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“Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars
A PopCRN Conference
Join us for a free virtual conference exploring the Star Wars universe and its enduring cultural impact to be held online from 4th-5th May 2027.
Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas (father as well as son), William Wordsworth, Percy B. Shelley, Friedrich Hölderlin, G.W.F. Hegel… The list of writers from the era conventionally identified as “Romantic” to have become enthusiastic about the French Revolution could keep on going indefinitely. In fact, ever since the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1765, through the French and the Haitian Revolutions throughout the 1790’s, all the way to 1848, the year that de-politicized Charles Baudelaire (according to his letter from May 5, 1852 to Narcisse Ancelle), literary production seems to have been inseparable from the process of building after and thinking social revolution.
As some institutions restructure academic priorities in response to various pressures in higher education, the Humanities can face contraction, marginalization, or elimination. These challenges are intensified at specialized universities, meaning institutions oriented toward fields such as STEM, health sciences, business, etc., where Humanities courses are often kept to general education requirements and could be perceived as peripheral to students’ professional training. Within such environments, Humanities faculty must navigate not only broader disciplinary challenges but also institutional cultures that may misunderstand or underappreciate the field’s contributions.
Religion, Morality, and the American Presidency: The West Wing at 30
Edited by Ilaria W. Biano
Deadline: September 30, 2026
Premiering in 1999, The West Wing quickly became one of the most influential television portrayals of American political life. Through its depiction of the Bartlet administration, the series offered a powerful narrative of the presidency as a site of moral deliberation, civic responsibility, and public leadership. The show remains a significant reference point in discussions of political authority, democratic institutions, and the ethical responsibilities of governance.
Description:
Join us for a critical examination of the intersection of artificial intelligence, language acquisition, and ethical pedagogy. We invite submissions that investigate the efficacy of AI-driven tools in language learning, highlighting both their benefits and associated challenges.
Contribute to an informed dialogue on the responsible integration of AI in educational practice.
Abstract:
Plant Pedagogy: Words Beyond Walls
Series Editor— Prof. Douglas Vakoch
Editors— Dr Subhashis Banerjee, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Nagaland University, India and Dr Tanmoy Bhattacharjee, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Women’s Christian College, Kolkata, India
Prospective Publisher— Bloomsbury (Critical Plant Studies Series)
Special Issue: ‘Veteran & Post-Military Appearance & Dress’
Guest Editor: Matt Porter, Social Redress, USA
Special Issue: ‘Cowboy Carter: Reimagining the American West through Fashion, Music and Performance’
Guest editors:
Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Sonya Abrego, Fordham University, USA
Robb Hernández, Fordham University, USA
Special Issue: ‘Fatness, Fashion and Profession in India’
Guest Editors
Kishan Kumar Mishra, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, India (kishan_m@hs.iitr.ac.in)
Neha Kumari, Sri Balaji University, Pune, India (nk0007788@gmail.com)
Call for Papers
Human machine interfacing can be as simple as pressing a button or as complex and entangled (also entangling) as inserting a brain chip into the skull. science fiction. Humans with implants, prosthetic and hybrid humans with electronic and mechanical extensions are yet another level are no longer science fiction. Yet, human-machine interfacing has started long before the invention of these technologies. Machines did communicate with us and tell us about themselves even before chatbots were invented. The clanking of a hammer on the anvil tells us that it is old and dull. The whistle of a microwave tells us that dinner is ready. The process of interfacing is not a one-way process. Through it, humans also communicate with the machine.
Embodied Ecologies and Sacred Landscapes: Interpreting Indian Knowledge Tradition on Island Spaces (ISOIS 2026)
December 14-15, 2026
Concept Note:
Indian knowledge traditions have long imagined land, water, and life-worlds as sacred, relational, and more-than-human, weaving together rituals, narratives, cosmologies, and practices of care that exceed modern disciplinary boundaries. Island spaces—whether riverine sandbars, coastal archipelagos, sacred groves on hill-islands, or temple-tanks experienced as spiritual islands—offer particularly rich terrains for exploring embodied ecologies, ritualised forms of dwelling, and ecological memory.
Call for Chapters
ReFocus: The Films of Gaspar Noé
Edited by Florian Zappe
Edinburgh University Press ReFocus: The International Directors Series
Series Editors: Gary D. Rhodes, Robert Singer, Stefanie Van de Peer, Nuno Barradas Jorge
The E. E. Cummings Society and the Society’s journal, Spring, invite abstracts for 20-minute papers for the 54th annual Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, Feb. 18-20, 2027, at the University of Louisville (https://events.louisville.edu/conferences/list-conferences/louisville-conference-literature-and-culture).
