Dear Colleagues In case you haven't heard, Women's Studies at Lancaster is hosting a major and exciting international conference in September - Melancholic States - This event is not to be missed with acclaimed speakers, artists, film makers and activists from across the world. Registration is now underway for the Melancholic States conference - Early bird registration ends August 31st - click on link to register now and for further details This conference will explore the ways in which the idea of 'melancholic states' speaks to the complexity of the present. With a provenance in psychoanalysis, the concept of melancholia has proliferated across numerous fields. Sometimes it refers to a state of mind or an affective state: elsewhere it is used to speak of racialised, gendered or queer subjectivities. At other times it becomes a tool to analyse political states or to convene constituencies of solidarity. Melancholia also founds collective memory and associated artefactual practices and describes the conditions of professional practice organised around a public service ethic. Positioned as a condition to be claimed, transcended, or negotiated, 'melancholic states' speaks to the contemporary zeitgeist: the post/neo-colonial era. This international conference will bring together voices from women's studies, postcolonial and critical race studies, critical psychology, politics, international relations, sociology, anthropology, geography, art and design and queer studies to address our melancholic states. Gaye Chan (University of Keshet (activist and writer, Jerusalem) Ranjana Khanna (Duke University) Roz Mortimer (filmmaker, London) Kavita Panjabi (Jadavpur University, Calcutta) Nandita Sharma (University of Hawai'i) Cindy Weber (Lancaster University) This conference will explore the ways in which the idea of 'melancholic states' speaks to the complexity of the present. With a provenance in psychoanalysis, the concept of melancholia has proliferated across numerous fields. Sometimes it refers to a state of mind or an affective state: elsewhere it is used to speak of racialised, gendered or queer subjectivities. At other times it becomes a tool to analyse political states or to convene constituencies of solidarity. Melancholia also founds collective memory and associated artefactual practices and describes the conditions of professional practice organised around a public service ethic. Positioned as a condition to be claimed, transcended, or negotiated, 'melancholic states', speaks to the contemporary zeitgeist: the post/neo-colonial era. This international conference will bring together voices from women's studies, postcolonial and critical race studies, critical psychology, politics, international relations, sociology, anthropology, geography, art and design and queer studies to address our melancholic states. Confirmed plenary speakers include: M. Jacqui Alexander (University of Toronto) Gaye Chan (University of Hawai'i) Veena Das (Johns Hopkins University) David Eng (Rutgers University) Ayse Gul Altinay (Sabinci University, Istanbul) Yehudit Keshet (activist and writer, Jerusalem) Ranjana Khanna (Duke University) Roz Mortimer (filmmaker, London) Kavita Panjabi (Jadavpur University, Calcutta) Nandita Sharma (University of Hawai'i) Cindy Weber (Lancaster University)