Just over a decade ago, Dana Phillips (in)famously attacked ecocritics for uncritically borrowing terms and ideas from the discipline of ecology, which, he argued, is itself a "less than fully coherent field with a very checked past and fairly uncertain future" (45). While controversial, Phillips's critique sparked important discussions about ecocriticism's methodology, especially its claim to interdisciplinarity. So-called "second wave" ecocritics reexamined the field's founding assumptions; a period of self-assessment propelled ecocriticism toward a more rigorous engagement with the sciences as well as the humanities.

"Third-wave" ecocriticism scarcely resembles the subfield Phillips indicted. Indeed, today's ecocriticism is at the vanguard of sophisticated inter and cross-disciplinary collaboration between the arts and sciences. Recent ecocritical studies draw upon such diverse fields as cognitive science, evolutionary biology, affect studies, and epidemiology. Alongside more traditional artifacts such as literature and film, ecocritics examine big data, sustainable development, and other topics of scientific interest.

In response to the MMLA conference theme, "Arts and Sciences," this panel seeks papers that explore ecocriticism as a nexus of the arts and sciences. Papers focused on all periods and genres are welcome, as are papers on pedagogy and/or activism. Creative pieces will also be considered. Please submit a 250-300 word abstract including paper title to Dr. Lisa Ottum at ottuml@xavier.edu by April 15th. Queries welcome.

This year's MMLA will be held in Columbus, OH November 12th-15th. See the conference website for details: http://www.luc.edu/mmla/convention/