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS | The Soliloquist Journal | FALL 2026 ISSUE
'The Soliloquist Journal' seeks submissions of poems and soliloquies for Fall 2026 issue Website: https://thesoliloquistmagazine.my.canva.site/#submitEmail: thesoliloquistmag@gmail.com
Issue Theme: The Anatomy of Forgetting
In 1996, Carl Sagan warned us of a time when people would lose their ability to question, “when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few . . . when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.” Maybe Mr Sagan was somewhat pessimistic when writing The Demon-Haunted World. But then again, in times of conspiracy theories, Ancient Aliens, Antivaxxers, and Holocaust Deniers, the Age of Information appears just as capable of spreading dangerous frauds and charlatans as it is of disseminating reliable scholarship.
Panel: Ecocriticism (standing session) co-sponsored by ASLE
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sat July 25, 2026
Submission link: https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/20212.
Conference: Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA)
Conference Theme: "Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict”
Location and Date: Seattle, Washington (USA), Nov 12-15
How do postcolonial literatures imagine hospitality in a world shaped by colonial histories, forced migration, displacement, and contested belonging? This panel invites papers that examine the ethics and politics of hospitality through postcolonial, diasporic, and transnational literary and cultural texts. Moving beyond hospitality as a simple act of welcome, the panel seeks to explore its tensions, contradictions, and possibilities: Who is welcomed, excluded, or rendered perpetually a stranger? How do migration, exile, memory, language, and cultural difference reshape notions of home, community, and kinship?
Public Humanities is a new international open access, cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of humanities scholarship and public life. The journal invites proposals for themed issues that pose urgent questions on contemporary public issues that require rigorous and relevant humanities knowledge.
The journal invites submissions to its upcoming Themed Issue ‘The How-To Issue’, which will be edited by Jeffrey R. Wilson.
The deadline for submissions is 1 January 2025.
The Text, an International Peer Reviewed Online Journal of Language, Literature and Critical Theory (ISSN: 2581-9526)invites original, unpublished research papers for January 2027 issue.
Indexed in:
1. Google Scholar
2. ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences)
3. IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research)
4. Citefactor (Directory Indexing of International Research Journals)
5. DRJI (The Directory of Research Journal Indexing)
Call for Papers
NeMLA’s 58th Annual Convention – “Empowering Communities”
March 6–9, 2027 | Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island (Hybrid Conference)
Panel Title: Tracing Female Body, Art & Economy in the Global South
Primary Area / Secondary Area: Women’s and Gender Studies / Interdisciplinary Humanities
Modality: Hybrid
Chair: Maryam Raza (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
The IX edition of the Congress will take place on 17, 18, 19 and 20 November 2026. Sessions on 17 and 18 November will be held online, while sessions on 19 and 20 November will take place in person at the Auditorium of the Congress Centre "Ciutat d'Elx" (Elche, Spain). There are 3 participation options:
> Option 1: In this modality, the proposals submitted will follow the main thematic line of the new edition of the Congress: The origins of the fantastic genre in audiovisual culture.
English Studies in the Twenty-First Century: Language, Literature, Digital Innovation, and Cultural Transformations
Subthemes
This panel examines how literary and cultural texts from diverse global traditions imagine masculinity not merely as an individual identity but as a relational and communal practice. In an era marked by migration, political polarization, social fragmentation, environmental crisis, and renewed struggles for collective empowerment, narratives of masculinity have become central sites through which communities negotiate belonging, responsibility, vulnerability, and resistance.
William Shakespeare's plays are replete with themes that resonate with contemporary ecological anxieties. From the imagery of nature in The Tempest to the exploration of human ambition and environmental limits in Macbeth, Shakespeare's works offer a rich terrain for ecocritical analysis. This volume seeks to uncover how Shakespeare's plays can inform our understanding of sustainability and inspire new perspectives on human-nature relationships.
Creativity and Praxis:
The Politics of Aesthetics in an Age of Polycrisis
An International Interdisciplinary Symposium, 1-2 October 2026
J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice
Adelaide University
North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Keynote Readings and Lectures by:
J.M. Coetzee
Anna Funder
Nam Le
Amy Villarejo
Verschwinden: Disappearing into Providence
Rhode Island as a Literary Constellation
Call for papers: Panel at the 2027 NeMLA conference (March 6 - 9, Newport, RI)
Due date for paper proposals: September 30, 2027
Submission link: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22479
In the hope of connecting our academic endeavors more closely to the places and times we find ourselves in, this panel proposes Rhode Island, and close by Providence in particular, as a nodal point for a constellation of German, American, and European literatures, histories, and cultural memories.
