Invitation to an International Conference
Crossing Boundaries through Intercultural Encounters
Iasi, Romania
June 23-24,
2020
RVP Iași Center at
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University,
Theme
In the past years the RVP-Iasi Center organized a set of
conferences on the role of intercultural encounters to
examine cultural borders and border cultures. As the
continuation of the same effort, the Center proposes another
in-depth and multi-focused investigation on “Crossing
Boundaries through Intercultural Encounters.”
The interest will
particularly focus on how encounters with the other(s) can
contribute to highlighting, crossing or reasserting
individual, social and cultural boundaries. One of aspects
for discussion will be on the multifaceted nature of a
boundary. Indeed, a boundary can be seen either separation
or neighborhood. It can indicate the vicinity of aspects in
a dynamic relationship. A boundary can mark certain limits,
either concrete or abstract. It can be a dividing line or a
description of crossing the limits in a field. In
mathematics, a boundary means the collection of all points
of a given set with the property that every neighborhood of
each point contains in the set and in the complementarity of
the set.
If boundaries are present and active in many ways in our
lives, what role can intercultural encounters play in
discovering, understanding and possibly surpassing them?
Encounters with the other/ness are special and privileged
occasions, which can either create differences, separations
or build bridges. Meeting the cultural other means to
discover hidden boundaries and to experience wishes to
overcome them. Intercultural encounters may be able to
initiate an effective and dynamic experience of boundaries,
a dialectic of boundaries or bounding. In this sense, we
need more elaborated understanding of boundaries, as our
personal, social and political life brings forth issues of
nature, meaningfulness and transgression of these
boundaries.
This conference invites contributions on, but not limited
to, the following topics:
- Boundaries between separation and gathering
- Crossing boundaries: scenarios
- Intercultural encounters as conscience of boundaries
- Intercultural encounters in bridging cultural differences
- Overcoming boundaries: new places and new realities
- Overcoming boundaries: cross-identities and hybridization?
- Role of artifacts in crossing cultural boundaries
Abstract
Please send an abstract of 300 words and a brief C.V. to
Professors Dan Chițoiu [dan811@yahoo.com], Oana Cogeanu
[oa_na_co@yahoo.com] and cua-rvp@cua.edu by May 15, 2020.
Accepted papers will be published in the conference
proceedings.
Logistics
There is no registration fee. All travel and accommodation
expenses will be covered by participants.
Contact
Dan Chițoiu [dan811@yahoo.com]
Oana Cogeanu[oa_na_co@yahoo.com]
RVP Iași Center at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași,
Romania
