Call for Papers (Conference), "Wrecks & Tech: Emotion, Ethics and Advanced Technologies"

The editors of Intonations (the graduate-student-led interdisciplinary journal of the University of Alberta’s departments of Music, Art & Design, and Drama & Performance) invite submissions for a special conference to be hosted in hybrid (in-person and online) form on Friday, July 26, 2024 at the university’s Edmonton campus. The conference’s theme is motivated by our forthcoming special issue, “Emotional Wreckage in an Age of Advanced Technologies,” and we invite scholars submitting to the conference to consider submitting their work for the issue as well. 

Keynote: We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Götz Dapp of the University of Alberta as our keynote speaker for this event. 

We invite submissions exploring the intersection and impact of technology with/on emotions, ethics, and artistic practices from perspectives including but not limited to those from art history, philosophy, or studies in music, design media, drama, and culture; and welcome submissions engaging with any of the questions below or related themes:

 

• What counts as advanced technology? How has this label changed and shifted in relation to new innovations (e.g., artificial intelligence, chatbots, algorithms, smartphones)?
• To what extent does advanced technology reshape our understanding of agency, whether as creators and consumers of art?
• What might it mean to be emotionally wrecked in an age dominated by technological potential and mediation? 
• Might technology help to bridge the gap between art and accessibility? Or does it exacerbate existing inequalities in emotional engagement and participation?
• How might we navigate the potential wreckage wrought by advanced technologies while remaining attentive to the emotional and ethical dimensions of our work as artists and researchers?
• Where are the boundaries between what is our work and what is not? Where is the line between the Human and the Technological, if indeed such a line exists?
• Advanced technology is—so far—never active on its own. What kind of ethics might we expect from those who control it, with specific regard to artistic production and research? 
• What kind of new ethics might humanities scholars adopt in order to address the challenges and issues posed by advanced technology? 

 

Submission Guidelines

Contributors are invited to submit an abstract of 250–500 words, with a title, and up to two pages of supporting material (e.g., bibliography, images), as either a PDF or Word (.docx) email attachment, by 11:59 pm MST on June 15 to intonats@ualberta.ca. Please ensure that no identifying information is included in this document as submissions will undergo anonymous peer review. Please include the prefix “Wrecks & Tech” in the subject line of the email; and in the body, include: the author(s)’s name and a short biography (100 words or less); institutional affiliation (if applicable); and possible accommodations required for the presentation.

Authors will be notified of acceptance by June 22. 

Questions can be emailed to the editors, similarly, at intonats@ualberta.ca.