Clapping Back: Responses from Sound Studies to Censorship & Silencing (MLA 2026)
The MS Sound Forum invites papers for a guaranteed session at the Modern Language Association’s annual conference in Toronto in January 2026. The session responds in part to the MLA Executive Council’s refusal to allow debate or a vote on Resolution 2025-1, which supported the international “Boycott, Divest, and Sanction” (BDS) Movement for Palestinian rights against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In light of the Council’s suppression of debate, at MLA 2026, the Sound Forum seeks to provide a space for dialogue and meditation on silencing, censorship, and the role of organizations like the MLA in the face of systemic violence and threats to academic freedom.