The University of Regina will host the 34th annual International Association for Philosophy and Literature conference from May 24 to 30, 2010. The International Association for Philosophy and Literature (IAPL) brings together scholars working in disciplines concerned with the study of literary, philosophical, historical, critical and theoretical issues. About 250 people from around the world are expected to attend the conference.
"The University of Regina is very proud to be hosting this major international event," says Dr. Lynn Wells, conference co-ordinator and Associate Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Regina. "This is an excellent opportunity to show the world the University of Regina's high-quality researchers, vibrant academic community and beautiful campus."
The theme of the conference is Cultures of Differences: National/Indigenous/Historical.
The conference opening roundtable will include three University of Regina professors, Dr. Nicole Côté, a professor of French; Dr. Joyce Green, a professor of Political Science; and Dr. Garry Sherbert, a professor of English. These three panelists will investigate power relations between cultures such as tokenism in the academic context, the cultural function of literary utopias in relation to minority cultures as well as the proposition that cultures are open to the events of truth.
Keynote speakers include Maria Campbell, Dr. Alberto Perez-Gomez and Bernard Stiegler. Campbell is a playwright, author and assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the departments of English, Drama and Native Studies. She will be speaking on Tuesday, May 25, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Luther Auditorium. Perez-Gomez, an architect, chairs the History and Theory Post-Professional Programs at McGill University in Montreal. In his latest book, he examines points of convergence between ethics and poetics in architectural history and philosophy. He will be speaking on Wednesday, May 26, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Research and Innovation Centre Auditorium. Stiegler is a French philosopher and Director of the Department of Cultural Development at the Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris, a public library and the largest museum of modern art in Europe. He will be speaking on Thursday, May 27, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Education Auditorium.
On Saturday, May 29, at the First Nations University of Canada Atrium from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. there will be a panel discussion entitled "The First Nations University Crisis: Power Meets Culture." The panelists are professors from the First Nations University of Canada: Dr. Arzu Sardarli and Dr. Herman Michell from Science; and Dr. Margaret Cote from Indian Languages, Literatures and Linguistics Department. The moderator is Dr. Blair Stonechild from Indigenous Studies.
Last year's IAPL conference was held at Brunel University in London, England, and the previous year it was held at
the University of Melbourne in Australia. The conference has been held in Canada only twice during its 33-year history: in
1991 at the University of Montreal and in 1994 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.