The 9th Biennial ACIS conference , Scontri e incontri: the dynamics of Italian transcultural exchanges , hosted in association with the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, will be held at the Monash University Centre in Prato , Italy, on 4-7 July 2017 . The conference will explore sites of contact, connection and exchange in the Italian context. Some can be understood as open sites of interaction and juxtaposition in which people, goods and ideas from across the globe come and go and which are shaped by important trajectories of trade or distinctive histories of colonialism, imperialism or globalisation. When encounters occur in contexts of asymmetrical relations of power, no exchange or contact is present without an inherent confrontation. Language is used to create or manipulate perceptions that are formed when worlds collide. It turns contact into an uneven exchange, such as colonisation, modern warfare and even gender relations. What are the repercussions of such uneven exchanges? How can examining these notions and their representations help illuminate common debates around identity (politics), ideology, globalisation and crisis, human rights, memory and history, the environment, and individual bodies, among others? Conversely, how can we better understand the potential of modern diasporas to connect cultures and lead to collaboration and renewal, through the establishment of wider-ranging networks and positive forms of exchange? The organisers are now calling for paper and panel proposals, to be submitted here , by 31 October 2016 .

The conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform to identify, discuss and debate those trends and turning-points which characterise advances in society, science and the arts in terms of clashes, connections and encounters. We invite paper and panel proposal from scholars and students across all discipline areas and periods within the broad field of Italian Studies that engage with ideas of conflict and exchange – imaginatively, theoretically, institutionally, politically, socially, historically, pedagogically, symbolically.

The keynote speakers will be: Massimo Carlotto , novelist;  Pierangela Diadori (Università per Stranieri di Siena); Maurizio Isabella (Queen Mary University London); Barbara Spackman (University of California Berkeley); and Nicholas Terpstra (University of Toronto).

Further information on the programme, keynote speakers and accommodation in Prato will be posted on the ACIS  conference page .

Topics for papers and panels may include, but are not limited to, the following:cultural/social change

The official conference languages are Italian and English.

Abstracts for papers (ca. 250 words) or panel proposals (which should include the title of the panel as well as title and abstracts for each of the individual papers) should be submitted to the organisers here   by 31 October 2016 . Please include a biographical statement of no more than 100 words. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes. Audiovisual facilities will be available.

Papers from postgraduate students are especially welcome. Travel scholarships and free registration will be available to postgraduates whose papers have been accepted. For information contact the organisers.

Further information on the programme, keynote speakers and accommodation in Prato will be posted on the conference page and in the conference section of the ACIS website.