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Venue: Jagiellonian University, Krakow (Poland)
Deadline for proposals: October 31, 2008

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International Conference

The Contemporary Oriental City from a Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Perspective

Held by
The Department of Interdisciplinary Eurasiatic Research
of the Institute of  Oriental Philology
Jagiellonian University

Venue: Krakow, Poland

Dates: 20-22 May 2009


Call For Papers

Introduction

The Oriental city is one of the crucial phenomena of the contemporary
world, which, as observations demonstrate incorporates an increasing
part of the local population. In the age of globalization the Oriental
city has ad opted plenty of characteristics of the Western city,
however, they still differ from each other fundamentally. The proposed
overarching theme of the conference is to serve for broad discussion
within the scope of existing knowledge on the varied aspects of the
Oriental city as well as searching for theoretical research
instruments to serve its description. The idea and debates on the
subject of this conference have emerged during the activity of the
Department in conjunction with the ESCAS 9th Conference held in 2005.
The Organizers invite you to submit relevant panels and papers. We
propose a wide range of topics, including:

The linguistic dimension of the Oriental city:
- Oriental city - the stage for language encounters
- The role of the Oriental city in the forming of codes of communication
- Urban dialects and jargons

Genres of depiction of the Oriental city:
- Literary images of the Oriental city
- Theoretical descriptions of the Oriental city
- Guidebooks and maps

The Oriental city from the perspective of ethnology and cultural anthropology:
- Multiculturalism of the Oriental city
- Urban folklore
- Everyday life in the Oriental city

The Oriental city and spirituality:
- Religious and psychological dimensions of the Oriental city
- Mythical space
- Philosophical aspects
- Magic and its contraries in the Oriental city

The physical space of the Oriental city:
- The Oriental city as an urban archipelago
- Architecture and arrangement of urban space
- Personal and common space
- Areas of wealth and poverty

The Oriental city from a diachronic perspective:
- The history of the Oriental city
- Tradition and modernity

The Oriental city from a socio-political perspective:
- The Oriental city at the time of war
- The role of the Oriental city in the political life of a country
- Sociological processes

The Oriental city in a comparative frame:
- Faces of the Oriental city in different cultural circles
- Oriental and Western cities in respect of town-planning
- Oriental and Western gardens

Coexistence of the Oriental and Western elements:
- The Oriental city inside a Western city
- The Western city inside an Oriental city
- Historical connections

Programme Supervisory Board

Prof. dr hab. Jadwiga Pstrusinska (Institute of Oriental Philology,
   Jagiellonian University, Kraków)
Prof. UJ, dr hab. Elzbieta Górska (Institute of Oriental Philology,
   Jagiellonian University, Kraków)
Prof. UJ, dr hab. Ewa Siemieniec-Golas (Institute of Oriental
   Philology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków)
Prof. dr hab. Jolanta Sierakowska-Dyndo (Institute of Oriental
   Studies, Warsaw University)
Prof. UR, dr hab. Marek Olbrycht (Departament of Ancient History,
   University of Rzeszów)
Dr hab.Lidia Sudyka (Institute of Oriental Philology, Jagiellonian
   University, Kraków)
Dr hab. Danuta Penkala-Gawecka (Institute of Ethnology and Cultural
   Anthropology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan)
Dr hab. Zygmunt Pucko (Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian
   University, Kraków)
Dr inz. Magdalena Swaryczewska (Department of Landscape Architecture
   and Agroturism Olsztyn University)
Dr Cezary Galewicz (Institute of Oriental Philology, Jagiellonian
   University, Kraków)
Dr Tomasz Gacek (Institute of Oriental Philology, Jagiellonian
   University, Kraków)

Organizing Committee

Department of Interdisciplinary Eurasiatic Research:
Dr Karolina Rakowiecka-Asgari - Secretary of the Conference
Katarzyna Tulak
Dr Tomasz Gacek
Dr Marcin Rzepka

Venue: the historical buildings of the Jagiellonian University, one of
Europe's oldest universities.

Language: English

Submission of proposals

An abstract of max. 300 words should be delivered to the Organizers
together with a Paper Submission Form (obtain from:
orientalcity@wp.pl) and a brief CV by 31 October 2008. The information
about the audio-visual equipment you need is also required. The
abstract should be submitted in doc, rtf or txt format and it should
include the following information:
- The topic of the paper
- Methodological approach
- Most important arguments and findings

Presentation of a paper during the Conference should not exceed 20 min.

Descriptions of pre-organized panels are also welcome and should include:
- A title
- A programme
- Details of the panel participants

Notification of acceptance: 15 November 2008

Pre-registration:  1 December 2008

Conference Fee

Early fee (paid at pre-registration) is set for Euro 50.00, for
students Euro 25.00 payable to the designated bank account.

A cash payment is also possible with a fee of Euro 100.00 and 50.00
for students.

Support and covering costs of participation

Some reductions in the conference fee for participants from Central
Asia, Caucasus, Afghanistan and post-Soviet countries is possible as
well as the covering of their accommodation costs at the Student
Hostel. Participants from other regions are strongly encouraged to
seek the funding from their own institutions or grant-giving organizations.

Publication

The Organizers intend to publish the conference proceedings.