Occupations Conference
Toronto, Canada, April 27-29, 2012

CFP for Occupations
York & Ryerson Universities
Toronto, April 27-29, 2012—proposals due on February 1.

Some updates for Intersections / Cross Sections 2012: Occupations. See below for CFP.

1) We are extremely happy to announce Brian Holmes (Continental Drift) and Sarah Sharma (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) as our keynotes. Stay posted for additional speakers.

2) Edu-Factory’s “Our University! A Conference on Struggles Within and Beyond the Neoliberal University ” will be held in Toronto the same weekend. For more information on the Edu-Factory conference, see http://www.edu-factory.org/wp/the-university-is-ours/

3) There’s an Occupy Toronto Activist Assembly, January 20, 2012–January 22, 2012, at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) @ St. George and Bloor Street, Toronto, ON. For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/events/270078499716966/

INTERSECTIONS / CROSS SECTIONS 2012: OCCUPATIONS
11th Annual Graduate Conference in Communication and Culture
York University and Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
April 27-29, 2012
http://thecomcult.wordpress.com
Keynotes: Brian Holmes, Continental Drift and Sarah Sharma, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"Occupy but better yet, self manage…. The former option is basically passive—the latter is active and yields tasks and opportunities to contribute.… To occupy buildings, especially institutions like universities or media, isn’t just a matter of call it, or tweet it, and they will come. It is a matter of go get them, inform them, inspire them, enlist them, empower them, and they will come." — Michael Albert, “Occupy to Self Manage”

The unfolding events at Occupy Wall Street and elsewhere present possibilities for new politics, and new forms of learning from, living with and engaging each other. Occupations are attempts to build the social compositions that are the precondition for action. They are the working through of a problem that politics-as-usual works to suppress—the massive exploitation that is capitalism and the emergence of politics adequate to address it. At this stage, occupations are the connection of people, ideas and machines—the cumulation of assemblages that might build something. What happens next depends on what is being built now. We invite graduate students from all related disciplines to submit proposals for academic, artistic and activist presentations and workshops that explore and otherwise critically engage occupations.

Please send a 250-word abstract by February 1 to intersections.occupations@gmail.com or ebiddl@gmail.com. Proposals should list paper/panel title, name, institutional affiliation and contact details.

Workshop facilitators: Please provide a timeline indicating the duration and one or two general learning objectives of your session, along with space and technical requirements.

Artists: If sending creative works by email, please limit attachment size to 5MB or less, or direct us to a URL. Include viewing instructions, comments and titles if applicable. If submitting creative works by post, please mail the proposal, a copy of the work and viewing instructions to the following address:

Intersections / Cross Sections 2012 Conference
c/o Graduate Program in Communication and Culture
3013 TEL Building, York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3

Occupations is presented by and for graduate student scholars, artists and activists through the organizing efforts of the Communication and Culture Graduate Students Association (GSA).

For more information about the Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture at York and Ryerson Universities: http://comcult.yorku.ca &
http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/programs/comcult/