CfP: Death and Desire in Devotional Literature
International Congress on Medieval Studies 2027, Kalamazoo MI May 13-15, 2027
Autism did not exist at the beginning of the world. Who we would now recognize as autistic people existed, yes. But autism itself is undoubtedly new, born in the 20th century clinic and doggedly taken up in popular discourse ever since. Autism did not exist at the beginning of the world, but now, it's hard to imagine a world without it. Despite, or perhaps because of this, autistic characters frequently feature in speculative and post-apocalyptic media—stories which take place at the end of the world but are often based on or extend from of our own reality.
International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo13-15 May 2027
Special Session (Hybrid)
Call for Papers (CFP)18th SAAS ConferenceNegotiating Identity and Power: Resistance, Rebellion, and Resilience in U.S. Literature and Culture
Universidad de Oviedo, Spain | March 15–17, 2027
Panel Title:Speculative Ontologies: The Posthuman, the Eerie, and Cultural Memory in US Media and NarrativesPanel Chairs:
Dates of Conference: 4-8 November, 2026
Format: Hybrid – Online (via Zoom) & In-Person (Thessaloniki, Greece)
Note: The onsite/in-person conference will take place exclusively on 6-7 November, 2026 and be streamed live on Zoom.
Organizer: KN: F.L.A.ME.S. by Konstantina Kliagkona (www.knflames.gr)
International, interdisciplinary conference titled:
The Hidden Faces of Violence II: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Abuse, Trauma, and Resistance
2026 marks multiple milestones for the legacy of legendary Afrofuturist author Octavia E. Butler: fifty years since the publication of her first novel, Patternmaster (1976), and the twentieth anniversary of her passing, on February 24, 2006. It also marks the announcement of a film version of one of her most famous and most prophetic works, Parable of the Sower (1993), as well as the surprise republishing of her disavowed novel, Survivor (1978), for the first time since the 1980s. These anniversaries arrive at a moment when Butler’s work continues to gain public attention for its prescience and political relevance, and as she continues to amass scholarly attention across scholarly disciplines.
To be held at the Leeds International Medieval Congress 2027 (5-8th July):
We are excited to announce that the Long Middle Ages, a seminar series for postgraduate students and early career researchers working on the Late Antique, Medieval, and Early Modern Periods, will be returning for a second series in Autumn 2026!
We welcome submissions of 30 minute papers from postgraduates and early career researchers working in any discipline and on any topic related to the late antique, medieval and early modern periods. Papers will be followed by time for questions and further discussion.
Seminars will commence in October 2026 and run on a fortnightly basis until mid-December.
Tattooing, a form of bodily modification, has existed as a global phenomenon for centuries, persevering within the distant and near past alike. Yet, only recently have these images embedded in flesh been subjected to thorough scholarly inquiry. This panel invites papers that examine a wide range of issues pertaining to medieval tattoos, including practices of tattooing during the global Middle Ages, recent advances in tattoo archaeology, and modern tattoos portraying medieval themes. Scholars exploring the misuse (and abuse) of medieval images and symbols for contemporary tattoos are especially encouraged to apply. This session allows for both in-person and virtual presentations.
Call for Papers | Society of Early Americanists
American Literature Association | “The American Novel: Forms, Genres, and Traditions”
November 5–7, 2026 | Santa Fe, NM
The Novel in/and Early America
For this upcoming ALA Symposium, the SEA invites papers and presentations that deal with any aspect of “The American Novel: Forms, Genres, and Traditions” prior to (approximately) 1830. Topics might include (but are not limited to):
About the Conference
In light of our deeply polarized times, the American Academy of Religion, Western Region (AAR/WR) invites scholars, practitioners, educators, and community leaders to submit proposals for its Annual Conference. This year's theme is Moving Beyond Boundaries and Silos Toward Interconnection. It reflects AAR/WR's foundational commitment to inter-religious, inter-disciplinary, and inter-generational dialogue.
This CfP contains two individual sessions grouped under the rubric 'Rethinking Ecotheory' for the 62nd International Congress on Medieval Studies. Please see information for both sessions and separate links to apply below! Both sessions are sponsored by Medieval Ecocriticisms. Abstracts for both sessions are due by September 15th, 2026. Please contact the organizers Hunter (hap48@cornell.edu) and Basil (basil.price@oneonta.edu) with any questions.
