“We need to explore alternative ways of thinking about cross cultural exchange that exceed the pointed, polemical framework of ‘antiorientalism’—the lesson from Said’s work—by continually problematizing the presumption of stable identities and also by continuously asking what else there is to learn beyond destabilized identities themselves” (Ethics after Idealism, Rey Chow)

You are all invited to participate in the Third Conference on Orientalisms and the Asian and Arab Diasporas in the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula, which will take place on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23 at the University of California, Merced. The name of this year’s conference is Imaging the “Oriental” in the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula.

Those interested are invited to submit a one-page abstract in Spanish or English, dealing with any of the topics listed below or any other topic related to Orientalism, Occidentalism, and/or the Asian and Arab presence and heritage in the Americas and the Hispanic world, or their respective imaginaries. Please send it via e-mail to Dr. Ignacio López-Calvo, ilopez-calvo@ucmerced.edu, Dr. Cristián H. Ricci cricci@ucmerced.edu, or Dr. Kevin Fellezs kfellezs@ucmerced.edu.

We hope you find it interesting and decide to participate. Extended versions of a selection of the papers presented at the conference will be published in the academic journal "Transmodernity. Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World".