Call For Papers: ‘The Power to Imagine Better’

There will be an academic conference at which serious readers of Harry Potter are welcome in late October next year on the campus of Marymount Manhattan College (Upper East Side, NYC). The aim is to foster discussion of the “philosophical themes” of the Hogwarts Saga but it is interdisciplinary in the sense that “submissions are welcome on any philosophical theme or issue arising in the Harry Potter corpus that intersects with metaphysics, ethics, religion, literature, and/or politics.” The premise, dear to readers of this site I think, is that this is a justified exercise both in light of the value of the work itself and because of its pervaviseness in the global culture, i.e., that Harry is our “Shared Text,” like it or not.

I’ve already checked my calendar to be sure I can go and blocked out the dates. I hope to see you all there! [The complete ‘Call For Papers’ with proposal, location, date, and contact specifics is below the jump.]

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

“The Power to Imagine Better”: The Philosophy of Harry Potter

This interdisciplinary conference will be held at the campus of Marymount Manhattan College

221 East 71^st Street, New York, New York 10021

Saturday, October 29, 2011, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Regina Peruggi Room)

“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”  J. K. Rowling

Literary Scholar John Granger maintains that the Harry Potter corpus has become the “shared text” of the 21^st century.  Our attraction to this series, however, goes beyond its narrative appeal: the Harry Potter books contain a wide variety of philosophical themes that invite our study and discussion.

Submissions are welcome on any philosophical theme or issue arising in the Harry Potter corpus that intersects with metaphysics, ethics, religion, literature, and/or politics, not exceeding 20-25 minutes’ presentation time (approximately 2,500 words). Please send full essay submissions with a 150-word abstract via email (in Word, rtf, or pdf) in a format suitable for blind review by April 1, 2011 to: cbiondi@mmm.edu.  Notification of acceptance will be made by June 1, 2011, and a binder of the papers accepted for presentation will be made available to all of the presenters by the end of Summer 2011.  (Conference registration fee will be $25.)

If you have any questions, please contact the Conference Coordinator, Carrie-Ann Biondi (Assistant Prof. of Philosophy, Dept. of Philosophy & Religious Studies), at (212) 517-0637 or cbiondi@mmm.edu.