in/disciplining the misfit

program of the conference

misfitos — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:54:04 +0000

poster for the conference and fuguet’s talk

misfitos — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:51:12 +0000

[design: Joaquin Bueno]

practical information for the speakers (updated)

misfitos — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:50:23 +0000

Dear participants to the “In/discipling the misfit” conference,

We hope that you had a good and/or productive summer and wish you all a good beginning of the semester.

Our conference will be held in about three weeks now, we are looking forward to meeting you. We imagine that some of you would like to have practical information to plan their trip and they stay in Durham. Though we know it won’t be possible for each of you, we would be very happy to have you with us for the two days, as some events will take place on Friday the 11th as well as on Saturday the 12th.

Please note that Alberto Fuguet will give his talk on Friday the 11th at 5.30pm, and a reception will follow. On Saturday the 12th, you are all invited to the Romance Studies Fall reception, from 7.00pm to 10.00pm. These will be two occasions to get to know each other, to meet scholars and graduate students from Duke and to exchange interesting ideas around a drink. Please RSVP for the former as soon as possible.

We hope that the following information will help you plan your trip.

How to get to Duke East Campus from RDU international Airport?

RDU Airport is 14 miles away from campus. It’s a 20 minutes drive, maximum. If you come from the US, you will arrive at RDU’s Terminal 1. We recommend that from there, you take a cab to go to Duke East Campus. You can use the RDU Airport Taxi Service, which has taxis available just outside the building (it’s a small airport, you’re going to find your way easily). You call also call them (919)840-7277 to make a reservation, if you have special needs or if you are short on time. Just tell the driver that you need to go to Duke East Campus, s/he’ll drive you there without a problem.

What about driving to Durham?

Use google maps!

How to find the Women’s Studies Parlors (East Duke Building, East Campus)?

It is easy, but we recommend that you print out a map of East Campus, to locate yourself when you arrive. When you are on the Duke University Campus Map, search: East Duke Building. It will appear highlighted in red, just like that:

It is basically the first building on your right when coming from outside Campus (Main Street). When entering the building, just follow the signs to the “In/discipling the misfit conference” to find the Women’s Studies Parlor.

Where to stay in Durham?

On the blogroll of this website, you will find a list of hotels where you can stay. With that said, the closest accomodations from campus are the King Daughters Inn, and the Brookwood Inn. If you come by car, you can stay at some cheaper hotels without losing too much time walking or asking people to give you a lift back. Seeing that East Campus is close from downtown, you can also say at the Marriott, which is affordable.

Where to have dinner / to get lunch in Durham?

For those of you who arrive on Friday morning, you will have to plan your own lunch. You can find some food on East Campus (at the Trinity Cafe, in the building called “Marketplace” on the map) or on Main Street, downtown. Dinner will not be provided either but we plan to dine together after the Friday night wine and cheese reception. On Saturday, breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided.

Need further information?

Please comment on this post, or email us at in.disciplining.the.misfit@gmail.com

We are looking forward to meeting you in September, and we are at your disposal if you have any concern or question before then,

All the best,

The misfit planning committee.

UPDATE (08.28)

To go from RDU to Durham, you can also use the Triangle Transit bus transportation. Schedules and Maps can be found here.

Alberto Fuguet will be our keynote speaker

misfitos — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:49:51 +0000

We are very happy and proud to announce you that Alberto Fuguet has accepted our invitation to be the In/disciplining the Misfit Conference special guest and keynote speaker. He will give a talk on Friday the 11th in the afternoon (room and time TBA).

Alberto Fuguet is a Chilean writer and filmmaker based in Santiago. He studied journalism and was a film critic. Among his books are Mala Onda, Las películas de mi vida, Cortos, and the up-coming Missing: una investigación. He also put together the autobiography of Colombia’s main literary misfit: Andrés Caicedo. In 1996 he became infamous for the prologue of the anthology McOndo. In 2002, Newsweek put him on the cover for the same reason. His debut feature was Se arrienda. He is the creator of the digital film page Cinepata.com.

graduate student conference at duke university september 11-12 2009

misfitos — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:24:05 +0000

call for papers – deadline June 15

misfitos — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:43:19 +0000

IN/DISCIPLINING THE MISFIT

A Transdisciplinary Conference at Duke University
September 11-12, 2009

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: TBA

We are currently accepting submissions of works that treat the central idea of the misfit, specifically in the context of the discipline (and all of its connotations) and indiscipline that relate to this construct. The misfit, for the purposes of this discussion, is that which does not fit; the exception to a disciplined pattern. Misfits are as scientific as they are social; the condition of not fitting a system is essential, as is the phenomenon of the misfit’s becoming-mainstream. To this extent, the conference has the aim of being a meeting point across various disciplines to discuss the important questions of conformity and rebellion in contemporary thinking. We welcome papers and ideas from all fields, and only ask that the general theme of the conference is explored. Examples of what kinds of ideas are sought include:

Can misfits teach us something about the norms they are marginalized from? Can we define a norm—whether it is social, aesthetic, moral, or religious—from the category of the misfit?
Are misfits dead? Is it possible to stand as a misfit in times of endless alternatives? To what extent are the politics of tolerance and diversity truly disciplinary practices?
What is a misfit in literary history? From the moment they are integrated to the “classics,” are misfits (books, authors, characters, aesthetics, etc.) disciplined or do they keep a certain autonomy?
How has the idea of the anomaly affected the concept of discipline in the biopolitics of the body?
In its euphoric as well as in its despairing versions, the misfit can be very funny. Where does the laughter produced by the misfit come from? What kind of laughter is produced, and what is it capable of?
Every historic time has created words to name and single out those who do not fit in the dominant schemes of thought. What happens when those terms are appropriated by the ones they were meant to harm and isolate, and under which circumstances does it occur? What happens (with mainstream culture) when they do it as a political stance?
How is the misfit represented visually? What kind of visibility does the misfit have in our societies? Can a work of art or scientific work transform this social in/visibility? In cinema or in visual studies, what are the modes and possibilities of representation of the misfit?
Does the misfit have a peculiar use of language and/or linguistics? If language obeys a norm, what would be a marginal use of language? Can the misfit transform linguistics?
Is the misfit necessarily alone or can misfits be collectively organized? Historically, what kind of collectivities, social, racial, religious groups did not / do not fit and how did they organize? For what reasons? According to what systems of exclusion?
From the medieval period on, what ideological function have ugly, monstrous, and grotesque aesthetics served? How has the idea of differing from beauty become normalized?
The past 30 years of theory (literary, philosophical, and so forth) have been dedicated, in large part, to the deconstruction of systems of classification. As theorists attempt to put the puzzle back together, what will happen to the concept of the aberration?
In what context is it more convenient to be a misfit than a subaltern? Do subaltern studies discipline misfits?

Please send abstracts of approximately 250 words to: in.disciplining.the.misfit@gmail.com
Abstracts must be submitted in English. In order to facilitate discussion across the disciplines, presentations will also be made in English. Presentations will last 12-15 minutes. With your submission, please include on a separate page your name, institutional affiliation, phone number, street address, email address, and a brief biographical sketch focusing on your academic work. Deadline for submissions is June 15.