SYMPOSIUM THEMES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
- Literature and the creation of identitary patterns
- Portrayal of ethnic, racial and religious groups in literary works
- "Immigrants, foreigners and outsiders" in literary works: conventions and formulas
- Language as badge of identity
- Language and identity crises
- Identity in fictional multicultural environments
FILM
- Film and the creation of identitary patterns
- Portrayal of ethnic, racial and religious groups in filmic works
- “Immigrants, foreigners and outsiders” in film: conventions and formulas
- Filmic portrayal of identity crises
- Documentaries and their treatment of identity
- The ethnic/racial environment of good-guy, bad-guy dichotomies in early film such as the “greaser” movies
HISTORY
- Identity and history: contemporary conflicts and their historical backdrop
- The nation as a source of identity
- Regions of historically overlapping identities (e.g., Catalonian Spaniard)
- Regions of historically conflicting identities (e.g., Christian Turk; Arab Israeli)
- Cultural identity in ancient peoples
- The new European identity model
- China and India as identitary kaleidoscopes
- Latin America as identity crucible
RELIGION
- Religiosity as a mark of identity
- Religious minorities and competing identities
- Religion and gender identity
- Religion as instrument for the creation of identity
- The sacralization of identity
SOCIOLOGY
- Sociology and its treatment of identity issues
- Immigration, diasporas and identity
- Globalization and identity
- Gender identity
- The defense of “original, native” identities as apologia for the rejection of the immigrant
- Identities and their hypothetical “innate” characteristics
THE ARTS
- Identity and painting
- Identity as expressed in music: sounds and instruments
- Identity expressed in physical space: urban environments, buildings, green spaces, monuments
- Dance as an expression of ethnic identity
- Clothing as badge of identity
