The History, Classics, and Religion Graduate Students’ Associations (HCRGSA) at the University of Alberta would like to invite graduate students to submit papers on the topic “Culture and Identity: Individuals and Societies in Conversation.” The conference will be held from February 29th to March 2nd, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta in a hybrid mode. We will be offering travel awards (up to CAD 250) as well as a best abstract award of CAD 100.

Individuals and societies are shaped and reinforced by one another. This reciprocal relationship between the individual and the society shapes the formation as well as adaptation of identities and cultures, which in turn defines the characteristics of social identities. Put differently, while social identities may seem static, they nonetheless allow for flexibility to negotiate with diverse societies. Questions surrounding identity have persistently ignited conversations within and beyond academia; we invite applicants seeking to address questions that encompass the multifaceted nature of identities and cultures. Potential queries may include: How do individual identities and cultures inform our understanding of societies? Why are historical identities relevant to us today? In what ways do individuals and groups make identities fluid? Are there repercussions of having variable identities? What confrontations, if any, may arise
from conflicting identities?

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We hope this theme will stoke a stimulating interdisciplinary conversation that brings together a diverse range of papers. We happily extend this welcome to academics of all related fields, including but not limited to: History, Classics, Religious Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Linguistics, Anthropology, English, Political Science, Indigenous Studies, Economics, Cultural Studies, Disability Studies, Body Studies, Sexuality Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies.

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Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes to allow for a Q&A session. Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words, along with a short biography by December 1st, 2023; decisions will be sent out by mid-January, 2024. Selected papers will be published in conference proceedings. Please submit abstracts via the Google forms link here. For more information, please contact us via hcrgsaconference@gmail.com for any queries.