📍 Perpignan, France
📅 3–4 June 2027
🏛️ Organized by the CRESEM Research Center at the Université de Perpignan Via Domitia
“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”
— W.B. Yeats
The CRESEM Research Center is pleased to announce the international conference “Centering, Decentering”, which will take place in Perpignan on 3–4 June 2027.
Bringing together scholars from a wide range of disciplines, the conference will explore the notions of centre, periphery, borders, and decentralization, examining how these concepts shape our understanding of geography, politics, society, culture, economics, and the arts.
Inspired by the unique position of the universities within the ACROSS Alliance—small universities located near borders and distant from national capitals—the conference seeks to move beyond traditional discussions of borders and focus instead on the relationships between centres and peripheries, and the opportunities created by decentering perspectives.
Key questions include:
- How do we define what is central and what is peripheral?
- Is centrality an objective reality or a matter of perspective?
- Can decentering offer new ways of understanding social, cultural, political, and artistic realities?
- How do movements between centres and peripheries transform individuals, communities, and institutions?
- Can alternative forms of geography and connection challenge traditional notions of distance and hierarchy?
The conference welcomes contributions from researchers in the following fields:
- History
- Art History
- Geography
- Literature
- Film Studies
- Classical Studies
- Linguistics
- Sociology
- Musicology
- Economics
- Management
- Law
Call for Papers
Researchers are invited to submit a proposal of approximately 300 words, in English or French, accompanied by a short biographical note.
📅 Submission deadline: September 30th 2026
Proposals should be sent to:
Prof. Nathalie Solomon
📧 solomon@univ-perp.fr
Venue
CRESEM – Centre de Recherches sur les Sociétés et Environnements en Méditerranées
Université de Perpignan Via Domitia
52 Avenue Paul Alduy
66860 Perpignan Cedex 9, France
We look forward to welcoming researchers and academics from across Europe and beyond for two days of interdisciplinary discussion on the dynamics of centering and decentering in contemporary and historical contexts.
🔗 More information: https://www.across-alliance.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AACconferenceCenteringdecentring_ENG-1.pdf.pdf
