Universita' Orientale, Naples, Italy, May 21-27, 2012

Graduate/Postgraduate conference

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Announcing the inauguration of the “OASIS-Orientale American Studies International School,” a one-week school that will take place at Universita’ Orientale’s conference center on the island of Procida, off the coast of  Naples, Italy, May 21-27, 2012. We invite applications from doctoral students and recent Ph.D.s in American Studies, English, Comparative Literature, and related fields.

School Directors:

Donatella Izzo, Universita’ di Napoli “L’Orientale” (Italy)

Giorgio Mariani, Universita’ di Roma “Sapienza” (Italy); President of the International American Studies Association

Confirmed speakers:

Susan Andrade, University of Pittsburgh (USA)

Jonathan Arac, University of Pittsburgh (USA)

Paola Boi, Universita’ di Cagliari (Italy)

Ira Dworkin, The American University in Cairo (Egypt)

Alan M. Nadel, University of Kentucky (USA)

Donald E. Pease, Dartmouth College (USA)

Stefano Rosso, Universita’ di Bergamo (Italy)

John Carlos Rowe, University of Southern California (USA)

Seminar leaders:
Alan M. Nadel, University of Kentucky (USA)

Donald E. Pease, Dartmouth College (USA)

John Carlos Rowe, University of Southern California (USA)

OASIS is a project inspired by the Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth College, and aiming to create a similarly vibrant and generative institutional venue for the younger generations of American Studies students and scholars. By establishing an American Studies school at “L’Orientale” --a university whose unique tradition of transnational dialogue with non-European cultures can be traced back to the eighteenth century-- and by convening it in a Mediterranean island such as Procida, we especially hope that our school may prove attractive to American Studies scholars and students not just from Italy, Europe, and the USA, but also from the Mediterranean area and from thenearby Arabic countries of North Africa and the Middle East. By bringing together scholars from different areas of the world and at different stages of their career, we hope to create the conditions for a productive, truly global dialogue in American Studies.

The school will run from Monday to Sunday. Every day will feature 2 plenary 45-minutes lectures from distinguished scholars in the morning, each followed by discussion, and afternoon sessions, which will be devoted to two presentations of students’ individual research projects, followed by discussion. Students will be divided in seminar groups of about 10, each led by a scholar. The last day will be devoted to plenary presentation and discussion of students’ response papers. Lunch will be catered and consumed on site, followed by a short break for rest and group conversation.

The fee for the School (covering registration, tuition, housing, breakfast, and lunch) is € 480 for the whole week. Accommodation will be provided in residences and B&Bs in downtown Procida (in single/double rooms or shared apartments, depending on availability; the fee covers a maximum of 7 nights, starting May 20). Participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements and expenses. Fees will be due on arrival or payable by national or international money order to the school administration. Depending on financial resources, one fellowship covering tuition and accommodation will be awarded. Preference will be given to applicants outside of Italy who are unable to get funding from their own institutions.

Applications will be accepted until March 30, 2011; successful applicants will be notified by April 15.

Applications should include:

-a current CV

-a two-page abstract of applicant’s dissertation or book project, including a description of the section to be presented and discussed during seminars

-the name and contact of a referee

-information about the candidate’s eligibility/non eligibility for funding from own institution

Please send all of the above materials (PDF or Word format) to: oasis@unior.it

For further information please contact oasis@unior.it and www.oasis.unior.it