Graduate Student Conference

Mutations and Permutations of Care

Carol Gilligan’s In a Different Voice (1982) posits an “ethics of care” built on relationships and in contrast to “the formal logic of fairness” (73). Since this book’s publication, the notion of “care” has been applied to teaching, literature, visual arts, museology, film, performance studies, and environmental studies. The “care turn” seems to be the natural outgrowth and potential counterpoint of trauma studies — the “trauma turn” — as the focus shifts toward healing. We, the graduate students in French and Francophone World Studies at the University of Iowa, have developed an interest in this subject. In the spirit of care and fostering community, we encourage fellow graduate students and advanced undergraduate students in the Humanities to share their research in this hybrid, interdisciplinary conference.

Important Information

Hosted by: Graduate students of French and Francophone World Studies

Conference Dates: Friday, April 4th and Saturday, April 5th, 2025

Location: University of Iowa campus (Iowa City, IA) and on Zoom

Questions? E-mail ffwsgrads-conf@uiowa.edu.

Full Conference Description

Proposals have already been submitted and chosen. However, you can still see the call for papers to get a fuller description of the conference. If not presenting, this can help you prepare for the topic.

Transportation

The nearest airport is Cedar Rapids / Eastern Iowa Airport (CID). It is about 20 minutes away from Iowa City. After purchasing your plane tickets and your lodging, we suggest that you reserve an Uber or a taxi to take you to/from Cedar Rapids. Our graduate students have regularly used Anaman Concierge Services. Taxis and Ubers are not consistently available at the airport, so it is best to book in advance.

As an alternative, Greyhound and Burlington Trailways also have bus stops in downtown Iowa City.

Lodging

AirBnB - Iowa City is walkable and there are free city buses to take you around town. A campus bus (Cambus) also offers fare-free rides, but the routes only run through campus. The conference will be held either in or near Phillips Hall (16 N. Clinton Street, Iowa City, IA 52240). This address will be helpful as you search for an AirBnB.

Hotels - We do not have any special rates for hotels. We can, however, recommend the following, which are all located within a 5-to-10-minute walk from Phillips Hall: Iowa House Hotel, The Graduate Hotel, and Hotel Chauncey.

Friday - April 4th, 2025
9:00-9:15	Opening Remarks Shaeffer Hall, Room 40 Dr. Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Graduate Student Success, Graduate College Dr. Emilie Destruel, Chair of Department of French and Italian Dr. Anny-Dominique Curtius, Director of Graduate Studies
9:15-10:30	Panel 1: Translation as Care, Care as Translation Shaeffer Hall, Room 40 Chair: Dr. Jan Steyn, Translation Timekeeper: Katie Gilbert All presenters are from the University of Iowa Fion Tse: a translation of《拾香紀》, or Attending Fragrances Emma Murray: a translation of María de Zayas y Sotomayor’s 1637 The Enchantments of Love Fabienne Rink: a translation of Swiss author Simone Lappert’s poetry collection long overdue feralization Erel Michaelis: a translation of Hebrew evidence in the International Court of Justice’s case Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).
10:30-10:45	Coffee Break
10:45-12:00	Panel 2: Masculinities Shaeffer Hall, Room 40 – Hybrid Chair: Dr. Rosemarie Scullion, French & Italian Timekeeper: Sokhna Thiaw Breann Eireland Tobias, University of Florida, “Fearing the Caregiver: Women in Manga Who Emasculate” Muhammed Salem, American University in Cairo, “Male Family Members as Elders' Caregivers: Marital v. Filial Bonds in French and Iranian Cinema” (Zoom) Samuel Afanbah, University of Iowa, “Femininity as a Catalyst of Care in Gouverneur de la rosée: Caring for the Environment, Caring for Man” Kodjo Tovor, University of Iowa, “Care in Sports”
12:15-12:45	Visit to the Coup de dés exhibit (Main Library Gallery)
12:45-2:15	Lunch Break (on your own, see suggestions below)
2:15-3:15	Panel 3: Enslavement and Imprisonment: Contesting Carcerality Phillips Hall, Room 318 – Hybrid Chair: Dr. Leah Leone, Translation Timekeeper: William Osei-Aborah Diewng Dafong, University of Alabama, “The Disillusion of Freedom: The Role of Betrayal in Tituba’s Journey” (Zoom) Christy Charnel, Harvard University, “Care at the Crossroads” Richard X, III, Fordham University, “Prison Chaplaincy and the Pessimism of Care”
3:15-3:30	Coffee Break
3:30-4:45	Panel 4: Intergenerational Care: Navigating Trauma and Solidarity Phillips Hall, Room 318 – Hybrid Chair: Ike Okoro Timekeeper: Kodjo Tovor Jose Fabricio Lopez Cochachi, Emory University, “J’habite, donc je suis: An Ethics of Care in Two Amazonian Paintings by Rember Yahuarcani” (Zoom) Kolade Kenneth, University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, “Care and Intergenerational Responsibility in Comme nous existons by Kaoutar Harchi” Sokhna Thiaw, University of Iowa, “Intergenerational Trauma in Breath, Eyes, Memory: ‘Doubling’ to Survive” Katie Gilbert, University of Iowa, “Building Community: Mentorship, Language, and Culture in Caribbean and Indian Ocean Literature”
4:45-5:00	Coffee Break
5:00-6:00	Keynote Presentation - Exploring the Possibility of Decolonizing Care: Questioning Inhabitability in Toxic Environments Shaeffer Hall, Room 40 Introduction: Dr. Anny-Dominique Curtius Dr. Jennifer Boum Make, Assistant Professor of Francophone Studies, Georgetown University

