{"id":31824,"date":"2020-01-23T11:01:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T19:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/?p=31824"},"modified":"2020-01-23T11:01:29","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T19:01:29","slug":"conference-virginia-humanities-conference-the-humanities-and-our-global-future-james-madison-university-harrisonburg-va","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/mesweekly\/conference-virginia-humanities-conference-the-humanities-and-our-global-future-james-madison-university-harrisonburg-va\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference: Virginia Humanities Conference – The Humanities and\u00a0Our Global Future, James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0Virginia Humanities Conference<\/a>\u00a0on March 27-28 at James Madison University<\/span><\/div>\n
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We live in a world under siege from the threat of climate change, the erosion of democratic norms, growing passions inspired by ethno-nationalism, the questioning of basic scientific facts, and other challenges that urgently require present-day confrontations with the shared question of the future. Humanists, whose main task it is to shed light on understanding the human condition, are perhaps uniquely well equipped to play a central role in a world full of existential risks, to imagine, communicate, revise, and adapt our visions of the future even as they are shaped by the changing present.
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How can (and should) the humanities respond to the existential questions facing us?\u00a0 What does it mean to be American in the present moment and to what it might mean in the future?\u00a0 What does it mean to be human in an age \u201cposthumanism\u201d \u2013 in a world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), big (biometric) data and an internet of things?\u00a0 How do we coexist with 7.7 billion inhabitants on this planet? Given the climate crisis, do we even have a future? How can we (re)create systems and structures in response to past, current, and future challenges? How will the humanities guide the discussion about the meaning and purpose of life in the 21st century, and beyond?<\/span><\/div>\n
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The 2020\u00a0Virginia Humanities Conference invites proposals for papers, panel sessions, and performances that explore the concept of the\u00a0The Humanities and<\/i>\u00a0Our Global Future<\/i>. Participation is open to national and international scholars.\u00a0 We wish to examine broadly the role of the humanities and related disciplines in linking the global past, present, and future, and to use innovative scholarship to help chart potential futures during an uncertain present.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Papers, presentations, digital humanities projects, and panels on our global futures might include, but are not limited to:\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n