The Interface Conference, launched by the Cultural Mediations PhD cohort in 2004 with the topic “Cultural Mediations in Theory, Practice and Context,” remains organized by the program’s second-year students. Interface operates as a uniquely interdisciplinary, collaborative process, from selecting a theme, generating then distributing the Call or Papers, accepting submissions, and all logistics that accompany hosting such an event, including contacting a keynote speaker, scheduling, introducing, moderating and hosting the post-panel Q&As!
The range of Cultural Mediation students’ research areas and expertise results in a dynamic array of focuses, reflected in former Interface conference themes: “Entanglements: Collisions and Tensions,” “Reconciliations,” “Living Stereo: History, Culture, and Multichannel Sound,” “Creative and Critical Approaches in the Digital Humanities,” and “Materiality and Movement.”
Now an integral part of the ICSLAC experience, Interface encourages and allows students to form connections within the department, faculty and broader academic community. At its helm, the drive and passion of ICSLAC students translate directly into innovative topics, experimenting with new forms, even now featuring a publishing opportunity since its 2023 revival. The theme, “The Cultural Inbetween: Exploring Distinctions Within High, Low and Popular Culture,” led to the founding of a department-hosted, double-blind peer-reviewed journal, Scaffold: Journal for the Institute of Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture, which aims to publish two issues a year: a conference proceedings issue for the year’s Interface papers, a nod to its origins, and the peer-reviewed standard issue.