(In)habit: U of T Graduate English Association Conference 2023

(In)habit is the 2023 iteration of the annual graduate student conference hosted and organised by the University of Toronto Graduate English Association. It is open to all and will be a hybrid virtual/in-person event.

The verb “inhabit” might invite us to reflect on how we exist both as individuals and in relation to others. What, for example, does it mean to inhabit a space, an identity, or a particular kind of body? Split into its prefix and root, to be “in habit” opens many avenues of inquiry. As a noun, “habit” might refer to a garment, behaviour, or routine. How and why do we wear specific habits, both in the “real world” and on the stage? How are habits as behaviours and routines informed by concepts such as identity, psychology, and culture?

Emphasizing questions about space, routine, and embodiment, the Graduate English Association at the University of Toronto is pleased to welcome graduate student presenters with a broad range of literary, theoretical, and other textual objects of study. We look forward to convening and celebrating the work of our peers and colleagues this April.

The Conference Committee is also pleased to welcome Professor Monica Huerta as our 2023 Keynote Speaker. Monica Huerta is an assistant professor of English and American Studies at Princeton University. Her work exposes the aesthetic life of power in the U. S. using methods from visual culture studies, especially photography criticism, studies of race and ethnicity, and law & humanities approaches. Prof. Huerta's first book, Magical Habits, was published by Duke University Press in 2021, and we look forward to her forthcoming second book, The Unintended: Photography, Property, and the Aesthetics of Racial Capitalism (NYU Press, 2023).

More info can also be found on our website at: https://uoftconference.wixsite.com/inhabit2023.