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Symposium 2009

23rd ANNUAL UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
GRADUATE ART HISTORY STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

CALL FOR PAPERS

TOPIC:  Art and Catastrophe

DATE:  April 3-4, 2009

The Art History Society at the University of Iowa invites paper proposals on the subject of Art and Catastrophe for its annual Art History Graduate Student Symposium on April 3-4, 2009. Having recently experienced the devastating floods in June, the University of Iowa community has faced the anxiety of impending disaster, the disorientation of destruction, and the astonishing grace of unexpected help and generosity. This symposium will be a forum for graduate students to present 20-25 minute papers that investigate the ways that artists and architects have interpreted and addressed the chaos of catastrophe. How can art heal, commemorate, or even perpetuate disaster?

The topic should be construed broadly and may include natural, unnatural, and political catastrophes. Potential speakers might address any period in art history from Noah to Katrina. Papers should be analytical rather than descriptive.

Students selected as speakers for the Symposium on Art and Catastrophe will be eligible for travel and housing assistance, provided by the Art History Society. Further information will be provided upon acceptance.

Please submit proposals in the form of an abstract no longer than 300 words*, along with a cover letter and curriculum vitae to Wendy Bellew (wendy-bellew@uiowa.edu).

Deadline for submissions is January 1, 2009

*Accepted participants will be required to submit their paper, in full, four weeks prior to the event.