Visual Americas
Image, Text, Performance
12th World Congress
of the International American Studies Association
Department of American Culture and Literature
Hacettepe University, Beytepe Campus, Ankara, Türkiye
May 14-16, 2025
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 15, 2024
CONTACT: congress@iasa-world.org
CALL FOR PAPERS
As we approach the end of the twenty-first century’s first quarter, we find ourselves in an era that W.J.T. Mitchell famously termed the “pictorial turn”—a period marked by the abundance and explosion of visual imagery. Indeed, the phenomenon is by no means new; our species has always relied on its visual perception, in combination with other senses, creating a hybridity of perception expressed through cultural and artistic products. Visuals and visuality have become the expected and primary end-points of human experience and are key in our interpretation of the world. Moreover, what Mitchell described as a “postlinguistic, postsemiotic rediscovery,” a novel burgeoning of the visual, is placing the image, regardless of the form in which it is created and presented, at the center of our social and cultural interactions.
Recognizing the crucial role of visuality in shaping our everyday experiences, we invite scholars and practitioners to contribute to a vibrant dialogue on the role and impact of visuality in the American context. The congress venue, Ankara, located in Anatolia, a bridge between two continents, offers a distinct blend of cultural visuality. The figurative and nonfigurative art forms of multiple Anatolian civilizations over the centuries provide a fitting backdrop for discussions on visual narratives and cross-cultural exchange.
Congress Theme
The congress will delve into the multifaceted aspects of the visual culture of the Americas, exploring how visual narratives, from ancient cave drawings to contemporary digital forms, have evolved and continue to shape our understanding of the Americas and/in the world. It will also investigate how contemporary visual practices, empowered by digital technologies, are redefining the ways we produce, circulate, and contextualize images in the translocal, hemispheric, and transoceanic contexts.
Key Questions
- How do past or contemporary visual practices inform and influence societies?
- What is the role of digitalization in shaping our perception and experience of imagery?
- How does visuality contribute to and alter meaning-making processes?
- In what ways do ideologies influence the creation and interpretation of visual objects and texts?
- How do visual components enhance literary works and other textual forms?
- How does visuality contribute, shape, and change performance and/or theatrical space?
Suggested Topics
- The text as image, the image as text; i.e., the narrative function of visuality and the image within the text
- Visual storytelling in its various forms (e.g., drawing, painting, television, film, illustrations, graphic novels, comics, video or computer games, social media)
- The interplay of visualities in the performing arts and media
- The aesthetics and politics of visuality
- The impact of digital visual culture in modern society
- Visuality and the concept of visibility as a matter of equality and/or representation in society, politics, culture, and the arts
- Analyses, ideologies, and the ethics of visuality including looking, seeing, making in/visible, showing, or withholding an image
- Policing, or a refusal to regulate, visuality and visibility
Submission Guidelines
We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations. Submissions are open to academics, early-career researchers, and creative practitioners. Please send submissions as an attached Word document to: congress@iasa-world.org
Submissions MUST include the Author’s:
1) First and last names
2) Institutional affiliation
3) ORCID number
4) Email address
5) Academic disciplines
6) Presentation title
7) 250-300 word abstract
8) 200-250 word biographical note
9) Keywords
Congress Language: English
Important Dates
November 15, 2024: Abstract submission deadline
December 16, 2024: Notification of acceptance
January 15, 2025: Registration deadline
March 14, 2025: Final payment deadline for presenters
May 14-16, 2025: Congress
Host University
Founded in 1967 and located in Ankara, Türkiye, Hacettepe University is one of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education. Its emblem, designed by a second-year medical student during the university’s early years, is a stag—a Hittite deity and an amalgamated version of the letters “H” and “T” for Hacettepe. The motto of the university, “To the Leading Edge…Towards Being the Best,” defines its mission: to contribute to national and global scientific knowledge, train qualified researchers, and develop cooperation among different disciplines, while seeking excellence and considering ethical and social responsibilities such as merit, transparency, participation, and how to benefit society. The university has two main campuses, one in old Ankara, which houses the medical center, and the other in Beytepe, with over a thousand acres of woodland.
Hacettepe University offers associate, undergraduate, and graduate degrees in the Medical and Health Sciences, Science and Engineering Sciences, and Social Sciences and Humanities. With 53,000+ students enrolled in 150+ bachelor’s degree programs and 200+ graduate degree programs, supported by 3,600+ academic staff, the university houses fourteen graduate schools and institutes, two applied schools, one conservatory, five vocational schools and over a hundred research and application centers.
