The Grapevine

CFP: ACASA-Sponsored Panels @ ASA 2012

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR ACASA-SPONSORED PANELS
ASA 56th Annual Meeting
Philadelphia
November 29-December 2, 2012

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2012
ADDRESS: Send proposals electronically to Steven Nelson, ACASA President nelsons@humnet.ucla.edu

Conference Theme: “Research Frontiers in the Study of Africa”

ACASA sponsors two panels at ASA’s annual meeting. We invite proposals for panels in all areas of the study of the arts of Africa, and we welcome submissions from professionals and scholars at all stages of their careers. Proposals are particularly encouraged that focus on this year’s theme of “Research Frontiers in the Study of Africa,” which is expanded upon below:

Studying Africa often comes with an acute consciousness of challenges both in the societies we study and in the immediate institutional contexts in which we do our work. That consciousness is justified, but it often consigns us to only muted joys when we in fact ought to allow ourselves more. Africa continues to be compelling as both subject and object of knowledge, thanks to the composite of the profound transformations currently going on, the immense creativity of the people, and the innumerable challenges of diverse local and global origins that frame those developments. This dynamism has tasked and frayed our theories, not because the continent is strange or abnormal but because our theories and methods could be much more supple, more vibrant, and more educated. This situation calls for thinking at the limits, at the frontiers, and beyond, and here are some questions to start with: Where are the research frontiers in our different fields today? Which frontiers have only just been opened and will soon emerge as major research fields? What is a research frontier and under what academic, funding, social, and political contexts is it created? How are research frontiers consolidated, made hegemonic or subordinate, and disarticulated? By which means are we advancing the frontiers in developing our methods of data collection and analysis? How do we work, and thrive, at the frontier at a time of diminishing resources? Let us collectively begin to explore these issues and many more at the 2012 ASA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

REQUIREMENTS:
A panel typically has a chair, three or four paper presenters, and a discussant. A panel proposal consists of the panel title, the panel abstract, and titles and abstracts for each paper presenter, including their contact information (institutional affiliation, email address, telephone number, and address). The panel abstract should consist of a statement about the topic and a brief summary of the main argument(s) to be explored (no more than 250 words). The quality of the panel abstracts is the main criterion for acceptance; a panel with a weak abstract or with two or more weak paper abstracts is unlikely to be accepted.

Please note that all participants on a panel must be members of BOTH ACASA and ASA. For those panels accepted by ACASA, panelists must be preregistered for the annual meeting before the panel proposal can be submitted, including the panel chair and discussant.

AUDIO VISUAL EQUIPMENT:
Due to the rapidly increasing costs charged by hotels for AV equipment, the ASA is unable to provide projection or sound equipment. However, each meeting room will have a screen and presenters are welcome to bring their own equipment. The ASA understands the importance of AV support for many presenters and the Association is working to develop strategies to facilitate AV support for future conferences.

Cuban artists bring perspective of their homeland via Cleveland Institute of Art’s ‘The Cuba Project’

Coming-of-Age Drama ‘Better Mus’ Come’ Wins Audience Award at Bahamas Film Festival

The Naked Truth

lacma's avatarUnframed The LACMA Blog

“Past is never dead. It’s not even past.”—William Faulkner

Black-on-black commentary is only slightly an inside story. For under the halo of “Negro Sunshine,” at the entrance to Glenn Ligon: AMERICA, I experienced moments of real cultural nostalgia. My mother and the dream book and the endless numbers racket, with its weird logic and odd asymmetrical poetry, were somehow lodged in Glenn Ligon’s magical series of numbered paintings. Apart from the unusually personal in Ligon’s piercing vision, conceptualism—that somewhat elusive creature—seems to find its most complete expression in his oeuvre. Ligon is prepared to stream unflinchingly through various media, extracting elegantly exquisite beauty swathed in a tireless drama of inventions. Here the iniquities of history are refracted and recast. The heroes and heroines are unknown, enfeebled, and lost in time. Irony is legible and graphic, taking the form of a children’s coloring book. He places specificity within our universal…

View original post 589 more words

CFP: Black (Inter)Nationalism, Identity, and Art @ ASA 2012

Black (Inter)Nationalism, Identity, and Art at ASA 2012

The ASA’s 2012 annual meeting will be held November 15-18 in San Juan,
Puerto Rico. We are seeking PANELISTS and a CHAIRPERSON/COMMENTER to join
in an exploration of the manner in which arts, letters, and activism have
communicated various ideas of black identity across global/local
trajectories. In keeping with the American Studies Association’s 2012
theme, “Dimensions of Empire and Resistance,” we wish to probe the use of
cultural production and racial identity toward political ends—whether to
project regional racial issues onto the global stage on the one hand or to
harness transnational racial identities to local struggles on the other.
Through this conversation, we hope to further an investigation of the role
of art and race in both perpetuating and resisting manifestations of
empire, capitalism, and white supremacy at the global and local levels.
This call is open to projects which explore black self-fashioning of racial
identity as well as investigations of the manner in which others have
sought to thrust identity upon black Americans. We invite submissions
examining art, cultural production/practice, and all modes of
expression—whether aural, visual, or written. Additionally, while we are
particularly interested in the global/local transmission of racial identity
during the Jim Crow-era, we are open to projects dealing with any
historical time period.

