Critical Indigenous studies can neither be perceived as niche, nor trivialized as topical. In the way climate-capitalism has become an existential threat, a sincere engagement with Indigenous knowledges has become ineluctable. This conference seeks to initiate a multidisciplinary conversation on climate change, as conceived by, and re-inscribed within, Indigenous literatures. So far within the small domain of English Humanities, contemporary climate fiction by Indigenous authors have presented an urgent need to converse with scientific and social-scientific approaches to climate change. Centring these literatures, especially at a University such as Cambridge that is itself implicated in climate capitalism, is vital to confront the racial nature of climate change discourse which overlooks those who are leading the resistance in theory and praxis. These literatures tie the material to the literary, forging new links between resurgence movements and academic scholarship. These literatures also provide a narrative space for the local exigencies of land to feature within a global discourse on climate.

For the call for papers, and more information,

visit www.climatefictions.info

or www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/28580

We call for participation by writers, artists, scholars, researchers, activists, and dissidents. Please apply by submitting upto 500 word abstracts (in case of papers), portfolio of art (for exhibition), upto 5-minute trailers (for films and documentaries) and upto a page-length proposal (for presentations showcasing collaborative research). Artists who wish to exhibit are encouraged to get in touch before applying to discuss costs of installations. Travel bursaries are available for Indigenous scholars travelling from abroad.

The conference is co-funded by the University’s Centre for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) and would take place in the Alison Richard Building (ARB), with the keynote address at McCrum Theatre, Corpus Christi College, from 24-25 January 2020. It would also exhibit a series of artwork and two plinthed installations from Indigenous artists in the atrium of the ARB from January-February 2020.