Trent University to Host International Political
Theory Conference from May 7 to 9
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“A Return to the Senses” World’s First Conference to Explore
Aesthetic Practices of Democratic Life
Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Peterborough
Leading-edge cultural and political scholars from around the
world will converge at Trent University from Thursday, May 7
to Saturday, May 9 to participate in a groundbreaking
conference entitled “A Return to the Senses: Political Theory
and the Sensorium”.
Organized by Dr. Davide Panagia [pronounced DAHV-I-DAY
PAN-A-GEE-A] of Trent University’s Cultural Studies
Department, this conference is bringing together 40
international speakers to discuss the overlap between the
diverse traditions of cultural and political thought and how these traditions of inquiry can
help address the aesthetic practices of democratic life.
“Individuals or groups in pluralist democracies attend to one another at the level of
appearances. That is, our practices of how we appear (as individuals, groups, etc.)
matter to the ways in which we relate to one another - at home, in the office, on the
street, etc. - and it matters especially to the ways we think ethically about the senses in
democratic cultures,” explained Professor Panagia, who also holds a prestigious Canada
Research Chair in Cultural Studies at Trent. “How we imagine the configuration,
disposition, character and function of the senses when engaging political events is of
critical importance for political theory.”
Prof. Panagia noted that surprisingly little scholarship is available that acknowledges the
role of the senses as resources for thinking about human interaction in democratic
cultures, and that this conference is a step towards filling this gap. “Trent is an ideal
place for this kind of meeting because of the strong tradition of interdisciplinary
humanities conferences that have taken place in the past at the Centre for the Study of
Theory, Culture, and Politics. Also, the tradition of scholarship of the Cultural Studies
Department at Trent is unique and recognized throughout the world for its
interdisciplinary emphasis on aesthetic inquiry in cultural analysis. The ambition of this
conference is to bring that emphasis of inquiry to bear on a variety of other fields -
especially political theory and democratic studies - that have not had the occasion to
explore and benefit from the kinds of questions that are engaged here at Trent.”
The conference dovetails with the recent 2009 release of Prof. Panagia’s latest book
entitled The Political Life of Sensation. In this book Prof. Panagia essentially lays the
theoretical ground work for this conference, contending that sensory experience
interrupts our perceptual givens, creating occasions to suspend authority and
reconfigure the arrangement of a political order. For more information about his
research, please visit www.trentu.ca/theorycentre/crc.php.
“A Return to the Senses” is hosted in collaboration with the prestigious political and
cultural journal Theory & Event and will take place in Gzowski College at Trent
University. This conference marks the first time ever that Theory & Event has agreed to
attach its name to a conference.
For further details about the conference program, please visit
www.trentu.ca/theorycentre/conferences_sensorium2009.php.
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For more information, please contact Brittany Cadence, Communications Officer
at (705) 748-1011, ext. 6185.