UC Riverside Department of Dance, Department of Theatre, Film & Digital Production,
the Center for Ideas & Society, & the UC Humanities Research Institute invite proposals for:
Undergraduate:
Call For Papers for a SPECIAL UNDERGRADUATE PANEL
Department of Dance, UC Riverside
900 University Ave.
Riverside, CA 92507
April 8-10, 2016
Key Words: performance, spirit
Please submit a 300-word proposal for
a paper to Dr. Imani Kai Johnson at
showandprove2016@gmail.com by
November 10, 2015.
The “Show & Prove” series is dedicated to being a platform for scholars across the humanities and
human sciences, Hip Hop artists and practitioners, community members, and students to interact,
share work, and to collectively develop the field of Hip Hop Studies. S&P16 is an interdisciplinary
conference at which all of those who work on Hip Hop in disparate fields may speak to one another
face-to-face, and help move each others’ efforts forward. Collectively we strive to better understand
the nature of doing work on Hip Hop and the expanse of ways that Hip Hop speaks to the world. In
an effort to actively develop new scholars in Hip Hop Studies, will feature an undergraduate
panel of work on Hip Hop.
S&P16 invites you to conjure up the possibilities of two key themes: spirit and performance. On their
own, each term speaks to a broad range of analytical possibilities, and their overlap. You can interpret
these terms broadly, including but not limited to spirit as spirituality, the heart and soul of a culture, its
ideological core, limiting notions of essence, authenticity, and the real; and performance as cultural
production, “the elements,” performativity, and the performance of everyday life.
Some questions to consider include:
• What is the heart of Hip Hop?
• How do performance and performativity converge in Hip Hop?
• Does authenticity still matter?
• Is resistance part of the spirit of Hip Hop? To what end? What does it look like in practice?
• What does Hip Hop’s spiritual expression look/sound/feel like?
• How do we deploy heart, soul, and love for and through Hip Hop?
• How does performance create new possibilities for being in the world?
• Where can doing Hip Hop and thinking Hip Hop intersect?
• Can Hip Hop teach us about our current socio-political terrain?
• How is Hip Hop deployed for social justice?
• What is at the “center” of Hip Hop? Can we de-center Hip Hop? Do we need a center?
• How is Hip Hop as we know it challenged, critiqued, made possible, or destabilized by
performances of Hip Hop?
All proposals should be from current undergrads, and need to specify A/V needs, include name and
contact information (please do not send CVs). Undergraduate paper proposals must include a
proposed faculty mentor who can serve as a guide in the process of preparing to present at a
conference. Notifications will be sent by early December 2015.
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