Getting Obsessive
March 13, 2008
Everyone’s a little bit obsessive; academics are usually more than a little. But what consitutes our obsessions and what work do they do? What is the relation between obsession and knowledge production; and what about less legitimate obsessions, the things, places, people and cultural forms about which we feel excessive love or hate?
Thinking about the subjects and objects of obsession raises crucial questions about knowledge and culture, which this two-day graduate symposium will explore. Tavia Nyong’o (NYU Performance Studies) and Stephen Elliott (author of Happy Baby, Looking Forward to It, My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up) will give keynote speeches, and the event will be conclude with a celebration of obsession for conference-goers at Tropico de Nopal in Echo Park.
