Hosted by Hacettepe University\u2019s American Studies Department<\/p>\n
In collaboration with the American Studies Departments of Ankara University, Atat\u00fcrk University, Ba\u015fkent University, Bilkent University, Dokuz Eyl\u00fcl University, Ege University, Hali\u00e7 University, and \u0130stanbul University<\/p>\n
The Lure of Science and Technology in American Culture and Literature A long time ago, there lived a skillful scientist who had \u2013 Hawthorne, \u201cThe Birthmark\u201d<\/p>\n What is an ansible, Shevek? \u2013 Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed<\/em><\/p>\n Science and technology have influenced American literary and cultural texts, as well as the visual arts, since colonial times. From Hawthorne\u2019s short story \u201cThe Birthmark\u201d and Thomas Eakins\u2019 painting The Gross Clinic, depicting Dr. Samuel D. Gross lecturing to a group of Jefferson Medical College students, to countless examples of literary and cultural texts, such as Kim Stanley Robinson\u2019s Science in the Capital series, scientific ideas and technological advances have enriched American authors\u2019 and artists\u2019 oeuvres. Early pioneers of modern science fiction have sought inspiration from, and been shaped by, the imaginative power made accessible through the close connotation between science and culture. This connotation equated the artistic voice of the creative mind with reimagining the world through the lens of science.<\/p>\n Hailed as one of the first examples of modern science fiction, Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s \u201cThe Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall,\u201d for example, revealed the extent of an imaginatively rich, curious and yet obsessive scientific mind that created a balloon which would take its passenger on a voyage to the moon. In this respect, the employment of the scientific mind as a trope in literature has traditionally intersected with the human effort to try to understand the unknown. As Solbes and Traver state, \u201c[t]he mutual influence of these two ways of thinking (science and humanities) shows that they are equally human and have constantly influenced each other, and even more so today.\u201d<\/p>\n Contrary to common perceptions, science and the humanities are not at odds with each other, but have been sustained by each other\u2019s unique perspectives and approaches for centuries, across various genres and mediums. In many cases, scientists and creators have worked in tandem with an interdisciplinary focus to perfect both fields by integrating the same methods of control, determination, perception, curiosity, inquiry, analysis and replicability. Sometimes, these two approaches have been embodied through the same person, as evident in literary anthologies such as Great Science Fiction by Scientists, in which practicing scientists attempt to capture the human struggle with science in a technologically advanced age with the help of a unique interdisciplinary approach that recontextualizes the past, situates and comprehends the present, and speculates about the future. In other cases, artistic mediums have been created or transformed solely through technological advances, such as the invention of new narrative methods to document each step of this growth. This beneficial symbiosis has created a literary world where scientists and authors draw inspiration from each other\u2019s accomplishments, where the same creativity fuels both scientific discovery and artistic expression.<\/p>\n This conference will address the various ways in which the interconnectedness between science, technology, imaginative power, culture and humanity are reflected through representations of American culture and literature. Proposals may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:<\/p>\n Important Dates (Extended)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Deadline for abstract submission: March 1, 2022 We ask interested MA and PhD students to send 250-word abstracts and one paragraph bios to the organizing committee (ASDTurkey.graduate@gmail.com<\/a>) by March 1st, 2022.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Past, Present, Future<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>experienced a spiritual reaction more striking than
\n<\/em>any chemical one.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>An idea. He smiled without much humor. It will be a device
\n<\/em>that will permit communication without any time interval
\n<\/em>between two points in space. \u2026 So we will be able to use it to
\n<\/em>talk between worlds, without the long waiting for the message
\n<\/em>to go and the reply to return that electromagnetic impulses
\n<\/em>require. Like a kind of telephone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>Notification of acceptance: March 13, 2022
\nDeadline for participant confirmation: March 19, 2022<\/p>\n