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Special Issue: Carson McCullers and the New Southern Studies, Submissions due by May 15, 2012

updated: 
Thursday, June 2, 2011 - 10:18am
ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews

ANQ: American Notes and Queries is sponsoring a special issue on Contemporary Irish Writing for Fall, 2012. We would be interested in short articles or notes dealing any aspect of Carson McCullers' work, especially McCullers' influence on other writers, or their influence on her. Also, we seek contributions on McCullers and the Global South, McCullers and Film, McCullers and Music, and International Perspectives on McCullers.

[UPDATE] Treatment of Medieval Poetry in the Modern World (SAMLA Nov. 4-6, 2011)

updated: 
Thursday, June 2, 2011 - 10:06am
Carola Mattord / Kennesaw State University

In the wake of Peter Ackroyd's prose translation of The Canterbury Tales, Dante's Inferno video game, and Baba Brinkman's The Rap Canterbury Tales, this session will explore the various treatments of medieval poetry in the modern world and/or the value (or cause for concern) that these treatments, whether visual, textual, audio, etc., bring to producing access for a wider modern audience. Perspectives or reflections on various treatments of medieval poetry in the university classroom setting are also welcome. The 250-word proposal submission has been extended to June 20.

Women in the Geosciences (GSA Northeast Mtg, March 18-20, 2012)

updated: 
Thursday, June 2, 2011 - 8:32am
Kristine Larsen

I am organizing oral and poster sessions on "Women in the Geosciences: Past, Present, and Future" for the Northeast Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America (March 18-20, 2012, Hartford, CT). I am looking for contributions on any aspect of women and the geosciences, including (but not restricted to): the role of women in geoscience fields in the past; impediments to women as both students and professionals in the geosciences in the past and present; recruiting and retaining women in the geosciences; gender issues in the teaching of geosciences; gender and geosciences in public outreach programs. Interested persons should email me at Larsen@ccsu.edu ASAP with their ideas.

La Fontaine: Power of the Fables

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 5:51pm
SAMLA 2011 Conference - South Atlantic Modern Language Association - November 4-6, 2011 in Atlanta, GA

"Au moment que je fais cette moralité, / Si Peau d'âne m'était conté, / J'y prendrais un plaisir extrême [...]", said La Fontaine in "Le Pouvoir des Fables". This special session seeks papers that will explore the pertinence or the connivance of the Lafontainian savoir-faire rhétorique that is concretized in the power of representation/representation of power in the "Fables". Proposals are due by June 15, 2011. Abstracts should be submitted to Max Adrien at hadrien01@gw.hamline.edu.

[UPDATE] Espionage: Love and War. Aphra Behn Society. ASECS March 23-25, 2012

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 1:19pm
ASECS/Aphra Behn Society

Spies, allegations of spying, voyeurism, double agents, and the buying, trading, and coveting of intelligence abounds in the work of the former royal spy, Aphra Behn. Both morally dubious and exceptionally effective, spies are deployed, in disguise or in the person of a bosom friend, as a means to win battles of love and war. The Aphra Behn Society invites paper proposals on espionage, in all its permutations, in women's literature and art, 1660-1830. How do the women of this period investigate and participate in various forms of espionage? How do their texts explore the uses of espionage, and anxieties over the potential infiltration of the spy into private spaces, and the communication of intelligence to external or hostile parties?

[Update] Deadline Extended: 2011 M/MLA: No, I'm Not American/Je ne suis pas français: Canadian Writers Playing With Identity

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 12:55pm
Mid-West Modern Languages Association Permanent Section on Canadian Literature

Canadian witers in both French and English have historically been defined by who they are not: British, French, American. This uncertain and unstable national identity has now been embraced by many writers and is expressed in a great deal of playfulness in their writing. With works like Souvenirs from Canada by Douglas Coupland, Est-ce que cette grenade dans la main du Nègre est-il une arme ou un fruit? by Dany Laferrière, or Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King, Canadian writers have posed a critical eye on Canadian and American cultural and aesthetic norms. This panel invites papers that discuss how Canadian writers have played with the idea of being Canadian (in the broadest possible sense) in opposition to how others attempt to label them.

