Society for Utopian Studies 2024 Conference
Utopianists, we are thrilled to welcome you to Tulum, Mexico. Originally called “Zama,” meaning “sunrise” in Mayan, Tulum is located on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It is best known for its stunning beaches as well as its well-preserved ruins of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city. An ideal place to problematize the idyllic utopia.
In the midst of anti-colonial struggles around the world, including over culture and ideology, the rise of populism, climate crisis, and the disasters of neoliberalism, this year’s conference theme, “elsewhere and elsewhen/en otros lugares y otros tiempos,” invites us to ask what degree of responsibility we share for what Jose Esteban Muñoz calls “the prison house of the present.” How we choose to navigate questions of responsibility, trauma, and care during times of crisis reintroduces the distinction between what Ernst Bloch calls an ahistorical, abstract utopia based in banal optimism and an educated utopia based in rigorous engagement with questions of history, temporality, and place, as well as possible new and well-established scholarly, artistic, and activist modes of inquiry.” Because Tulum was one of the last cities built by the Mayan and was most prominent between the 13th and 15th centuries, it is an appropriate setting to explore questions of place and time, of “elsewhere and elsewhen.” Ruins function, in part, as a kind of textual object that archive our existence. They are witness to the truth: we were here. We invite you all to explore these questions – and possible answers to them – in conversation during and after the panels and roundtables featured in this year’s conference program.
The conference organizers wish to thank the members of the steering committee for their gentle guidance throughout the process of conference planning. We also wish to thank Texas A&M University, Kingsville and Texas State University for providing the swag for conference attendees. A special thanks to SUS president Pete Sands and SUS secretary-treasurer Elizabeth Schreiber-Byers for stepping in to provide hands-on, last-minute support and preparations in the weeks leading up to the event. Thank you also to those who served in leadership positions longer than anticipated due to COVID.
We invite conference attendees to tweet, post, and brag on social media about the wonderful ideas shared during theirs and others’ panels using #SUS2024. Tell us what you’re excited about! We also encourage you to get involved. Is there something you’ve always wanted to do? Small organizations like ours are a good place to get started: evaluating submissions for the Kenneth Roemer Innovative Course Design Award as a member of the Teaching Committee; or supporting members for positions of leadership on the Nominations Committee; or even co-chairing the annual conference.