RISK Call for Papers
Posted in Uncategorized on April 2nd, 2009 by admin
Risk Conference - Mosher Alumni House - May 29, 2009
What does it mean to say that an act, object, emotion or concept entails “risk”? When and why may someone or something be said to be at risk? What is the relationship between risk and reward, or risk and danger? The notion of risk always bears within it the weight of its opposite, i.e. that which is secure, and implies that a threshold between the two has been crossed. How, when and where do such crossings occur?
In a vast spectrum of human undertakings, perceptions, situations and experiences, risk is fundamental to our calculations of chance, probability or odds that bear on the future. Risk may or may not be reckless, but only “a relation of risk,” Heidegger states, “places human beings, and them alone, in the open site in the midst of beings.”
*Risk* is also the theme of this year’s CLTC conference, which seeks interventions from throughout the UC system that consider the notion of risk in historical, literary, cultural, or aesthetic terms. Our interest in this topic this year stems from the risk-taking that led to the recent failure of the global financial system, but goes far beyond it. Although the Consortium for Literature, Theory, and Culture is grounded in the study of national and global literary and textual traditions, our conference seeks interdisciplinary and theoretical reflections on risk from the humanities, social sciences, and beyond.
The CLTC conference will take place on May 29, 2009, on the UCSB campus, from 10:00 AM to 5 PM (a light lunch will be provided). Please send a paper title and abstract to David Platzer (davidplatzer@umail.ucsb.edu) by May 1, 2009. Papers should be 20 minutes in length. For further information, see the CLTC website (www.cltc.ucsb.edu) or call 805-893-2131.