But Seriously, Times Are Tough: Comedy in Recession and Depression

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 12:20pm
Midwest Modern Language Association

In keeping with the informal theme of the 2011 conference of "Play..No Seriously", this session invites papers on the roles of comedy in times of economic distress and financial crisis. While comedy has often been considered as "escapist" art in times of economic calamity, this panel will explore how comic works in literature, film, television, and music function in more serious terms than providing relief from the rigors of economic hardship. Possible avenues of exploration include how comedy can critique or subvert culture or government in a recession or how comedy can reinforce reactionary perspectives during a time of depression. Papers from all time periods and contexts are welcome.

[UPDATE] Gabriel JOSIPOVICI (LISA e-Journal, special number)

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 12:03pm
Marcin Stawiarski - ERIBIA, Université de Caen-Basse Normandie

Gabriel JOSIPOVICI (LISA e-Journal, special number)

LISA e-Journal seeks contributions for its special issue devoted to Gabriel Josipovici to appear in February 2012.

Mother/Nature Conference - March 16-18, 2012 - Hattiesburg, MS

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 11:43am
University of Southern Mississippi English Graduate Organization

Mother/Nature Conference

March 16-18, 2012
Thad Cochran Center
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: DR. BARBARA GATES

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."
John Muir

We live in a time of crisis in our homes and in our natural environment. From hurricanes to oil spills, we are linked to each other through the loss and degradation of regional and national habitats. Our selfhoods and the place we make for ourselves in the world are ultimately rooted in both our biological and ecological families.

Fair Play: Reading Sports ConTexts (MMLA, Nov. 3-6, submission deadline July 11)

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 11:08am
Noah Cohan, Washington University in St. Louis

53rd Annual M/MLA Convention
November 3-6, 2011
St. Louis, MO
Convention Theme: "Play…No, Seriously"

Fair Play: Reading Sports ConTexts explores the rich semiotic play of sports texts. Temporally, geographically, and disciplinarily flexible, this session is geared toward those interested in the humanistic interpretation of sports texts, attracting work that may have difficulty finding a home on more conventionally-configured panels. Welcoming papers on a broad range of topics, from athletes to fans, from sports fiction to autobiography and nonfiction, from films and televisual texts to interpretations of sporting events themselves as texts, this session is aimed at a broad spectrum of presenters and audiences.

CFP - Justified (FX) Television Reader

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 10:40am
Bärbel Göbel, PhD / University of Kansas Brian Michael Faucette/ Coldwell Community College

We are seeking submissions for a collection of essays on the popular and critically acclaimed series Justified (FX). Topics can include but are not limited to the following:

A Child Called It: Analysis of psychological trauma in a child and society

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 10:09am
Ap Literature

A Child called it is a book based on true experiences of the author Dave Pelzer. As a child he was physically and mentally abused by his mother. He was singled out from his siblings and things were not what a child in a loving household would go through. The traumatic effect of the abuse marked Pelzer's life. Through a psychological view it is clear that Dave Pelzer's behaviors reflected his situation with his mother.

Spiritualist Manifestos: Writing the Seance (NEMLA, deadline 9/30/2011)

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 10:06am
Anne DeLong/Kutztown University

43nd Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
March 15-18, 2012
Rochester, New York – Hyatt Rochester
Host Institution: St. John Fisher College
Keynote speaker: Jennifer Egan, 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner, A Visit from the Goon Squad

Children's Periodical panel at NeMLA

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 8:34am
Northeast Modern Language Association

Panel: "Fun With a Purpose": Periodical Pedagogy and Early Edutainment

43nd Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
March 15-18, 2012
Rochester, New York – Hyatt Rochester
Host Institution: St. John Fisher College

The Ethics of Pleasure in Early Modern Literature and Philosophy (MMLA, Nov. 3-6, 2011)

updated: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 8:28am
Melissa M. Caldwell

Reflecting the 2011 MMLA conference theme "Play…No, Seriously," this interdisciplinary panel seeks to bring together scholars interested in examining the value and uses of pleasure in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature and philosophy, especially in texts in which the two disciplines intersect. The panel welcomes submissions from the European tradition widely construed and beyond. Submissions might include, but are not limited to, topics on any of the following:

The Queerness of Hip Hop/ The Hip Hop of Queerness Symposium and Special Issue of Palimpsest [Due: Dec. 15, 2011]

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 11:33pm
Harvard University and Palimpsest, A Journal of Women, Gender and the Black International

The Queerness of Hip Hop/ The Hip Hop of Queerness

Call for Papers for a One-Day Symposium at Harvard University and Special Issue of Palimpsest, A journal of Women, Gender and the Black International

Conveners/ Editors: Scott Poulson-Bryant and C. Riley Snorton, Ph.D.

