The last two decades have witnessed a revision in the concept of alterity, decentering the human in how we reckon with the other. Animal studies, artificial intelligence, ecocriticism, etc. not only ask us to consider the possibility of non-human subjects, but also challenge our very humanness and, along with it, the very premises of the humanities and human sciences. What does a non-anthropocentric understanding of the other offer to the field of Slavic studies? And conversely, what can the cultures, histories, and belief systems of Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia reveal about practices and possibilities of radical alterity? The international conference, All Things Living and Not, brings together senior scholars and emerging researchers from across the U.S. and former socialist bloc to discuss the conjunction between the animal, the plant, the machine, inorganic matter, and the human as a way to destabilize the mind-body dichotomy, class, race, gender, age, etc. Keynote speaker Ewa Domanska (Poznan and Stanford) along with stream leaders Jane Costlow (Bates), Serguei Oushakine (Princeton), and Oxana Timofeeva (European U. in St. Petersburg) will push participants to think through new approaches to the cultures, histories, and politics of the region.
New York City, NY; NYC