UQ - EMSAH - Postcolonial Research Group Events

Postcolonial Research Group
Events

Postcolonial Research Group Seminar Schedule, Semester Two, 2003

The group meets monthly on Mondays at 4pm in Room 435 Michie Building

11 August - Paper by Rebecca Weaver-Hightower on Empire Islands
8 September - Paper by Eduardo Marques on Brazilian writer Milton Hatoum's "Dois Irmaos" ("The Brothers")
13 October - Paper by Emma Cox on indigenous performances of Shakespeare's plays
3 November - Discussion of selections from Rajeswari Sunder Rajan's work
12-15 December: Benevolence Conference
16 December: Seminar with Rajeswari Sunder Rajan (time and venue to be confirmed)

Upcoming Conferences

Burden, Benefit, Trace: The Legacies of Benevolence. December 2003.
Long before Rudyard Kipling urged his readers to'take up the white man's burden,' benevolence was integral to cultural domination, whether through the formal structures of empire, or through associated charitable activities such as the provision of medical aid, education, or missions. As the rise of the middle classes and the emphasis on Puritan conscience increasingly replaced the notion of aristocratic patronage and noblesse oblige, 'benevolence' functioned as an umbrella term under which imperial and neo-imperial domination, particularly cultural domination, were rationalised and promoted within government and among the subjects of empire. For the British, the 'burden of benevolence' and the work of 'civilising' were seen as differentiating their own from other European imperial enterprises. To a certain extent, a similar self-perception is evident now in the policies and practices of the contemporary world's dominant imperial power, the United States. This conference will consider benevolence, and representations of benevolence, in a wide variety of forms. http://emsah.uq.edu.au/conferences/benevolence-2003/

Past Conferences