Abstracts due December 15, 2011

Harvard University Symposium
September 21, 2012

As Queer Theory has developed as a discursive space in which to investigate and find intellectual engagement with issues of citizenship, nationalism, globalism, and race, hip hop studies has increasingly become an important site of the study of sexuality, gender and the body.

TEN YEARS ON – 9/11 IN EUROPEAN LITERATURE Call for Papers

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 6:41pm
Svenja Frank / Oxford University

- apologies for cross posting -

TEN YEARS ON – 9/11 IN EUROPEAN LITERATURE Call for Papers
Oxford University, September 15-16, 2011

Special Guest: Thomas Lehr, currently holding the Heiner-Müller-Gastprofessur at Freie Universität Berlin, will be reading from his much acclaimed novel September. Fata Morgana (2010).

"Ils ont souffert 102 minutes – la durée moyenne d'un film hollywoodien."
(Frédéric Beigbeder: Windows on the World)

[UPDATE] NEMLA 2012: Infighting and Rival Texts in 20th Cent. African-American Literature

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 5:48pm
NEMLA

From early on in the Harlem Renaissance, many black writers knew for a fact that there was a New Negro, but most differed on the nuances when creating such a character from text. African-American Literature in the early 20th century was marked not only by the spirit of cooperation and the feeling of community, but also by infighting and fevered debate over what constituted a proper direction for the movement(s). This panel seeks to reignite discussion over the ideas and histories of these debates between black writers during the formative and fluid period of 1920-1960. Divisive texts will be highlighted and discussed.

[UPDATE] deadline extended: June 30, 2011. (mis)Representing Difference in Media and Everyday Items

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 3:57pm
Susan Booker Morris, Interdisciplinary Humanities

Although reason and discourse are important in framing and communicating 'truths' about the human being, increasingly visual representation is serving to communicate attitudes, histories, beliefs, and values. This special issue on the representation of the 'other' invites your analysis of race, ethnicity, nationality, queerness, or gender as found in representations in television, ads, films, photographs, video games, computer images, etc. If these othernesses are constructed, the visual representation is one arena in which the construction takes place and is disseminated. Any theoretical bases are welcome.

[UPDATE] M/MLA Panel: Playing with Current Concerns in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 3:46pm
Kristi McDuffie

Still seeking submissions!

The current popularity of The Hunger Games Trilogy has brought young adult dystopian fiction to the forefront of both readers' and scholars' minds this year. Yet this genre has always produced innovative novels that reflect contemporary hopes and fears in their playful (and often violent) explorations of the future. Many authors use potential future worlds to comment upon contemporary concerns, including the loss of literacy, gender roles, political participation, and more. Presenters are invited to submit papers that consider how authors explore current issues in future dystopian and utopian worlds and what those predictions reveal about perceptions of young adults today.

Literature, Trauma, and Healing: Refusing to Silence the Discourse (abstract deadline: Sept. 30; conference: March 15-18)

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 1:16pm
43nd Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

Conference:
43nd Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
March 15-18, 2012
Rochester, New York – Hyatt Rochester
Host Institution: St. John Fisher College
Keynote speaker: Jennifer Egan, 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner, A Visit from the Goon Squad

Panel/Session Description:

Serious Play in the Political Novel (Midwest Modern Language Association, Nov. 3-6, 2011, St. Louis)

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 12:16pm
Samuel Cohen, University of Missouri

This already accepted special session--organized for the 53rd Annual Meeting of the MMLA, whose informal theme is "Play... No, Seriously"--will consist of papers exploring the ways in which fiction writers, when turning to the political, have made use of those resources available to novelists and short story writers interested in non-realistic, non-traditional, experimental, difficult—playful—forms and modes. While traditionally (and reductively) conceived "realism" has often been assumed to be the default mode for the politically engaged fiction-writer, we will examine those works that have taken alternative approaches. Among the array of questions our panelists might ask: How can writers engage the political?

Whip Me, Beat Me: The Representation of Violence Against Women (NEMLA deadline: 9/30/11)

updated: 
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 12:10pm
Northeast Modern Language Association Convention Rochester NY April

This panel invites papers that study the representation of violence against women in literary texts. Papers may focus on: How are these acts represented in the text, as a taboo or as a 'normal act'? Are these acts decried by the characters or accepted as 'normal' behavior? Do these acts affect the passions and sexuality of the characters? Please send 200-300 word abstracts and brief biographical statements to Victoria Ketz

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