Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to extend a warm invitation to contribute to the guaranteed Women in French sessions at the 2024 Midwest Modern Language Association (MMLA) annual conference, set to convene in Chicago, Illinois from November 14-16, 2024. We welcome submissions from all members of Women in French, irrespective of their geographical location. We strongly encourage participation from international scholars as well as independent researchers. For new members, Women in French offers a complimentary one-year membership, and competitive travel funds are available for graduate students. Abstracts of 200-250 words, accompanied by a brief bio note of 50 words, should be forwarded to Prof. Nevine El Nossery at: elnossery@wisc.edu by May 10, 2024. For further details regarding MMLA and the annual conference, please visit the conference website: https://southatlanticmla.org/ Looking forward to your valuable contributions."Health in/of the Humanities"14-16 November 2024Hilton Chicago720 S. Michigan AveChicago, IL 60605 Also you are able to send the abstract of the same paper presented at the MMLA to be published afterwards in a special volume in Cairo Studies in English. Abstracts of 200-300 words should be sent to: transactionalcolonialisms@gmail.com by May 15, 2024 (please add a short bio note of 50 words). 

Selected full articles (of 5000-6000 words—including notes and references); in Chicago (author-date) style, Times New Roman font, size 12, and double-spaced will be due on August 31, 2024. Articles will undergo a rigorous blind review process by scholars in their respective fields. The special issue is scheduled for December 2024. For detailed submission guidelines, please refer to: Cairo Studies in English - Guide for Authors (ekb.eg)  If you have any questions, feel free to contact the special issue editors (Shereen Abouelnaga- Nevine El Nossery- Rania Elshabassy) at transactionalcolonialisms@gmail.com 

We look forward to receiving your submissions and thank you in advance for your consideration.

Conjuring Decolonial Alternatives:

Subversive Navigations of Transnational Colonialisms 

In the midst of contemporary global transformations, where power relations are being reshuffled and dynamic shifts are occurring, our understanding of transnational colonialisms is continuously evolving. Colonial rule, with its varied manifestations within distinct imperial contexts, has deeply influenced the intricate relationship between the postcolonial and the transnational. While colonial imaginings and practices have given rise to various forms of independence, often within the niche of postcolonialism, the persistent presence of transnational colonialism in our world has spurred calls for "decolonial" alternatives and practices to challenge power dynamics and scrutinize its numerous discontents.

It is no surprise, then, that "decolonial thinking" has been proposed as a means to offer novel and subversive substitutes to the Western manifestations of modernity imposed globally through colonialism. Scholars such as Anibal Quijano and Walter Mignolo have emphasized the necessity for a "decolonization of knowledge" and a disentanglement from the "colonial matrix of power", highlighting the importance of moving beyond simply removing the colonizer from the territory (Mignolo, The Darker Side of Western Modernity 2011, 54).

 Inspired by Mignolo's insightful perspectives, this panel aims to engage scholars and researchers in an exploration of potential decolonized futures, challenging conventional knowledge-power relations and addressing the local, global, and glocal neo-colonial powers. Through a subversive dialogue on established theories of colonialism, our goal is to examine diverse perspectives, voices, and contexts prevalent in different parts of the world, with a particular focus on the experiences and agency of women within the realm of French studies.

We invite papers that interrogate, but are not limited to, the following themes:

- Anti-colonial movements and theories, and practices of resistance.

- Settler colonialism from a transnational perspective.

- The dynamics of "data colonialism".

- The social institution of patriarchy as a dark aspect of colonialism.

- Gendered negotiations of power between the Global South and Global North.

- Decolonizing gender studies within the context of French studies.

- Strategies for subversion and decoloniality with a focus on women's agency.

- Decolonizing pedagogy and teaching within French studies programs.

- The university as a platform of decolonization, particularly regarding women's experiences.

- Globalization from a decolonial perspective.

- Mobility within a decolonial context

- Ecological legacies of colonialism.

- Nation-State Indigenous epistemologies

Cordially,

Nevine El Nossery