CFP for Peace, Literature, and Pedagogy Panel

MMLA 2023, November 2-5, Cincinnati, OH

Abstract Deadline: May 10, 2023

General Conference Topic: "Going Public: What the MMLA Owes Democracy"

The Midwest Modern Language Association welcomes, especially but not exclusively, proposals dealing with any aspect of the theme "Going Public: What the MMLA Owes Democracy" for the 2023 conference. Please find a general description of this theme here: 

https://www.luc.edu/mmla/convention/callforpapers/

Our permanent panel--Peace, Literature, and Pedagogy--will explore this theme at the intersection of peace studies, the cultural value of literature and related media, and methods and outcomes of reading/interpreting those media in the classroom. The list of topics provided by MMLA is a good starting point for us as well, for the interplay of peace studies, literature, and pedagogy opens many lines of inquiry. Here are some others to consider:

• classroom and community in higher education

• the impact of community of interpretive practice

• the role of the writer/teacher/student in a collective space

• active citizenship as a product or motivation of teaching and learning

• satire as an instrument of resistance/change/revolution

• protest literature and the literature of protest

• liberal arts education in contemporary society

• art, social advocacy, and cultural institutions

• the literature of collective witness

• environmental literature and criticism

• gender and LGBTQ studies

• identity and cultural power

• feminism and womanism

• shifting literacies and modes of production

• pop culture in the college classroom

• rhetoric and cultural participation

We encourage submission on these topics or others that promote discussion of (a) peaceful conflict resolution, (b) literature (media) about peace or its absence, and (c) pedagogical issues that influence or emerge from peace studies. We are especially interested in proposals that explore the intersection of all three. Please submit a Word document, electronically via email attachment, containing a 250-word abstract, your name, institution, email, and paper title to Dr. Matthew Horton (matthew.horton@ung.edu) by May 10, 2023.

Chair and Secretary: Dr. Matthew Horton, University of North Georgia.