Migration / Representation / Stereotypes
Studies in Migration – Études sur la migration an Interdisciplinary Research Group – Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire by the Department of Theatre, University of Ottawa and Carleton’s Migration & Diaspora Studies are co-hosting an International Interdisciplinary Conference on April 28-30, 2017 in Ottawa, Canada.
The omnipresence of stereotypes in the age of global migration is increasingly evident both at the level of governing structures and in everyday practices. Stereotypes, as Patrice Pavis tells us, stem from “preconceived ideas and unverified truisms” (369). In the context of migration, both historically and today, the use of stereotypes to characterize the migrant – whether it be a figure of suffering or a source of danger – can influence, polarize, and even radicalize public opinions and discourses. The influence of social media and political narratives, as well as literature and the arts, can be both productive and dangerous when it comes to our evaluation of a new migrant, refugee, asylum seeker, or exile as a neighbour, business partner, colleague, or friend. This is especially true in a world of increasing global conflicts and terrorism, neoliberal markets, and newly emerging nationalist agendas. This international, interdisciplinary, and bilingual conference aims to address the questions of the (ab)use of stereotypes when it comes to the representation of migration and refugees in various public discourses, both historically, conceptually and practically.
Recently awarded a SSHRC connections grant, this international, interdisciplinary, and bilingual conference aims to address the questions of the (ab)use of stereotypes when it comes to the representation of migration and refugees in various public discourses, both historically, conceptually and practically.
The conference runs from April 28-30. There will also be a special pre-conference event on April 27 hosted by the University of Toronto Press for Canadian Theatre Review 169: Theatre and Sports. The journal launch will run from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. in Academic Hall, Department of Theatre, University of Ottawa; 135 Séraphin Marion Street, and includes a cash bar, complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a performance by playwright Colleen Sutton from her recently published one-woman play RiderGirl.
You can find out more by turning to the the conference’s Facebook page or by contacting David Dean david.dean@carleton.ca or Daniel McNeil dm212@queensu.ca.
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