cfp.english.upenn.edu

This panel will explore “experience” as a constructed form of knowledge in American literature. Papers
 may focus on one text, on works by one author, or on multiple writers. I am also interested in essays centering on experience in connection with American literary historiography. Of particular interest are analyses of scholarly traditions that privilege experience as an epistemological category—often in the service of arguments that foreground the distinctiveness and/or the exceptional quality of American culture. Essays may address any American literary period(s), genre(s), and/or themes. Papers may also compare constructions of experience in American literature with the literatures of other linguistic, national, and/or cultural groups.
Please email abstracts of 300-500 words to Andy Dorsey 
(adorsey_at_csustan.edu). Include with your abstract your name, academic
 affiliation (proposals by graduate students and independent scholars are welcome), contact information, and a one-page CV.

Deadline for proposals: January 7, 2011

Andy Dorsey
Assistant Professor of English
California State University, Stanislaus
adorsey@csustan.edu