Myth and the environment have shared a rich common cultural history travelling as far back as the old times of storytelling and legend (Love 2003; O’Brian and White 2017, Schama 1996). From native American oral narrative where animals, humans and other beings interact, to Genesis in the Bible or the Darwinian theory of evolution, we can trace a rich array of elements which qualify as myth in different cultures. All of them, almost constantly have effects on the environment. From animals to “supernatural events,” the liminality of myth exhibits transition and transformation.

PopMeC is an academic collective interested in investigating the articulation of the numerous and heterogeneous representations which have been constructing images of the US. The research group’s work is focused on how the US—their history, society, and diverse cultures—have been represented in popular media and cultural products. We foster a participative, engaging collaboration among scholars of any level interested in the field, as well as we aim at allowing postgraduate and early career participants to receive feedback and support in an academic safe space.

Proposed panel for the meeting of the Modern Language Association 2022. MLA will convene in Washington, DC, 6–9 January 2022

We invite abstracts for papers that query/develop/theorize the genre of Black satire by thinking about its aims/audiences/range in relation to conventional satirical traditions and alternative frameworks such as the Black radicalism or Black pessimism/optimism.

Send 250-word abstracts to John Brooks at john.brooks.3@bc.edu by 1 March 2021. 

Second Call for Papers

International Conference

Université de Bretagne Occidentale – 4-5 November 2021

Indigenous Environmental Artistic Practices Responding to Pollution:

Comparative Research between Oceania and the Americas

Organised by Estelle Castro-Koshy, Senior Researcher, James Cook University

Géraldine Le Roux, Ass. Prof., UBO (France), James Cook University

 Alto Quayson argues that “in works where disability plays a dominant role, the reader’s perspective is [ . .

Description

The conference gathers researches working in different disciplines to discuss the possibility of a radical change – social, economic, legal, environmental and, underlying all these, conceptual and ethical – in the relationship between humans and other animals. The question in the title refers to the possibilities as well as the challenges, of radically re-configuring ways of thinking of and living with animals, in opposition to a dominant framework in which animals are taken primarily as resources for human benefit.

Announcing the Reframing Hollywood series at Mississippi University Press, January 2021

The Reframing Hollywood series will feature dynamic and original short monographs and edited collections, each of which explore a single film of significant cultural impact which has emerged from the American film industry since the turn of the new millennium. These vibrant critical explorations of contemporary American film will offer a stimulating, academic, yet accessible interrogation of a single work from a variety of critical perspectives.

Katherine Mansfield:

Germany and Beyond

Bad Wörishofen, Germany

25-27 October 2021

An international conference organised by the

Katherine Mansfield Society

Hosted by the Bad Wörishofen Mayorality

and Tourist and Spa Bureau

The Body Studies Journal (bodystudiesjournal.org, ISSN 2642-9772), a peer-reviewed, open access journal for the inter-/trans-disciplinary field of Body Studies, welcomes submissions for its third issue.  

Coronavirus, the brutal murders of George Floyd and so many other innocent Black people, and the Black Lives Matters movement have indelibly marked how 2020 will be recorded in history.  All of these revolutionary social, medical, cultural and historical movements intersect with the body.  The Body Studies Journal specifically invites papers that focus on the events of 2020.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:  

CFP: Feminism(s) and American Land: Examining Early Feminist Ecologies Through Legacies of White Extractivism (SSAWW 2021- Deadline 1.24.2021)

The months of May and June, 2020, saw unprecedented global protests against anti-Black racism and calls for a more equitable and just society that recognizes the humanity and lives of people of African descent. While these protests initially originated across the United States, protesters around the world quickly galvanized in support of these issues organizing events in a growing number of countries, including Canada, Mexico, Haiti, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia and Japan. This has been an important moment for Black scholars, activists, and cultural producers everywhere—as well as their friends and allies—to reflect not only on the crisis that has marked Black lives, but also on our future possibilities.

Within the scholarly realm, patriotism has often been researched within social sciences, humanities, but there is little published research through the lens of veteran studies. Patriotism in America has evoked passionate responses from both non-veterans as well as veterans but what does it mean to be patriotic in America in the 21st century?  Has the meaning of patriotism changed from the last century?  Is American patriotism accessible across social and cultural boundaries, is it an aspirational idea for some, or is it an outdated social construct in an ever-evolving society?  How can patriotism be measured?  

In an increasingly global world, individuals and communities are experiencing severe disruptions to their
way of life. Among these disruptions are the emerging consequences of the climate crisis, the Covid-19
pandemic, and the resurgence of nationalist and alt-right organizations that have sought to exert control over
bodies both at and within national borders. In response to this overlap of disturbances, we are witnessing
grassroots mobilization and the emergence of new coalitions across previously discrete communities to
reconstruct life and perceptions of justice. How can we understand and study the significant disruptions and

Handmaidens of the Patriarchy: Anti-Feminist Complicity across Cultures (sponsored by the Coalition of Women in German)

Modern Language Association Convention, January 6–9, 2022 Washington, DC

“Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.” -Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (p. 34)