Panelists: please send a 1 page CV and brief project proposal by December
27, 2011.
Chairperson/Commenter: please send a 1 page CV by December 27, 2011.
All proposals and inquiries should be sent to Robert Hawkins at
rlhawkins@bradley.edu
Notifications will be made before the 1st of the year.

JOB: Art Historian with non-Euro-American specialty @ Florida Int’l University

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY (FIU), MIAMI, FLORIDA

Search for Art Historian (Assistant Professor level) specializing in
art outside of the Euro-American tradition,
such as historical Art of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Middle East

General deadline for receipt of application is Wednesday, February 1, 2012

FIU is a multi-campus public research university located in Miami, a
vibrant, international city. FIU offers more than 180 baccalaureate,
masters, professional, and doctoral degree programs to over 46,000
students. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds
ahead in its local and global engagement and is committed to finding
solutions to the most challenging problems of our times. The
Wolfsonian-FIU museum, the Patricia & Philip Frost Museum, and our
Miami Beach Urban Studios Gallery represent our strong commitment to
the visual arts; they provide opportunities for faculty research and
collaborative, interdisciplinary projects.

The Department of Art & Art History at Florida International
University in Miami seeks a full-time, tenure-track art historian at
the Assistant Professor level who specializes in art outside of the
Euro-American tradition (such as historical Art of the Americas,
Africa, Asia, and Middle East). Candidates should have teaching and
research interests in both historical and contemporary issues in their
area of expertise. Interaction with MFA and BFA candidates, including
participation in critiques and studio visits, is expected.

Applicants should have a Ph. D. in hand at the time of application (no
applications from ABD's please). Salary is commensurate with
experience; competitive benefits package is offered. The successful
candidate will have a commitment to interdisciplinary research,
experience teaching beyond the GTA level, and evidence of a developing
publication record in both peer-reviewed journals as well as museum
catalogues and/or magazines. Experience in working with organizing
exhibitions is a plus.

Please submit letter of application (2 pages only); statement of
teaching philosophy (1 page); curriculum vitae; a separate list of
publications; graduate transcript(s) (unofficial); three letters of
support (to be sent under separate cover by the recommender); and a
separate list of contact information for your recommenders to:
Professor Alpesh K. Patel, Chair of Art History Search Committee,
Department of Art & Art History, VH 216 Modesto Maidique Campus,
Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199. In addition to this
hard copy, applicants must submit an electronic version of the
application via FIU’s HR website:
http://hr.fiu.edu/index.php?name=career_opportunities

Official transcripts and writing samples will be requested only from
those short-listed; please do not send any of the latter at this
point. Any questions or clarifications about the position can be sent
to Professor Patel via email: alpesh.patel@fiu.edu. Representatives
from the search committee will be available at the College Art
Association conference in Los Angeles for informal discussions about
the job posting. General deadline for receipt of application is,
Wednesday, February 1, 2012. On-campus interviews for finalists will
be scheduled in early March.

Florida International University is a member of the State University
System of Florida and is an Equal Opportunity/ Equal
Access/Affirmative Action Employer.

FEL: Post-Doc @ Centre for Creative Arts of Africa, University of the Witwatersrand

POST DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP in the Centre for Creative Arts of Africa,
University of the Witwatersrand.

We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Centre for
the Creative Arts of Africa (CCAA) at the University if the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The Centre is funded by the AW Mellon
Foundation and will be situated in the Wits Art Museum. The
Postdoctoral Fellow will work with the Chair in the Creative Arts of
Africa (Director of the Centre) on research which will work outwards
from the collections of historical and contemporary African arts in
the Wits Art Museum. The collection contains not only visual arts, but
also musical instruments and objects which are part of performance
arts and dress repertoires. We are therefore looking for a fellow who
has research experience in one or more of the following fields:
African visual art, African music, African performance arts, African
dress. The fellow will be required to do some teaching in the Wits
School of Arts undergraduate programmes, and will be expected to
participate in exhibitions and publications planned within the Wits
Art Museum.

The Fellowship will be for a period of 20 months and will include a
stipend, a shared office with own computer, library access and a small
research grant per year. The fellowship will start in March/April
2012, and will end in December 2013.

Applications must be sent to Professor Anitra Nettleton
anitra.nettleton@wits.ac.za and should include
title and abstract of the doctoral thesis,
copies of completed articles or published essays (if any)
the names and email addresses of two referees, one of whom should be
the supervisor of the doctorate.

Submission deadline 31st January 2012