PEAKS Interdisciplinary Conference at Northern Arizona University 2018

Is knowledge dangerous? Under what circumstances does knowledge aid or hinder the individual? The community? What is the relationship between knowledge and progress; stagnation; desire? What does knowledge perpetuate? To honor the elements of language, communication, “otherness,” science and science-fiction, nature, psychology, history, and much more, and to discuss the implications of knowledge, the 2018 PEAKS Interdisciplinary Conference would like to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In that spirit, PEAKS encourages submissions on the novel, the novel’s histories and themes, adaptations (film, print, other media), and Frankenstein and his creature as cultural icons. Topics not related to this year’s theme are also welcome!

Title: Dangerous Knowledge

Deadline for Submissions: January 14, 2018

Full Name/ Name of Organization: NAU’s Graduate English Organization

Contact Email: peaksconference@gmail.com

Keynote Speaker: Salvador Plascencia, Harvey Mudd College, author of The People of Paper

Conference Date and Time

Friday, February 9, 2018
Panels and Presentations: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Keynote Address: 6:30 p.m.

As an interdisciplinary conference, PEAKS encourages 15-20 minute papers from a wide range of scholarly and creative disciplines such as literature, linguistics, rhetoric, education, creative writing, history, art history, musicology, women and gender studies, film studies, psychology, and communications. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Postcoloniality and “Otherness”
Science, Pseudoscience, and Science Fiction
Nature and Natural Sciences
Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, and Gender Studies
Quest for Knowledge; or, Dangerous Knowledge
Existence and Consciousness
Revenge and Revenge Narratives
“Birth” Myths and Family Studies
Construction and Creation Studies
History and Historical Narratives
Philosophy, Morality, and Ethics
Image, Ego, and Formation of Identity
Language and Communication
Imaginary Geographics

Types of Presentations:

Individual Paper (8-10 pages, 15-20 minutes with Q & A)
Research Project (15-20 minutes with Q & A)
Creative Writing (15-20 minutes with Q & A)
Panels (3-4 Presenters) (60-90 minutes)

**Registration Fee:

$10 for presenters
Free to the public

Please submit proposals of no more than 250 words along with a brief, 50 words or less, description of the paper to be used on the conference website. Use the “Submit” link on peaksconference.weebly.com by the deadline: January 14, 2018.

Direct Link for Submission: https://peaksconference.weebly.com/submit.html

Contact Email: peaksconference@gmail.com

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.