Overview
Panel: Technoscience in Literature and Culture (special session)
(SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO SAT, JULY 25, 2026)
Tom Stoppard Conference – 28-29 January 2027 – Sorbonne Université
Co-organisers: EMMA (Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry) and VALE (Sorbonne Université)
Sixty years after the premiere of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at London’s Old Vic Theatre (1967), and just over a year after the death of Sir Tom Stoppard on 29 November 2025, this international conference seeks to pay tribute to one of the playwrights who most profoundly shaped British theatre in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Contemporary philosophy and modern aesthetics have long stressed the potential of cinema to engage itself in the act of thinking and philosophical reflections through the presentation and assembly of moving images and sound. This presumed capacity to think and philosophize is realized by its spectators, who engage with the visual, auditory, and textual elements interwoven in films, resulting in a fusion that sparks novel thoughts and philosophical insights.
In the summer of 2026, Elizabeth and Ines Soto were sentenced to fifty years in prison for their participation in the anti-ICE protests at Prairieland, including a charge of “providing material support to terrorists.” In the trial that led to these exorbitant sentences, the Sotos’ production and distribution of zines, including literature on protest strategy, anti-ICE arguments, gay and trans issues, and plant propagation, were used as evidence in their conviction. Their printing press (a home office printer) was confiscated by the FBI. At the same time, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, who was not present at the protest, was sentenced to thirty years for “concealing documents,” including zines labeled as “political literature.”
Despite the international prominence of Stanisław Lem and, more recently, Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher, Polish science fiction and speculative literature remain strikingly underrepresented in English-language scholarship. Existing criticism tends to orbit a small number of canonical figures and a handful of frequently revisited texts, leaving a rich, historically complex tradition, spanning censorship-era political allegory, post-1989 transformation, contemporary literary crossover, and a distinct national cinema largely unexamined outside of Polish-language scholarship.
The year 2027 will mark the 50th anniversary of the controversial publication of Robert Coover’s The Public Burning. Both to celebrate the event and question its legacy, an international symposium will take place on 10-11 June 2027 in Paris, at Campus Condorcet. The call for papers is available here: https://publicburning50.sciencesconf.org/
Abstracts (300 to 350 words) together with a short biographical note should be sent by October 1st 2026 to the following address: publicburning50@sciencesconf.org
Keynote speakers: Alexandra Kleeman and Mark Doten
“From America Sent”: Reading Henry Miller Today
International Conference, Sorbonne Université, Paris, 18–21 May 2027
Call for papers
Joint sponsors: Sorbonne Université (VALE UR 4085), Université Paris Nanterre (CREA UR 370), Henry Miller Memorial Library (Big Sur, California)
Organizers: Emma Frigo (Universités Grenoble Alpes and Paris Nanterre), Clément Oudart (Sorbonne Université), Michael Paduano (Independent scholar), Benoît Tadié (Université Paris Nanterre), Magnus Torén (Henry Miller Memorial Library)
International Conference
Vladimir Nabokov: Contemporary Reception and Creative Legacy
April 28-30, 2027
Bordeaux Montaigne University
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Vladimir Nabokov’s passing, the French Vladimir Nabokov Society, in collaboration with the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne and the International Vladimir Nabokov Society, organizes its 10th International Conference, to be held April 28-30, 2027 in Bordeaux, France.
The rise of the superhero is one of the most significant cultural developments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Since the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1 (April 18, 1938), superheroes have evolved from colorful comic-book figures into powerful global symbols that shape conversations about politics, morality, identity, technology, gender, race, mythology, trauma, and resistance. What began with the imaginative vision of Jerry Siegel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist) has expanded into a worldwide phenomenon spanning comics, film, television, literature, gaming, digital media, and academic discourse.
The College Language Association Journal invites submissions for a special issue inspired by Adam J. Banks’s 2016 CLA Journal essay, “Dominant Genre Emeritus: Why It Is Time to Retire the Academic Essay.” In that essay, Banks challenges writing teachers to reconsider the privileged position of the academic essay and to imagine alternative forms of composing, meaning-making, and knowledge production.
NeMLA2027 NORTHEAST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION 58th Annual Convention SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND March 6-9, 2027
This session invites submissions addressing films that represent the construction of identity through community within a colonial or postcolonial context. Possible topics might include postcolonial legacies in contemporary urban cinema (banlieue; borderlands); comparative analysis of films across colonial and postcolonial contexts; the role of space in structuring narratives of resistance; filmic representations of assertion of and resistance to state power; film as a means of intercultural and intertextual dialogue.