Seminar Five - Mental illness and the institution in the 21st century

Thursday, March 20^th @ 5pm T1.01, MIC 

For this month’s Contemporary Concepts we will be looking at the idea of madness in the 21^st century. Have our attitudes to mental illness changed? Have we moved on from the ‘institution’? How do we represent this present? And come to terms with the past? 

The discussion will be led by PhD Candidate Michelle Kennedy whose research is on women who touch, are touched and are “touched” in Modern Irish Literature.  

We will be using this book review to inform our discussion.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n03/jenny-diski/i-havent-been-nearly-mad-enough

All are welcome! 

Seminar four - 21st Century Critical Urban Theory

In the 21st century how do we represent and understand the urban landscape and urban space?
How does culture, theory and philosophy respond to ideas of the cityscape, space, and design? What is the city, and how do we define and design the space?

For the first seminar of 2014 we are looking at Neill Brennar and his essay 'What is critical urban theory?'

Available here
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13604810902996466

The seminar will take place on Thursday February 20 at 5pm in MIC - T1.01

Seminar Three - The Trouble with Trauma

The theory of trauma is becoming more and more popular but can it help us deal with political trauma or state sanctioned torture? How are we representing trauma, and torture? Has a new form of trauma theory and cultural representation emerged?

For our next seminar we will be discussing Roger Luckhurst's article 'Beyond Trauma: Torturous times' kindly suggested by Dr Maria Beville

The article is available here
http://www.tandfonline.com.libraryproxy.mic.ul.ie/doi/abs/10.1080/13825571003588247#.UoTBBHBSjTo

The seminar takes place on Thursday, Nov 21 at 6pm in T2.02

All are welcome!

Seminar Two - The Question of Ecology

In an age of climate change has our understanding and representation of nature and the environment changed? How is literature, philosophy and theory reacting to global warming? What is 'third wave' ecocriticism?

Timothy Morton has published widely on the topic of ecocriticsim, and in his article (2010) 'Queer Ecology' he suggests that ecological criticism and queer theory have a lot in common.

The article is available via academia.edu
http://www.academia.edu/1050754/Queer_Ecology

The Seminar takes place on Thursday, Oct 17th at 6pm in T2.02.

All are welcome!

Seminar One - In Defence of Poetry?

Contemporary Concepts is back up and running for the 2013/2014 academic year and for our first discussion we will pit the philosophers against the poets. 

Reading 'On Love and Poetry - Or, where Philosophers Fear to Tread' an article by Jeremy Fernando published in 2011 we will ask if Plato is right and there is still no defence for poetry in 2013? Or if Fernando is correct suggesting that poetry and wisdom are of equal merit? Which makes you cringe, think, feel or understand more? Should the question be philosophy or poetry? Baudrillard or Boland? Agamden or Angelou? Heidiegger or Heaney? Or Derrida and Durcan?

His interesting and entertaining article can be viewed here

http://continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/7

Jeremy Fernando is a Jean Baudrillard Fellow at The European Graduate School and a Fellow of Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore. He works in the intersections of Literature, Philosophy, and the media. He is the author of numerous books and articles. 

For more information 

http://jeremyfernando.com/

The first seminar takes place on Thursday, September 26 at 6pm in T2.02, Tara Building, Mary Immaculate College.

Seminar Seven - The changing identity of Young Adult Literature

For our final seminar of the semester we will look at how Young Adult Literature has changed over the years, and what the implications are for teenage identity formation.

Writing for adolescents has moved on from Mallory Towers to include issues such as incest, self-mutilation, and date rape. Writing featuring such dark subject matter coupled with isolated protagonists in dystopian realities is becoming increasingly popular, not just with teenagers, but also adults.

With these issues in mind, we will discuss who the books are aimed at, their reception and dissemination, what constitutes young adult fiction, and consequences for young adult identity.

Our discussion will be informed by an article suggested by Michelle Cooney
'From the Chalet School to the Hunger Games' by Amy Ellis-Thompson

http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/how-does-retro-schoolgirl-fiction-translate-for-the-modern-reader

The seminar takes place Thursday, May 9th in T1.01 at 5pm.

Hope to see you there.

Seminar 6 - What is a monster?

For our next seminar we will explore what constitutes a monster, how it is repressed, represented and realised in society, culture and psychology.

Using Steven Schneider's article 'Monsters as (Uncanny) Metaphors: Freud, Lakoff, and the Representation of Monstrosity in Cinematic Horror' as a guide we will examine how the monster manifests itself in literature, film and culture.

A copy of the article, kindly suggested by Dr Maria Beville can be found here:
http://www.othervoices.org/1.3/sschneider/monsters.php

The seminar takes place on Thursday, April 11 at 5pm in T1.01 in the Tara Building, Mary Immaculate College. All are welcome!