36th ANNUAL BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AND

POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES CONFERENCE

MARCH 5–6, 2027

GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, ARMSTRONG CAMPUS, SAVANNAH GA

CALL FOR PAPERS

The BCPS Conference, inaugurated in 1992, is the oldest and longest-running annual meetings of its kind in the U.S. We call for presentations situated in colonial and postcolonial histories, literatures, creative and performing arts, politics, economics, and all other aspects of the countries formerly colonized by Britain and other European powers.

Please join us at Georgia Southern University's Armstrong Campus in Savannah for the critical engagement, friendly community, and vibrant network that has been a hallmark of the BCPS Conference for over three decades.

We invite proposals situated in both thematic and geographic areas, including:

• Postcolonial Studies: Where Were We? Where Are We? Where To Now?
• Perspectives and Current Practices in Postcolonial Pedagogy
• Bioethics, Ecology, Ecocriticism, Health and Wellness
• Migration, Diaspora, Hybridity, and Borders
• Region, Religion, Politics, and Culture
• History and Historiography
• War and Terrorism
• Race, Racism, Class, Gender, Sexuality, and Ethnicity
• Ethics, Economics, and Globalization
• Pedagogy and the Disciplines
• Intersections of Francophone and Anglophone Literatures
• Postcolonial, Liberation, and Transnational Literatures, Arts, and Media
• Or any other aspect of the British Commonwealth, or of countries formerly colonized by other European powers

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Gaurav Desai

Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of English, University of Michigan

His research focuses on African literature, culture, and the law, as well as postcolonial studies, among other subjects. Desai is the author of Subject to Colonialism: African Self-Fashioning and the Colonial Library (2001) and Commerce with the Universe: Africa, India, and the Afrasian Imagination (2013), and he is the editor of several books and special issues of journals, including Teaching the African Novel (2009) and Postcolonialisms: An Anthology of Cultural Theory and Criticism (2005). Most recently, he coedited Critical Terms for the Study of Africa (2018) and Approaches to Teaching the Works of Amitav Ghosh (2018). He currently serves as the second vice president of the MLA. Desai previously served as president of the African Literature Association. He is also the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including a residential fellowship at the National Humanities Center, a Rockefeller Foundation award for a residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy, a visiting fellowship at Cambridge University, and an ACLS Burkhardt Fellowship for his research.

SUBMISSIONS

Proposals for individual papers or full panels are accepted at our site: BCPS 2027 Submission Form

DEADLINE

Deadline for proposal submissions: October 16, 2026

Notification of acceptance: completed by October 30, 2026

REGISTRATION

Registration includes access to all sessions, the keynote address, one reception, and two lunch vouchers for the university dining room.

Faculty: $125.00

Graduate Students, Contingent Faculty, Independent Scholars, and Georgia Southern Faculty outside the Department of English: $100.00

CONTACT / QUESTIONS

Send email to bcps2027@gmail.com

ACCOMMODATIONS

While there is no conference hotel block this year, the following nearby options are recommended:

Closest to campus (~5 minutes):

• Holiday Inn Express & Suites Savannah Midtown — 11325 Abercorn St — (912) 629-0900
• Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Savannah Southside — 11317 Abercorn St — (912) 920-3787

Additional nearby options:

• Tru By Hilton Savannah Midtown — 77 W Fairmont Ave — (912) 200-5505
• Courtyard by Marriott Savannah Midtown — 6703 Abercorn St — (912) 354-7878

FOR POTENTIAL PRESENTERS

• Presentations must be delivered on-site.
• Individual paper proposals should include an abstract of 300 words maximum and a biographical statement, including your academic affiliation.
• Panel proposals should include an abstract for each paper and a biographical statement for each presenter.
• Panels should be designed for 75 minutes; individual papers for 15-minute delivery, maximum.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

See our site at bcpsconference.org

SPONSORS

Georgia Southern University Department of English

The Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies