Call for Papers - LAST FEW DAYS

'Not Just for Christmas' Research Workshop and Town Meeting

15th-16th December 2008, The Glasgow School of Art (£15/£10)

'Not Just for Christmas' is an AHRC-funded research workshop which
engages academic and non-academic participants in the discussion of
issues surrounding ethical responses to visual culture, consumption, and
their embedding in moral and religious narratives at Christmas. The
overlapping layers of this debate, intensified during the festive season
of Christmas, will be related to sustainability and ethical consumption
in daily life.

The workshop will, using a mixture of academic and non-academic
participants, object-led and online discussion, discursive publication
and public feedback, reveal flashlight issues which will offer new areas
of research and inquiry, as well as provide a necessary reappraisal of
Christmas in light of changing societal impulses and needs. Such debates
cover the commercialisation of Christmas and other religious festivals
in the context of ethical consumption practices including Fair Trade,
charity donations, gift-giving alternatives and greeting cards.

Workshop Aim
- To outline the ways in which ethical decisions made at Christmas time
can be transfered to everyday life
- To outline new areas and directions for research into ethical
decision-making in relation to consumption, popular culture and
religious observance.

Town Meeting Aim
- To bring together a wider cross-section of researchers and scholars
interested in shaping future research into ethical decision-making in
consumption, popular culture and religious observance.

If you would like to attend the town meeting, please visit
http://www.notjustforchristmas.org and register by Monday 8th December
2008.

Call for Papers
In order to help capture some of the most current debates in research,
the workshop organisers are seeking additional presentations from
researchers actively engaged in pilot and/or funded research across two
or more of the following areas:

Ethics and Consumption
Sustainability and Gift-giving
FairTrade and popular culture
Sustainability, FairTrade and the movies
Political Theology and Christmas
Visual narratives of sustainability and Christmas
Economics and the 'Christmas message'
Christmas and everyday life
Christmas and moral philosophy
Liturgy, Justice and Contemporary Culture

Presentations are particularly welcome from early career researchers. As
part of the project, the organisers have 3 UK travel bursaries, and 1
European travel bursary, for researchers to present at this workshop and
town meeting.

Submissions
If you are interested in presenting at this workshop, please send the
following to us no later than Friday 28th November 2008 in order to be
considered. Applications received on 1st December will also be
considered.
Applicants will be notified on Tuesday 2nd December.

Please send:

A 250-word abstract of your presentation, indicating its relation to
the aims of 'Not Just for Christmas'
A current CV
* Your name, location and indication of funding status (in order to
qualify for a bursary)

Presentations should last no more than 20 minutes. Submissions and
queries should be sent to: infonotjustforchristmas.org

http://notjustforchristmas.wetpaint.com/page/Call+for+Papers

The Glasgow School of Art is a charity registered in Scotland, charity
number SC012490.