CFP: “Provocations” for American Gothic Studies

American Gothic Studies is seeking short essays for its “Provocations” section. These pieces (2,000 words) are meant to question conventional wisdom, tackle compelling issues, or advance new theses about the American Gothic as an academic field or pedagogical subject.

Among other things, authors might:

The Incredible Nineteenth Century: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fairy Tale (I19) seeks to publish the best scholarship on the century that was, in many ways, the time period in which the modern genres of science fiction and fantasy began, and in which the academic study of fairy tale and folklore has its roots. 

We are pleased to announce that the Berkeley Graduate Conference on Early Modern Political Thought (1400-1800) will take place on Saturday May 3rd, 2025.

Alison McQueen (Stanford University) will deliver the keynote address.

We are accepting abstracts of 300-500 words on any topic or geographic area so long as it substantively engages with the timeframe. Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, and they must not yet have a PhD.

Submission deadline: January 10th, 2025 at midnight PST. Accepted speakers will be notified in February 2025.

Paper jam: Nonhuman Cultures of the Air and Oceans

Looking back from 2014, when ecocriticism discussed “culture as such in the last decade and a half, it has often been in the process of contesting a view of nature as a cultural construction. …In this tired debate, ecocritics, busy refuting an erasure of nature, and other theorists, busy asserting the primacy of culture, both end up affirming the essentialist idea of culture at the core of this binary and the humanities. The persistence of this formulation of culture is the most pressing philosophical problem for ecocriticism and green studies, and critical and cultural theory generally” (Ecocriticism and the Idea of Culture).

War is hell but can also be funny, whether as a safety valve from pressure or catharsis after tragedy, as subversion, as efforts to build and maintain morale, or as exercises in nostalgia. Cinema early discovered the comedy inherent to conflict including the immensely successful 1920 film Alf’s Button, made just after and set during the First World War and notable as being popular despite (or because of) making comedy about the recent war. Comedy about war has since proliferated and writing and themes continue to respond to and adapt themselves to changing global and political circumstances including comedy responding to the Global War on Terror.

CFP 35th LSU Mardi Gras Conference - Spectral Landscapes: Hauntology in Place and Space

Lousiana State University | February 26-28, 2025 | Hybrid Format

It was haunted; but real hauntings have nothing to do with ghosts finally; they have to do with the menace of memory.—Anne Rice

The sun is the past, the earth is the present, the moon is the future.—Nikola Tesla

The Mystery & Detective Fiction Area of the Popular Culture Association invites proposals for the 2025 annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 16-19, 2025.

We seek proposals from researchers, academics, graduate students, and independent scholars for scholarly discussions on all aspects and periods of mystery and detective fiction. Interdisciplinary approaches are strongly encouraged, including cultural studies, visual arts, media studies, audience reception and fan studies.

Title: "Future Memory: Intersections of Memory, Technology, and Narrative in Literature and Film"

This seminar explores the concept of "future memory" across literature and film. We will examine the impact of memory, trauma, and technology on human cognition. We will analyze texts that challenge traditional notions of temporality and consciousness. We will question how memories shape identity, and how technological advancements might alter our understanding of lived experience.

In an ideal situation, learning leads to knowledge and knowledge raises awareness. Set within the context of the past, this simple statement leads us to consider a range of different questions. How did medieval and early modern people learn and what did they learn? How did they teach and what did they teach? Who was taught and who was not? Who decided what was to be taught? Such questions, among others, help us understand the process of how learning and knowledge was acquired in the premodern world. But it also helps us better appreciate what we know about the premodern world and what people were trying to achieve when they set out to gain knowledge about their world and the society they lived in.

Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Conference 2025

Philadelphia, PA

6-9 March 2025

Introduction and Scope:

The Mississippi River, often regarded as America’s central artery, has been instrumental in shaping the nation’s geography, culture, and history. This edited volume, The Mississippi: Soundings on America’s Arterial River, aims to explore the river’s vast influence, tracing its course from the headwaters at Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its expansive delta at the Gulf of Mexico.

                                                                              UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND
                                                                2nd International Interdisciplinary Conference
                                                Theme: Language, disciplinarity and knowledge production in Africa

                                                         Hosted by the Department of English, UNIZULU

Conference Dates: 29 May - 01 June 2025

The Fifteenth Biennial

HOLOCAUST STUDIES CONFERENCE

At Middle Tennessee State University

March 6-7, 2025

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Keynote Speaker: Professor Daniel Magilow, University of Tennessee, Knoxville