workshops, and artistic contributions inclusive of different ideas, geographies, cultures, countries, schools of thought and disciplines, encouraging cross-collaboration and an interdisciplinary approach. As well, this year, our conference will include a poster session.

Read more about this year’s Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities here: http://congress2016.ca CDSA-ACEI calls for works that examine the following question:

How does our scholarship, activism, and art centring disability, Deafhood, and madness transform Canadian histories and futures?

Prospective presenters may want to consider the following questions: Is there a distinctly ‘Canadian’ disability studies? What are the current occupations, tensions, fissures, and points of interest in disability, Deaf, and Mad studies? How do disability, d/Deaf, and Mad histories intersect with Canadian histories of colonialism and white supremacy? How does Canadian history of environmental degradation produce debility? How have disability, d/Deaf, and madness/Mad identities been erased from and assimilated into Canadian history and narratives of nation-building? How are issues of work, employment, and labour being taken up by disability, Deaf, and Mad studies? How might disability, Deaf, and Mad communities help us imagine Canadian futures? How do we plan for futures imagined with and through disability, Deafhood, or madness—how might institutional and architectural designs make futures possible? How does our scholarship, art, and activism ‘crip,’ or productively disrupt, imaginations of the future? How do biotechnologies help or hinder our utopic imaginings? How do art, science fiction, and storytelling figure disability, Deafhood, and madness into new and possible futures? How does intimacy, desire, and reproduction carve out futures for disabled, d/Deaf, and Mad persons?

CDSA-ACEI invites abstract submissions for presentations at the 14th annual conference to be held at Ryerson University in Toronto. Our CDSA-ACEI meeting is part of the Congress 2017 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 2017 conference theme “From Far and Wide: The Next 150” reflects the overall Congress theme. We invite proposals that generally reflect or engage with disability studies, Deaf studies, and Mad studies. Proposals that demonstrate a connection to the theme “Far and Wide: The Next 150” will be prioritized. This year’s conference aims to advance disability, Deaf, and Mad studies, culture, and community through gathering together and presenting, engaging, and reflecting on our scholarly fields, professional pursuits, artistic and activist interventions, as well as cultivating disability leadership, and disabled people living, working, and creating in other areas of life. This call for abstracts also extends a special invitation to community members and undergraduate students to submit. 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.

All submissions must identify which of the following thematic streams their abstract falls into:

1. 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 “From Far and Wide: The Next 150.”

2. Canadian History This subtheme broadly explores where disability, Deafhood, and madness are positioned in Canadian history. We welcome submissions on historical perspectives on disability, Deafhood, and madness as they relate to: *institutionalization and de-institutionalization movements; *disability care practices and policies given the current landscape around care and disability studies/activist interventions – dementia care, assisted dying, etc. *restrictionist immigration policies and practices; *colonization and residential schools; *Indigenous sovereignty movements; *citizenship rights and suffrage; *labour movements.

3. Necropolitics This subtheme explores how Canadian sovereignty turns on the politics of death, or the power to control mortality (see Mbembe, 2003). We welcome submissions on the topic of disability, D/deaf, and mad death as they relate to: *assisted dying law; *war, imperialism, and debility; *death in institutions and by caregivers; *police brutality; *aging, palliative care, and support.

4. Imagining Our Future In this subtheme the future will be reimagined to include and anticipate disability, Deafhood, and madness. We welcome submissions on the topic of the future as they relate to: *the problem with cure-seeking; *science fiction writing and the utopic impulse; *reproductive futurity; *restructuring physical and cultural spaces *ageing into the future.

5. Community Planning This subtheme is interested in activist, community-based, and artistic projects invested in making space for disability, Deafhood, and madness. We welcome submission on the topic of community building for disability, Deafhood, and madness as they relate to: *involvement in legal and policy initiatives; *critical approaches to care/care-collectives; *grassroots advocacy work; *intersectional activisms; *community arts projects.

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 2, 2016. The subject line should read, “CDSA-ACEI proposal for From Far and Wide.”

Abstract Guidelines:

Session formats are 60-90 minutes in length. There will be 3-4 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.

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 abstract 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 central theme. People submitting workshops should include:

• all information as stated in the Individual Paper section as appropriate

• workshop title and a 250 word abstract; the description of the workshop’s objectives and content should be as specific as possible Posters – People may specify they wish their work to be considered as a poster submission, or may be asked to present their work in poster format. A submission should include:

• all information as stated in the Individual Paper section as appropriate Performances – This may include poetry reading, dance, 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 250 word abstract; the description of the performance content should be as specific as possible

For more information email: cdsa.acei@gmail.com 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

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 the Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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. http://english.cdsa-acei.ca/conference/call-for-papers/