Catastrophe

AFTERMATH: The Cultural Response to Catastrophe

FIRST ANNUAL ART AND ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY GRADUATE SYMPOSIUM
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22nd & SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23rd 2006

The Graduate Program in the History of Art and Architecture at the
University of Virginia is seeking papers that explore societal responses to
catastrophic change, focusing on shifts in activities and attitudes in the
aftermath. Catastrophe can encompass such disparate concepts as natural
disasters, invasion, and apocalypse as well as psychological and social
breakdowns and economic collapse. Papers may incorporate ideas of
reconstruction, commemoration, tabula rasa, ruins, preservation, and
rebirth and should be rooted in spatial, historical, art historical, or
literary analysis. Possible themes include but are not limited to: the
redevelopment of Rome after the fire of 64 AD; cultural responses to 9/11
outside the U.S.A.; Medieval urban planning during the Black death;
retrospective depictions of the French revolution; and artistic
reconstruction after the Cultural Revolution in China.

Papers are welcome from graduate students working in all disciplines and
historical periods, Western and non-Western. A one-page abstract, without
identifying information, and curriculum vitae are due by May 1, 2006.
Please include a separate cover page with your name, paper title, e-mail
address, phone number, university department, and departmental address. For
more information, contact Jennifer Reut at JCReutvirginia.edu.

By May 1, 2006 mail or e-mail submissions to:
ATTN: Jennifer Reut
Campbell Hall, University of Virginia
PO BOX 400122
Charlottesville, VA 22904
JCReutvirginia