In light of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and the recent demand to completely reshape Europe's economic system, what do the concepts of "new" and "radical" now mean? Are works of art or literature defined as "new" or "radical" because of the works themselves, or because of their social and historical context?

These and other questions of "radicality" will be explored Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the "Radical Maneuvers: Discourses of the New" conference organized by the Undergraduate Comparative Literature Association.

The keynote speaker will be Tracy McNulty, associate professor of Romance studies. The conference is free and open to the public; breakfast, lunch and dinner are included. All events will be held in the Goldwin Smith Hall English lounge, Room 258.

Anindita Banerjee, associate professor of comparative literature and director of undergraduate studies, explains that "the department encourages students to take courses in many interdisciplinary directions, and as a result, the students have formed a community out of all these divergent trends, which more or less spontaneously resulted in this exciting conference."

Linda B. Glaser is staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.