Congress Fee
1) Congress Participation On-Site Fees:
– Tenured Faculty Members (IASA Members) On-Site: 120 EUROS
– Non–tenured Faculty Members and PhD Candidates (IASA Members) On-site: 80 EUROS
– Tenured Faculty (Non-IASA Members) On-site: 160 EUROS
– Non–tenured Faculty Members and PhD Candidates (Non-IASA Members) On-site: 100 EUROS
2) Congress Participation Online Fees:
– IASA Member Participants: 30 EUROS
– Non-IASA Member Participants: 60 EUROS
3) Congress Participation for IASA Early Career Fellows:
– Online Participation: 20 EUROS
– On-Site Participation: 50 EUROS
The On-Site Congress Fee covers:
– Congress materials
– Coffee breaks
– Congress Participation Certificates
– Administrative costs (including the usage of conference halls, multimedia, and invoicing)
The Online Congress Fee covers:
– Congress Participation Certificate
– Administrative costs (including the usage of conference halls, multimedia, and invoicing)
The Congress Fee does NOT include:
– Transportation
– Accommodation and meals
– Insurance
– Visas
– Gala dinner
– Tours
Keynote Speakers
Djelal Kadir, Pennsylvania State University, USA (Confirmed)
Djelal Kadir is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University and, most recently, Visiting Professor at La Sapienza, University of Rome (2016). He is a member of the founding board of the Institute for World Literature, of Synapsis: The European School of Comparative Studies, and of the Stockholm Collegium of Literary History. He is the Founding President of the International American Studies Association and former Editor of the international quarterly World Literature Today and Director of the Neustadt International Prize in Literature. His authored books include: Juan Carlos Onetti (Twayne, 1977), Columbus and the Ends of the Earth: Europe’s Prophetic Rhetoric as Conquering Ideology (University of California Press, 1992; Chinese edition forthcoming Jiuzhou Press); The Other Writing: Postcolonial Essays in Latin America’s Writing Culture (Purdue UP, 1993); Questing Fictions: Latin America’s Family Romance (University of Minnesota Press, 1987) and Memos from the Besieged City: Lifelines for Cultural Sustainability (Stanford UP, 2011). He is the Co-editor of the Routledge Companion to World Literature (2012; 2022), the Co-Editor of Literary Cultures of Latin America: A Comparative History (Oxford UP, 2004), and of the Longman Anthology of World Literature (2004). He is Co-Editor of Literature: A World History and Principal Editor of Vol 4, Twentieth Century (Wiley Blackwell, 2022. Chinese edition forthcoming from Sichuan People’s Publishing House). His most recent book project is “Solitude”.
More to be announced
Publication Opportunity
Review of International American Studies (RIAS), the title of the University of Silesia Press, is the peer-reviewed, electronic/print-on-demand, Open Access journal of the International American Studies Association. Articles must be submitted through the RIAS website: https://www.journals.us.edu.pl/index.php/RIAS
Accommodation & Travel Info
To be updated
Social Events
Gala Dinner, Visit to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Ankara), Post-Congress Tour (2 nights)
Post-Congress Tour – May 16-18, 2025
Join us for a two-night tour to the Cappadocia region in Anatolia, 300 kms from Ankara, known for its unique geological formations and historical significance. The tour is contingent upon a minimum of 15 participants.
The Emory Elliott Award
Since 2011, IASA has been granting a special award to the author of an outstanding paper presented at an IASA World Congress to honor the memory of Professor Emory Elliott (1942-2009) in recognition of his contribution to American Studies. Professor Elliott supported an international outlook in American Studies, encouraging young scholars and professionals both in North America and in other countries around the world to carry out research in this spirit. One of the IASA’s founders, he served on its Executive Council for numerous years.
As in the past, the award will be granted to the author of an outstanding paper submitted to the IASA Congress. It will carry a special citation and an honorarium to help partially meet the travel expenses to the IASA event in question. The award recipient will present their paper at a special session of the Congress. The award-winning paper and up to two other highly commended papers from the competition will be published in RIAS: The Review of International American Studies, IASA’s refereed journal.
The Emory Elliott Award Deadline: February 28, 2025
Congress Organizing Committee
Congress Organizer
• Prof. S. Bilge Mutluay Çetintaş, IASA President, Hacettepe University, Türkiye
International Organizing Team (in alphabetical order)
• Dr. Justin Battin, RMIT University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Prof. Stefan L. Brandt, IASA Executive Director, University of Graz, Austria
• Ms. Mariya Doğan, MA, IASA Secretary, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Prof. Paweł Jędrzejko, RIAS Co-editor, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland
• Prof. Manpreet Kaur Kang, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India
• Prof. Elisabetta Marino, IASA Treasurer, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy
• Dr. Nathaniel R. Racine, RIAS Co-Editor, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, USA
• Dr. György “George” Tóth, IASA Emerging Scholars Forum Coordinator, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK
• Prof. Gabriela Vargas-Cetina, IASA Vice-President, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mexico
• Mr. Ahmad Ishtiaque Tapadar, IASA Media Officer, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India
Local Organizing Team (in alphabetical order)
• Prof. Özge Özbek Akıman, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Prof. Ayça Germen, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Dr. Ezgi İlimen, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Prof. Cem Kılıçarslan, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Prof. Ceylan Özcan, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Dr. Duygu Beste Başer Özcan, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Prof. Merve Özman, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Prof. Tanfer Emin Tunç, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
• Dr. Gülşen Aslan Uslu, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
Please find below the CFP for circulation.