The Folklore Studies Association of Canada/l’Association canadienne d’ethnologie et de folklore (FSAC/ACEF) will hold its 2022 annual meeting, in collaboration with the Institute for Cultural Heritage of Laval University. The meeting will be online and take place between June 2 and 5. Specific dates and technologies will be communicated in the following months. The theme of the conference is “Pluralities.”

We invite academic and practice-based paper proposals on all manifestations of folklore and folklife that address this theme and creative responses to it. Proposals for panels, discussion sessions, and individual papers related to other themes in the disciplines of ethnology and folklore are also welcome.

We especially encourage proposals from graduate students. Given the nature of the virtual format, this is an affordable chance to present at a national conference. We also intend to create virtual opportunities for networking.

Please send abstracts of 150 words, in English or French, to Laurier Turgeon (Laurier.Turgeon@hst.ulval.ca) by February 25, 2022.

All presenters must be paid-up members of FSAC/ACEF for 2022. To join or renew your membership, visit: https://www.acef-fsac.ulaval.ca/en/join.

Regular member: 70$

Student/retired/underpaid: 30$

Conference Registration 2022 Student/retired/underpaid

Conference registration 2022 regular

PLURALITIES

The theme of the conference this year is devoted to “pluralities.” The growing pluralization of our societies has been acknowledged by scholars in the social sciences and humanities, including folklorists, but also by governments, by public and private institutions, and by the various communities themselves. The desire for recognition of differences in sex, gender, ethnicity, and religion, to which we could add the rise of new communities of belonging created spontaneously on the Internet, represent novel forms of emergent pluralization that take place within a context of slow and profound transformations in values. As a partial response to these changes the “equity, diversity, inclusion” policies now adopted by most governments and institutions, including universities, in Canada attest to a spirit of openness on the part of public authorities and society in general. The fact remains that pluralization is accompanied by tensions expressed in various forms including fundamentalism, and even ethnic and religious radicalization. It is still difficult to understand all the processes and factors involved, the way in which they are articulated and the contexts that promote pluralization or, on the contrary, hinder it. While the pandemic has led us to be more and more connected to the world and interconnected amongst ourselves, but, at the same time, it has forced us to withdraw into our homes and onto our computers. We invite papers that will explore but are not limited to questions around: How has the pandemic affected this heterogenization of our societies? How do public authorities and institutions react to these demands for pluralization and are these measures sufficient? How can we welcome the desire for pluralism while ensuring the social cohesion and harmony? Are these pluralities adequately represented in our tangible and intangible heritage? How can folklorists contribute to these debates? What roles do vernacular creative expressions, traditional or emergent, play in individual, community and institutional responses to pluralization processes? How can we adapt our field methods to reflect these trends?