A Conference Hosted by the Graduate Students of the University at Buffalo’s Media Study Department With a Keynote Talk by Yvette Granata, PhD February 9th @ Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art

The end of the world is near. At least, that’s the message we’ve heard from popular media for the last decade or so. And, who can blame them? With on-going environmental, political, and social crises, the worlds we once knew certainly are ending. It begs the question: what can be created in the old world's wake? The graduate students of the University at Buffalo’s Media Study Department are pleased to announce our inaugural graduate conference: Worldmaking at the World’s End. Considering the apocalyptic events of our contemporary moment, what is the artist's role in helping to shape new worlds? How can art, in all its forms, be used to imagine new possibilities and new answers to the problems we face? Our conference aims to address these questions, thinking specifically about art-making as a means of resistance during times of collapse. We are particularly interested in hearing from research-based practitioners who work between creative and scholarly practice. We are also open to unconventional forms and scholars/artists from non-traditional backgrounds.