The philosopher Michel Serres once described Gilles Deleuze as “an excellent example of the dynamic movement of free and inventive thinking.” Without a doubt, Deleuze was one of the most singular and prolific philosophers of the 20^th century. It is no surprise then, that the impact of Deleuze’s thought continues to reverberate throughout a host of diverse disciplines including Philosophy, Literature, Political Theory, Law, Visual Arts, Film Studies, and Education. With recognition of Deleuze’s influence in these various fields, and in the spirit of Serres’ assessment, this  conference seeks to motivate an exploration of Deleuze’s inventive thinking in the particular areas of politics and ethics.

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ASCA / CfH

Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam

Centre for the Humanities at Utrecht University

Call for Papers

The third annual International Deleuze Studies Conference will explore how the three creative domains of thought – art, science and philosophy – connect, continue and create together.

The visionary quality of the profoundly generous and complex philosophy of Gilles Deleuze may provide new and productive ways of understanding connections, in a world that is increasingly globally linked and technologically mediated.

Central questions addressed at the conference are: in what ways do disciplines meet and interfere with one another?  What kind of methodological and political implications do their dynamic encounters entail?  What are the limits of transdisciplinary connections, relations and fields?

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Semiophagy: Journal of Pataphysics and Existential Semiotics is pleased to announce a new volume of articles, artwork, and reviews. Semiophagy is also now accepting papers, artwork, and reviews for peer review. The general theme of our next issue will be “The Disembodied Hand: Signs of the Body”:

Inundated by the media spectacle surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, we are reminded that much of this pop star’s power and ubiquity stemmed from his careful use of iconographic images. Take, for instance, his sequined gloved hand. From the white glove of a clown to that of a cop, the Hamburger Helper mascot to Mickey Mouse, an illuminated hand has a certain existential appeal that surpass ordinary significance and reveals the threshold of a more powerful order. As if disembodied from its own flesh, a gloved hand seems to float before the body, drawing the gaze of others and arresting their movements (e.g. the eye of the hamsa; the white glove of a traffic cop). Likewise other parts of the body have been used by artists and statesmen as icons of their various regimes: Dali’s lips-couch, Carroll’s Cheshire grin, the eye of Ra, the boot of Italy, Hitler’s saluting arm, etc. Accordingly, Semiophagy invites articles that explore the existential allure of these incorporeal body parts and their theoretical implications. From Lacan’s phallus to Deleuze and Guattari’s floating eyes of the ‘white wall/black hole’ system, Bataille’s Story of the Eye to Žižiek’s Organs without Bodies, many philosophers and theorists have tried to place these severed parts. Building on their work, what is the power and allure of a disembodied organ?

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8th September, 2009

Location: Room 0.31, Humanities Building, Cardiff University

Conference organiser: Aidan Tynan

Some of the most influential theoretical contributions of the last several decades have sought to formulate the relationship between the body and its symbolic environments through the concept of the symptom. Perhaps the most influential of these was Lacan’s conception of speech and desire, in which the symptom, as signifier, discloses a set of meanings which disturb conscious discourse. Deleuze and Guattari’s subsequent insistence that schizophrenia should not be interpreted in negative terms, as the signs of a breakdown, but as the positivity of desire breaking through to a new, possibly revolutionary, plane of existence specifically attacked the psychoanalytic notion of the symptom by tying it to the structures of social repression. Beyond these debates, the symptom has figured in the theory of literature, historical materialism, embodiment and sexuality, and dialectics. This symposium seeks to situate the concept of the symptom in relation to these theoretical and political issues in order to ask what the symptom means for us today. How has the concept of the symptom persisted and how can it help us understand the relationships between pathology and thought, desire and language, praxis and theory, politics and art in our present age? The event will consist of a small number of concurrent panels, plenary panels, and roundtable discussion. Contributions engaging critically and polemically with Deleuze from a range of diverse backgrounds are especially welcome. Submissions will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of Deleuze Studies.

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Monte Verde, Costa Rica, July 25th-31st, 2010 – CALL FOR PAPERS

The International Society for the Study of Time (ISST) seeks proposals for presentations at its 2010 conference in the cloud forest of Costa Rica, on the theme of Origins and Futures. The ISST, renowned for its interdisciplinary scope, welcomes contributions from all scholarly, creative, or professional perspectives. Synthetic, foundational work is especially welcome.

All Information here.