[1] Realism Session at CAA 2015

Session title: What Is Realism?
Chair: Elizabeth Mansfield
emansfieldnationalhumanitiescenter.org
deadline for proposals: Friday, May 9

Few movements have engaged historians of nineteenth-century art as persistently as Realism. The fact that the designations "Realist" and "Realism" were widely used by nineteenth-century artists and critics would seem to provide sufficient historical testimony to settle the exact nature of the concept. Yet the significance of Realism for nineteenth-century visual arts practice remains uncertain, despite the considerable attention paid to the concept by scholars during the past half-century. A review of recent literature devoted to the concept suggests that Realism is best understood in relation to modernism, especially as it emerged in Parisian avant-garde circles. This session aims to revisit an old question: what is Realism? Is Realism a response to modernism? Or was it animated by cultural, social, or philosophical impulses distinct from or adjacent to those prompted by the conditions of modernity? Is Realism even a distinct movement, a mode of visual expression that can be analyzed apart from other tendencies of the nineteenth century? Can Realism be bracketed historically, as a project peculiar to post-Enlightenment Western culture? Ideally, the panel will include papers written from a variety of methodological perspectives. Papers on the historiography of Realism studies are also welcome.

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[2] Making and Being Made: Visual Representations and/of Citizenship

Call for papers for 2015 College Art Association. 11-14 February 2015. New York City.
Panel: Making and Being Made: Visual Representation and/of Citizenship

Co-chairs: Corey Dzenko, Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Greensboro, cjdzenkogmail.com; Theresa Avila, Ph.D., Independent Scholar, sahibahhotmail.com

Traditionally defined by an individual’s membership and level of participation within a community, scholars such as Eric Hobsbawm describe how "citizenship" results in access to benefits or rights. Yet citizenship moves beyond political framings. According to Aiwha Ong, cultural citizenship is a "dual process of self-making and being-made" but done so "within webs of power linked to the nation-state and civil society." Taking citizenship as a political position, cultural process, and intertwining of both, this panel examines the role of art and visual culture in reflecting, confirming, or challenging ideals of citizenship across historical periods and media. We seek proposals that engage with the questions: How does citizenship inform artistic and visual practices? And how do images inform citizenship? Topics addressed may include, but are not limited to: nation building, civic practices, transnationalism, civil rights, politics of identity, labor, border zones, affects of belonging, and activism.

Proposals for participation in sessions should be sent directly to the appropriate session chair(s). If a session is cochaired, a copy should be sent to each chair, unless otherwise indicated. Every proposal should include the following five items:

1. Completed session participation proposal form, located at the end of CAA’s brochure (http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/2015CallforParticipation.pdf), or an email with the requested information.
2. Preliminary abstract of one to two double-spaced, typed pages.
3. Letter explaining speaker’s interest, expertise in the topic, and CAA membership status.
4. CV with home and office mailing addresses, email address, and phone and fax numbers. Include summer address and telephone number, if applicable.
5. Documentation of work when appropriate, especially for sessions in which artists might discuss their own work.

Deadline for submissions is 9 May 2014.
Participants will be notified of their acceptance by 9 June 2014.
For more information, see: http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/2015CallforParticipation.pdf

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[3] Building a Multiracial American Past
Session sponsored by the Association of Critical Race Art History (ACRAH)

College Art Association Annual Conference (New York, NY, Feb. 11-14, 2015)
Submission deadline: May 9, 2014

Chair: Susanna Gold, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, goldtemple.edu

The dynamics of mixed race heritage has long been a stable point of inquiry in historical American literature, music, theater, politics and speech, but this issue has been thought to emerge less often in visual culture. There are very few examples of American art that follow the tradition of 18th-century Mexican and Peruvian "casta" paintings illustrating the practice and results of "mestizaje", the mixing of distinct categories of peoples and the development of new peoples. But are American images of multiracialism truly rare, or is the art historical scholarship limited because there lacks a clear academic understanding of which images can be understood to address mixed race heritage? Is there a cultural tendency for scholars to classify figures in American art according to an overly determinate white/non white dichotomy, which avoids the relevance of a shared, divided, or indistinct racial ancestry? This session invites papers that enlarge the art historical scholarship on race mixing, and provide new possibilities for recognizing and analyzing how complexities of a multiracial heritage affected identity construction and found expression in visual imagery. Papers that address art practices in the art of the United States, 18th-20th centuries, are welcome.

Please send paper title, abstract (200-300 words), curriculum vitae, and letter of interest to Susanna Gold (goldtemple.edu) by May 9, 2014.

Please note that participants in this session need not be members of CAA in order to submit abstracts or present papers. The 1 ½-hour sessions are free and open to the public. Should participants wish to attend other sessions and events, they must register for the conference.

For more information about the conference, please see:
http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/2015CallforParticipation.