Dear Members of the International Merleau-Ponty Circle,
We hope this message finds you and yours well in these very trying times.
Our last email to you concerned the postponement of our 2020 conference—together with the announcement of a different, but complementary project, “Phenomenology of Perception Around the World: A 75th Anniversary Broadcast Series.” We are now ready with our first ever ‘Call for Videos’ (CFV), for that project—which is proceeding as a joint effort of the IMPC and Chiasmi International.
You’ll find a detailed CFV here. To summarize a few key points:
(1) It’s a call to submit short proposals for videos, comprised of a working title, brief abstract/plan (750-1000 words), the planned format (e.g., a talk by one person, an interview, a video essay), and CV of broadcaster(s). We have an online form for you to submit your proposals. Submissions open July 1, 2020, and will be reviewed as they arrive, giving first consideration to proposals received by mid-August. But we will continue to review proposals received after that, on a rolling basis. We hope that first broadcasts will be ready to release by October. You’ll also find attached a PDF, linked in the CFV, that gives some examples of other FORMS videos could take, beyond talks by one person.
(2) Please note that since this is a global endeavour, the language of videos is open (you’ll be asked to indicate this on the submission form). Also, to make videos as accessible as possible, we are hoping that those submitting will be able to use online services such as Amara to add subtitles to their videos, in the language of the video.
(3) The proposals will be reviewed by a curatorial panel. The aim is curating a series that will provide a global gallery of views on the Phenomenology. Note that this curatorial aim is different than refereeing papers for a conference, and the process and this form of work on Merleau-Ponty are new to us. It will be a learning opportunity for everybody, and we are looking forward to excellent and creative results!
(4) David Morris (Canada) has initiated the project and will serve on the panel for the IMPC, joined by Ted Toadvine (USA) for Chiasmi, Stefan Kristensen (Switzerland/France), Mariana Larison (Argentina), and Helen Ngo (Australia). We are awaiting final confirmation from one other panelist. With this launch, we’ll also be contacting scholars from other regions who can circulate the call and offer curatorial advice.
If you have questions about the 75th Anniversary Broadcast Series please feel free to contact David Morris at David.Morris@concordia.ca. We will also be maintaining a Frequently Asked Questions page to collect answers to your questions, through the Circle’s website.
If you have questions about the 75th Anniversary Broadcast Series please feel free to contact David Morris at David.Morris@concordia.ca. We are also maintaining a Frequently Asked Questions page to collect answers to your questions, through the Circle’s website.
Finally, for materials for opening titles for the overall series, we are seeking your help:
- For visuals, we are planning to use images of the many different covers of editions and translations of the Phénoménologie, and we have several already; if you have covers we don’t yet have, or better images of ones we do have, please feel free to submit them to the collection via an online form.
- For audio (in addition to some music) we are planning to collage many, many voices, saying “Phenomenology of Perception Around the World: A 75th Anniversary Broadcast Series,” in different languages, and are looking for voices of different ages, from children to grandparents. You can submit voice samples via another online form.
We’ll be posting this announcement on our IMPC webpage and Facebook, and we encourage all of you to circulate the CFV as well.
Best and stay safe,
David Morris & Gail Weiss