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Globalization: the Challenge to America
Eighth Annual Conference
Globalization for the Common Good: An Interfaith Perspective
May 31 – June 4, 2009
Loyola University • Chicago, Illinois, USA

The Conference will be a featured part of Loyola University’s 2009 celebration of 100 years as a university.

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

The organizers of the 2009 Conference on Globalization for the Common Good [The Interreligious Engagement Project – IEP21; Loyola University; The Center for Global Studies at Purdue University Calumet; and Globalization for the Common Good – GCG] are delighted to issue the following call for presentations.

Presentations should address one or more of the Conference Themes listed below.
Presentations include lectures, panel discussions, performances, audio-visual offerings, formal academic papers, etc. An interdisciplinary panel representing the convening organizations will consider all submissions and advise all potential participants of their decision in March 2009. The Organizing Committee will make papers and other presentation materials available to all participants in advance of the Conference. This will make a more dialogical presentation format possible.

Conference Themes

The Conference will focus primarily on a critique of the role of the United States in the current dynamic of world affairs. We will examine the positive and negative dimensions of America’s global stance. Finally, we will explore some of the very real challenges that America must meet if globalization is to be guided toward the common good, both within the US and in the larger world.

Other thematic areas will also be addressed. They include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Globalization, Civilizational Dialogue, and the Role of the Global Interfaith Movement
  • The Global Environment: Climate, Habitat, Water, Energy, and All Life
  • The Struggle for Social and Economic Justice and Universal Human Rights

We invite proposals from activists, organizers, officials, scholars, students, and others specializing in a range of disciplines, including education, theology, philosophy, ethics, history, political science, international relations, conflict analysis and peace research, economics, law, sociology, psychology, health sciences and medicine, environmental studies and geography. Proposals are also invited from persons in government, education, diplomacy, law, the media, the health professions and business, as well as those involved in religious, interreligious and non-governmental organizations. Proposals that adopt an interdisciplinary, intercultural or interreligious perspective are especially welcome.
 
Proposals should be received no later than Monday, February 16, 2009.
 
Proposals should include:

  • Title of proposed presentation;
  • A 250-word abstract, highlighting the proposal’s relevance to one or other of the key themes outlined above;
  • Author’s name and institutional affiliation;
  • One paragraph biographical note on the presenter.

All proposals will be assessed by an inter-disciplinary panel appointed by the joint conveners, and applicants will be informed of the Organizing Committee’s decision in March 2009.
 
Successful applicants will be given two weeks to confirm their participation.

The Conference Organizing Committee must receive by May 1, 2009 any written papers (approximate length 3,000 to 5,000 words) or other presentation materials for distribution to Conference delegates. All formal papers should represent an original contribution not published elsewhere. The Conference’s working language is English. It is planned to produce one or more international publications drawing on high quality papers selected by the joint conveners’ interdisciplinary panel.

Those selected to make a presentation will be required to pay the registration fee. The Convening Organizations are not able to cover participants’ travel and accommodation expenses.
 
 Important Dates

  • February 19, 2009: Call for papers deadline
  • March 2009: Notification of accepted presentations. Final confirmation by presenters should be received within two weeks of notification of acceptance.
  • May 1, 2009: Written papers to be received  

Please note that travel arrangements and costs are the responsibility of participants or their sponsoring institutions. The Conference Conveners are not able to offer financial support. However, the overall costs will be subsidized, enabling many to attend.

Please submit proposals, preferably as Word or Rtf documents, and any questions to:

Jim Kenney
980 Verda Lane
Lake Forest IL, 60045
USA
Ph:  +1-847-234-8047
Fax: +1-847-234-0752
Email: jim@seachanges.net
Post-Conference Tour

A three-night post-conference tour will be available. The tour will cost approximately $400 and can accommodate up to 55 persons. Highlights include:

  • Drive to Galena, Illinois, a well-preserved 19th-century mining town that was once home to the famed American Civil War general, Ulysses S. Grant.
  • A visit to Dubuque, Iowa, on the Mississippi River, featuring a tour of the wonderful Museum of the Mississippi and dinner on a paddle-wheeled steamboat.
  • A lovely day’s drive along the Mississippi to St. Louis, Missouri. Then crossing the river into Illinois.
  • A visit to Cahokia National Monument, one of the greatest of North American native sites. Cahokia was the capital of “moundbuilder” culture, peaking around the year 1000.
  • A visit to the celebrated Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, the capital of Illinois.
  • The tour promises to be a memorable experience for US residents and foreign visitors alike.

Jim Kenney
980 Verda Lane
Lake Forest IL, 60045
USA
 
Ph:  +1-847-234-8047
Fax: +1-847-234-0752
Email: jim@seachanges.net

For background information on the initiative and details of previous conferences, visit: http://www.globalisationforthecommongood.info/. To access the online Journal of Globalization for the Common Good, visit http://www.commongoodjournal.com/. For information on the 2008 Conference in Melbourne, Australia (June 30 – July 4), visit: http://www.globalisationforthecommongood.info/conferences/australia-conference-2008/.