“Es gibt eine kanadische Literatur”: Belatedness and Canadian Literary Studies as Foreign Policy

When: Wednesday, November 13, 12-1pm
Who: Smaro Kamboureli
Where: JHB 719

Graduate students and faculty are asked to welcome Professor Kamboureli, Avie Bennett Chair in Canadian Literature, to the department! Here is a brief abstract:

In April 2012, the Canadian federal government “abolished” “Understanding Canada,” a program that supported Canadian Studies overseas. Rather than simply bemoaning the shutting down of this program, as did a host of literary authors, academics and even politicians, this paper argues that the function of “Understanding Canada,” especially as it pertains to the study of Canadian literature, should be best examined in the context of Canada’s cultural and foreign policies (e.g., the Massey and Symons Reports) and in light of the increased emphasis on knowledge economies. Taking a historical view of this program and seeing it as a trope in the Canadian national narrative of “self-formation,” it asks how “Understanding Canada” has instrumentalized culture and whether such a policy, whose origins can be traced to the early 1970s, should still be thought as relevant in the 21st century.

“Filipino Couture and the New Silk Road.”

When: Wednesday, October 23. 12-1pm
Who: Denise Cruz
Where: JHB 719

Graduate students and faculty are asked to welcome Professor Cruz to the department and join the GEA for the first Brown Bag Lunch of the year!

Here is a brief abstract to pique your interest:

“This presentation is part of a larger project that stages Manila couture as critical to imaginings of late twentieth-century and contemporary formations of gender and sexuality in the wake of global economic developments. Rather than the familiar east-west binaries of empire and Orientalism, I claim the importance of recognizing new silk roads, alternate circuits that connect Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Influenced by shifts in global economies, recently governments, businesses, and consumers have become increasingly aware of the importance of the political, economic, and purchasing power in Asia and the Middle East. These regions have specifically turned to couture as another realm in which they might actively compete with, and perhaps even surpass, American and European business.”

Come one, come all to a spook-tacular Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party hosted by the GEA Social Committee. Let’s get ready for Halloween in style as we carve up some truly terrifying pumpkins!

Costumes are optional, please BYOP (bring your own pumpkin). There will be Halloween candy, festive decorations, and some carving supplies. All grad students, faculty, staff, friends and family are welcome.

When: Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 5:00pm until 8:00pm
Where: JHB 719

Hey guys! Just a reminder: tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 10) is Coffee Hour and Pub Night!

Coffee Hour runs from 4:30-5:30 in JHB 719. Stop by for coffee, tea and a treat.
Pub Night starts at 5:30 at The Green Room. Enjoy a much-deserved happy hour beer

Hope to see you there!

You can see a list of our CUPE 3902 reps, social committee members, ACCUTE representative and other positions here.

Thank-you to everyone who attended the GEA meeting and volunteered their time this year.

As part of the GEA’s orientation activities, we are hosting building and campus tours today, Thursday, September 5th, beginning at 1:00pm or 2:30pm, leaving from JHB 719.

We also have the sibling Meet & Greet later this afternoon. So, if you signed up to have a sibling, please join us at 4pm in JHB 719. We will be heading to The Duke of York Pub around 4:15pm.

For more details on both of these events, please see our Orientation Page. Join us today!

Welcome New Students and Welcome Back Returning Students!

The first GEA event of the year is happening tomorrow, Wednesday, September 4th. We are hosting our annual Reception from 11:30am-1:30pm in JHB 719. All grad students in the department should join us at this event and help us welcome our new students. There will be lunch and refreshments provided, so come and greet your old friends and meet new students. See you there!

The University of Toronto Department of English Graduate Conference is this week, on Thursday and Friday.

The conference web site is here.

A direct link to the pdf of the conference schedule is here.

Last year we heard Barack Obama say “Yes, we can” for a second time, and saw Youtube viewers watch and re-watch Psy’s “Gangnam Style” for the billionth time (really!): we live surrounded by repetition. As scholars embedded in a culture obsessed with imitation, parody, and countless other forms of re- acting, we ought to ask one another “what is the significance of repetition?” When is it a form of questioning or deconstruction, and when is it simply re(in)statement or obsession? We invite you to join us as we explore the ontological, political, ethical, and literary implications of repetition.

Repetition with a difference?
The University of Toronto Dep’t of English Graduate Conference
May 9th – 10th, 2013
CFP Responses Due: March 1st, 2013

“Happiness is the longing for repetition.” – Milan Kundera

“Like warmed-up cabbage served at each repast, The Repetition kills the wretch at last.” – Juvenal

Last year we heard Barack Obama say “Yes, we can” for a second time, and saw Youtube viewers watch and re-watch Psy’s “Gangnam Style” for the billionth time (really!): we live surrounded by repetition. As scholars embedded in a culture obsessed with imitation, parody, and countless other forms of reacting, we ought to ask one another “what is the significance of repetition?” When is it a form of questioning or deconstruction, and when is it simply re(in)statement or obsession? We invite you to join us as we explore the ontological, political, ethical, and literary implications of repetition.

Subjects of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Poetics, Allusion, Illusion
• Sequels, Trilogies, Fan fiction
• Nostalgia, Memory, Flashbacks
• Psychoanalysis, Madness, Trauma, Dreams, the Unconscious
• Obsession, Compulsion, Criminality
• Family, Inheritance, Reproduction
• Performance, Gender, Sexuality
• Parody, Satire
• Genre Conventions, Genre Fiction, Archetypes
• Writing Back, Mimicry, Hybridity, Orality
• Formalism, Structure, Refrains, Schematic devices
• Visual Art, Photography, Iconoclasm, Pop Art
• Imprinting, Conceptual Art, Editions, Paratext, Digitization
• Adaptation, Translation
• Existentialism, Deconstructionism, Différance
• Doubling, Doppelgangers
• Labour, Boredom, Mass Production, Commodification
• Pedagogy, Rote Learning, Memorizationli>Journaling, Life Writing, Biography

This conference is interdisciplinary: We welcome submissions from a variety of fields. Send an abstract (of up to 250 words) for your 20-minute presentation to uoftgradcolloquium2013@gmail.com, with your name and institutional affiliation.

Responses are due by March 1st, 2013

Keynote Speaker To Be Announced