Call for Papers: 24th Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI

[Chandra Balachandra]

		***  ALL RESPONSES TO:  balachan at badlands.nodak.edu ***
		     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Call for Papers: 24th Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI
	==================================================================


				November 1995
				-------------


	Every year, usually during the first weekend in November, the
Center for South Asia [CSA], University of Wisconsin, Madison holds a
conference on South Asia in Madison, WI. It is a very very eclectic
conference with a wide range of issues and viewpoints represented. 

	The scholarly and academic community has a vital role to play in
the understanding of the issues involved in the gay/lesbian experience of
South Asians -- both in the diaspora in North America and in South Asia
itself.  The addition of the issues that sexuality-minorities deal with,
into the corpus of knowledge about cultures increases awareness on all
sides of the issues. 

	To help expand the knowledge base on this broad topic, I will be
organizing the following two INTERDISCIPLINARY PANELS for the 1995
Conference on South Asia.  I invite you to explore the possibility of
presenting a scholarly paper in either panel under the framework outlined
below. 

PANEL I:  SPACE AND SEXUALITY IN SOUTH ASIA: TOWARDS A NEW ORDERING OF SPACE.
-------   ------------------------------------------------------------------

Themes:  
------
	As gay/lesbian and other sexuality minorities gradually become
more and more visible on the cultural landscapes of South Asia, several
issues arise regarding the sharing of space among majorities who have
traditionally been visible and minorities who are only now slowly becoming
visible. 

Some topics:
-----------

1.  What are the dynamics involved in the emergent gay/lesbian landscapes
in the overall cultural milieu of South Asian cultural space? 

2.  What are the landscapes of hope, of fear, of ignorance, and of
enlightenment that are emerging in that region? 

3.  What is the nature of the interactions among gays/lesbians in the
South Asian cultural space? 

4.  What does the future hold for this minority whose identity is still
nascent? 


	PANEL II:  TOWARDS A SENSE OF BELONGING: THE GAY/LESBIAN SOUTH ASIAN 
	--------   ---------------------------------------------------------

				DIASPORA IN NORTH AMERICA
				-------------------------

Theme:
-----

	When South Asian gays and lesbians come to North America, they
face a very unique set of challenges.  In a nutshell, it is learning the
art and science of balancing many disparate elements of their inner
identities with those of the new identities they strive to craft in order
to acculturate for success in a relatively more 'open' society where they
are minorities in many more ways.  The cultural make-up of being South
Asian, of belonging to this or that religion from the region, being a
person of color in North American society, trying to come out in this
milieu which understands so little about the South Asian culture -- such
are the challenges facing the gays and lesbians of the South Asian
diaspora in North America. 

Some topics:
-----------

1.  Facing discrimination on multiple fronts.

2.  How can the gay/lesbian diaspora craft an identity in this milieu in 
	a nourishing way?  What are the challenges involved in this?

3.  What are the nature and status of the organized gay/lesbian movements 
	in the South Asian diaspora?

4.  What are the issues of identity involved individually and as a group?

==============================================================================

FORMAT OF PANELS:
----------------

1.  Minimum 3 papers; max. 4 papers.

2.  Each presenter will have 20 min. [15 min. presentation + 5 min. Q & A]

3.  An individual may not present more than one paper for the whole 
	conference.

TIME TABLE:
----------

Now - November 18: * correspond with me about your interest(s) and 
			abstracts of papers 

Nov. 19 - Nov. 25: * selection of abstracts for panels
		   * CSA guidelines for full abstract preparation sent out to 
			the selected panelists

Feb. 28, 1995: 	   * deadline for receipt of final abstracts of papers by me,
			in keeping with CSA guidelines.

March (??), 1995:  * mailing of conference information to panelists [as 
			soon as material is received from the CSA].

April 25, 1995 :   * receipt of full papers
		   * conference registration fees & papers

Early June:	   * confirmation of panels by CSA

November:	   * Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.


PUBLICATION:
-----------

	The Conference proceedings generally include only abstracts of 
papers presented. I am planning on the publication of a special issue of 
a journal [yet to be selected] consisting of papers presented at the 
panels listed here.  Of course, the nature of the papers will influence 
which journal will be most appropriate for us to consider.  The journal 
chosen will determine what length and format the papers have to take, and 
also the time frame involved in actually publishing the papers.  

	If you are interested, please e-mail me personally at the address 
above with the following information:

1.  your full name
2.  rank and institutional affiliation
3.  snail mail address
4.  telephone + fax numbers (if you want)
5.  title of the paper you wish to present.
6.  a detailed, draft abstract of the paper you wish to present.
7.  identify the panel that you think your paper would best fit in.

i look forward to your enthusiastic response.

chandra.

****************************************************************************
*  Dr. Chandra S. Balachandran		Assistant Professor, Geography	   *
*  Dep. of Geosciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105     *
*									   *
*  Tel.: (701) 231-7115				  Fax.: (701) 231-7149	   *
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
*  Mac had many admirable qualities, but not tact. He was the sort of man  *
*   who would have tried to cheer Napoleon up by talking about the Winter  *
*   Sports at Moscow.							   *
*					--- P. G. Wodehouse		   *
****************************************************************************