immanence

Please circulate widely…

FEVERISH WORLD 2018-2068: ARTS & SCIENCES OF COLLECTIVE SURVIVAL 

A Symposium and Convergence in Burlington, Vermont, October 20-22, 2018

Fifty years after the widespread international protests of 1968 challenged institutional norms, and some sixty years after C. P. Snow lamented the gap between academia’s “two cultures,” those of the arts and the sciences, it is time to ask whether educational institutions have changed in ways that help us address the world’s intensifying crises. 

What are the cultural divides that fracture our world today — both in academia and in the world at large? How can we build “cosmopolitical” bridges between “coastal elites,” the populist movements of “flyover country,” and the growing global precariat of refugees, climate victims, Indigenous Peoples, and others? How do we prepare for the feverish world of the next 50 years?

More specifically, how can we draw on the creative imagination of the arts, the wisdom and critical insight of the humanities, and the know-how and know-what of science and technology to develop practices for collective coexistence and even flourishing in the climate-destabilized world of our likely future?

This 3-day symposium and art event will explore these questions through panels and roundtables, talks and presentations by invited speakers, art and performances by local and invited artists, and open forums including a “Tent City Commons” at the University of Vermont campus and at other area locations. Invited speakers include anthropologist and philosopher of science Bruno Latour, visual artist Torkwase Dyson, artist/engineer Natalie Jeremijenko, musician and eco-philosopher David Rothenberg, and eco-art theorist and educator Linda Weintraub (others are pending confirmation).

The Symposium is seeking two forms of submissions from contributors including but not limited to artists, scholars, scientists, designers, engineers, and activists.

(1)  TEXTWORKS: Propositions for a Feverish World – We seek written contributions that report on (or propose) practical or scholarly efforts to bridge between the arts and humanities and the sciences, technology, engineering, and/or design in response to issues of public concern (such as climate change and the refugee crisis). Accepted proposals must be followed by a written contribution of no more than 3000 words, to be shared electronically with registered participants by October 12. Participants will then have five minutes to summarize their written contribution at a two-hour roundtable on Monday morning, October 22, 2018. Half of the roundtable duration will consist of moderated discussion. TextWorks proposals are due by June 20, 2018. Proposals should include the following information:

• name(s) and affiliation(s) of presenter/contributor(s);
• title of presentation;
• 150-300 word abstract, including scope of the work presented, disciplinary approach or strategy, and implications for the broader questions of the symposium.

Please send all TextWorks proposals to Feverish World at ecoculture@uvm.edu. Please indicate “Feverish World TextWorks” in the Subject line. Proposal submitters will be notified of the selection committee’s decision by July 10, 2018.

(2)  TENTWORKS: Shelters for a Feverish World – We seek creative proposals for conceptual, textu(r)al, expressive, and/or experiential works to be housed within one (or more) of the roughly 8’x8’x8’ triangular tents or a larger, walk-through structure (currently being designed) making up the symposium’s “Tent CityCommons.” (Please check this web site in mid-June for final tent/structure designs.) Tents may be indoor or outdoor, and will be located at the University of Vermont campus and in key locations in and around Burlington. Proposed works could be of any format provided that they work in concert with the TentWorks spaces, are technically feasible (with limited logistical support), and either remain in place for much or all of the Symposium (Saturday through Monday) or be performed during that time period; and that they somehow respond — whether directly, laterally, diffusely, or circuitously — to the concerns and questions of the symposium. TentWorks proposals are due by June 30, 2018. Proposals should include the following information:

• name(s) and affiliation(s), if relevant, of artist/contributor(s);
• title of work;
• description of proposed work (no more than 300 words);
• and work sample or other documentation indicating the format, physical or other dimensions, and other specifications relevant to the set-up and physical presence of the work (e.g., indoor versus outdoor, technical requirements, et al.).

Please send all TentWorks proposals to Feverish World at ecoculture@uvm.edu. Please indicate “Feverish World Tent Works” in the Subject line. Proposal submitters will be notified of the selection committee’s decision by July 20, 2018. Accepted contributors will be asked to confer with the Feverish World Art and Public Space Committee on details of set-up and take-down.

FEVERISH WORLD is organized by the EcoCulture Lab in coordination with BASTA (Bridging the Arts, Sciences, and Theory for the Anthropocene) and is generously supported by the Gund Institute for Environment, the Steven Rubenstein Professorship, the UVM Humanities Center, the Dan and Carole Burack Distinguished Lecture Series, and the Molly Ruprecht Fund for Visual Arts. Collaborating institutions include Champlain College, St. Michael’s College, Burlington City Arts, and the Vermont International Film Festival, as well as University of Vermont programs and departments in Environmental Studies, Global and Regional Studies, Art and Art History, and the UVM Fab Lab.

The event is free and open to the public. For further information, please see https://ecoculturelab.net/feverish-world-symposium/ or email ecoculture@uvm.edu.