World Art—Art World: Changing Perspectives on Modern and Contemporary Art
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
April 28 and 29, 2006

The Museum of Modern Art seeks submissions for the Second Annual Graduate
Symposium in Modern and Contemporary Art, "World Art—Art World: Changing
Perspectives on Modern and Contemporary Art."

In the past few decades, the art world has seen unprecedented growth and
globalization. These developments are apparent in a number of areas: new
and larger museums and cultural institutions; a thriving market of
galleries, art fairs, and biennials around the world; new press outlets
for the dissemination of art criticism, marketing and education through
traditional and new media; increased attention, research, and art that
addresses non-Western subjects; and the professionalization of artists,
museum administrators and curators through emerging MA, MFA, and PhD
programs. How do critics and scholars comprehend the significance of both
local and international artistic activity? What traditional and new tools
for analysis do they use? Art historian James Elkins has recently written
that the prospect of world art history raises questions about the
discipline’s limits and future. Indeed, Western art history’s traditional
methods, assumptions, and parameters of research have been under debate
for at least the last four decades. This symposium seeks papers that draw
on a variety of disciplines and approaches to address histories of world
art and emerging trends in the contemporary art world, while focusing on
specific works or projects.

International graduate students are encouraged to submit papers that
examine, for example:

· How existing and new narratives can effectively address the complexity
of global artistic practices today as well as revitalize thought about
historical art
· Different criteria and methodological traditions (social history, visual
culture, psychoanalysis, Marxism, cultural studies, etc.) employed to
judge vastly disparate visual forms and cultural traditions
· Current themes in art: collaboration, commodity culture, empire,
globalism, memory and monuments, site-specificity, surveillance,
terrorism, and trauma, among other subjects
· New understandings of modern and contemporary art derived from research
that analyzes art criticism, historiography, identity, institutions, and
markets
· The impact of gender, colonialism, social issues, and politics on
artistic production and scholarship
Eligibility is limited to graduate students who hold at least an MA in art
history or other related disciplines. PhD candidates who have completed
their MA requirements, PhD’s, and recent postdoctorates (within the last
two years) are also encouraged to apply. The keynote address will be
presented on Friday evening, April 28, 2006 by Professor Wu Hung from the
University of Chicago. Professor Wu is the Harrie H. Vanderstappen
Distinguished Service Professor of Art History, East Asian Languages and
Civilizations; Director, Center for the Art of East Asia; and Consulting
Curator, Smart Museum of Art

Please include the following in your application:
· Curriculum vitae of no more than two pages
· An abstract (maximum length 500 words)
· Final paper (maximum length 10 pages), written in English (The abstract
and the paper should be written in eleven-point font, double-spaced, with
margins no smaller than one inch.)
· The name of a faculty advisor who will review the final paper and
provide support in preparing the presentation.

Submissions should be postmarked by January 13, 2006, and sent to:

Graduate Symposium Committee
Department of Education
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019

Telephone: (212) 708-9727
Fax: (212) 333-1118
E-mail: Amy_Horschakmoma.org

The Museum of Modern Art will cover the cost of transportation,
accommodations, and expenses for the selected participants. Speakers will
be notified of acceptance by early March 2006.