saturday - April 5th, 2025
All panels will take place in Shaeffer Hall, Room 40
9:45-10:00	Panel 5: Tactile, Tangible Forms of Care Zoom Chair: Dr. Gigi Durham, Journalism Timekeeper: Katie Gilbert Mdappally Jasim, IIUM University, Malaysia, “Seeing Care Through Art: A Human, Ethical, and Spiritual Perspective” Sanket Sakar, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India, “Tactile Model of Care against Local and Global Neglect: Lessons from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Film Black (2005)” Pragya Dev, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, “Beyond Prosaic Blue(s): Carving Carescapes amidst Vulnerabilities in Cobalt Blue” Sona Srivasta, Ashoka University, “Care-ful Reading: On Women, and Radical MetaFORMosis of Self-Care” R. Harini, University of Delhi, “The Gendered Nature of Leisure: Deconstructing ‘Care-Giving’ and ‘Care-Receiving’ Patterns in South Asia”
10:00-10:15	Coffee Break
10:15-11:30	Panel 6: Wellbeing, Being Well Hybrid Chair: Dr. Asha Bhandary, Philosophy Timekeeper: Samuel Afanabah Grace Brimacombe-Rand, King’s College London, “Satirical Self-Care: Performing the ‘Sad Sick Girl’ in My Year of Rest and Relaxation” (Zoom) Judith Neder, TU Dresden, “Period Heroes: Menstruation as Site of Heroism and Bonding in Chinese Dramas” (Zoom) Isabella Carr, Harvard University, “Deathfat as Resistance: Reimagining Fatness, Care, and Subjectivity in the Ozempic Era” Irene Pagano, University of Amsterdam, “Queer Crip Intimacies and the Monstrous in Dominic Mitchell’s In The Flesh” (Zoom)
11:30-12:30	Lunch Break – We will provide lunch in the CLCL of Phillips Hall
12:30-1:45	Panel 7: Navigating Precarity Hybrid Chair: Dr. Marie Kruger, English Timekeeper: Manon Goujon Jillian Joiner, Arizona State University, “Feminist Caring and Uncaring in Afrofuturist Films” Maria Clara Tomé, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, “Portrayals of Poverty: The Linkages between Reproductive Labor and Poverty in Brazil in Current Days” (Zoom) Ike Okoro, University of Iowa, “Care and Uncare: A Study of Albert Londres’s Terre d’ébène” Joel Gabriel Ngameleu Ngameni, Washington University, St. Louis, “Care in the Context of Genocide: An Analysis of Un Dimanche à la piscine à Kigali by Gil Courtemanche and its Cinematic adaptation Un Dimanche à Kigali by Robert Favreau”
1:45-2:00	Coffee Break
2:00-3:15	Panel 8: Reframing Journalism and Mass Communication Education: The Role of Kindness in Building Connection and Purpose Chair: Dr. Sujatha Sosale, Journalism & Mass Communication Timekeeper: Emily Wieder All presenters are from the University of Iowa Munachim Amah Erdoo Ankwagh Cam Brown Brian Ekdale Javie Ssovi Sarah Witmer Rachel Young
3:15-3:30	Coffee Break
3:30-4:45	Panel 9: Self-Documenting Care Hybrid Chair: Dr. Downing Thomas, French & Italian Timekeeper: William Osei-Aborah Emily Wieder, University of Iowa, “The Char-Knutson Correspondence: A Case Study in Care in/around the Archives” Daniel Folger, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, “The Role of Autofiction as Social Critique: Autobiographical Writing as a Political Tool and the Rebuilding of Lost Agency in Comme nous existons and Changer” (Zoom) Lou Migliorini, Emory University, “Representing the Algerian War: The Algerian children’s Drawings of the Conflict in J’ai huit ans” (Zoom) Manon Goujon, University of Iowa, “Transforming Absence into Care: Maternal Voices in the Lyrical Poetry of Vilmorin and Sexton”
4:45-4:55	Closing Remarks All French and Francophone World Studies (FFWS) graduate student We need to leave the building by 5:00pm due to university policies.

Lunch Suggestions

Food for Thought Café – Main Library (credit card only)

Old Capitol Mall (many food options at reasonable prices)

Hoja - Ramen, rice bowls
Chipotle
T-Spoon’s Café – sweet treats, great coffee and lattes
A full list of food options and shopping is here.

Cortado Mediterranean Café

Get Fresh Café

Bread Garden Market

Organizing Committee

The following graduate students in French and Francophone World Studies generously contributed their time and talents to organizing this conference. We thank Dr. Anny-Dominique Curtius for her astute and ongoing guidance.

Katie Gilbert – Communications, call for papers, abstract review

Manon Goujon – Programming, abstract review

Ike Okoro – Communications, abstract review

William Osei-Aborah - Planning

Kodjo Tovor - Planning

Sokhna Thiaw - Marketing and social media, call for papers, abstract review

Emily Wieder – Communications, call for papers, programming, abstract review

French and Italian