The Victorian era, and the Nineteenth Century more broadly, witnessed a flourishing of interest in the supernatural, spiritualism, magic, and the physical and psychological sciences, which culminated in the emergence of occult beliefs, practices and societies. During this period also, the Gothic literature and art that had taken hold of the public imagination in the Romantic period continued to haunt the Victorian era, emerging in new forms that often embraced and experimented with ideas of occultism. Nineteenth-century occultism has received much critical attention, particularly in relation to its role in bringing about the apogee of British and American occultism in the early twentieth century.

In “Land Sickness”, Nikolaj Schultz describes how he goes on vacation to “detach from the material consequences of [his] existence,” but upon arrival on a French island, he is once more faced with the material reality of existence, as the island’s coastline is eroding, caused by rising sea levels and the pressure of foreign tourism. He writes: “Neither Pareto, Marx or Bourdieu died in vain, but none of them offer a language sufficient to articulate the geo-social struggle for territory that unfolds on the island. I myself lack a language to understand what is happening.” How indeed, does one think and write about the world that is disappearing under our feet? 

American Literature Association

34th Annual Conference

May 25-28, 2023

The Westin Copley Place
10 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02116

Edith Wharton and Beauty

The Edith Wharton Society invites papers that explore Wharton’s engagement with beauty in her works. Panelists are encouraged to consider the role of beauty in her writing on design, gardens, and travel as well as her novels and stories. All theoretical approaches are welcome. Proposals might consider (but are not limited to) the following questions:

Call for Papers

ESOTERICISM, OCCULTISM, AND MAGIC

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA) 

44th Annual Conference, February 22-25, 2023

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.southwestpca.org

Extended proposal submission deadline: November 14, 2022

Submit proposals to NASSR2023@shsu.edu by November 28, 2022. Please specify in your proposal if you plan on attending in person or remotely (see further discussion below).

The Ralph Waldo Emerson Society seeks two persons to serve on the Emerson Society Program Committee, beginning in January 2023.

Fandom today is often entangled with digital platforms, which offer spaces and features that make some aspects of fan culture more widely accessible amid increasingly globalized communities and models of consumption. Fans are perceived to be early adopters of new technologies, particularly those that provide space for gathering and community building. Likewise, many types of fan works, fan labor, and fandom participation depend on certain platforms for hosting, sharing, distributing, and discussing such content. However, fans also have complicated relationships with platforms, whether because their needs and uses are in conflict with other stakeholders or because platforms can generate and challenge notions of access, accountability, and community.

Call for Papers: Edited volume on representation of neurodiversity on television

Editors

Curt Hersey, chersey@berry.edu, Associate Professor of Communication, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia

Julie D. O’Reilly, joreilly@heidelberg.edu, Professor of Communication and Women’s & Gender Studies, Heidelberg. University, Tiffin, Ohio

- SEEKING PAPER PROPOSALS -

Bridgewater State University and Salem State University, graduate-level

students or recent degree-recipients to present their research and writing. Our third annual conference will held at Bridgewater State University on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

accepting works in:

•   Literary history

•   Critical theory

•   Literary criticism

•   Creative writing

•   TESOL & Linguistics

•   Rhetoric & composition

•   English education & teaching English

•   Professional writing & communication

Sneaker Studies: A Call for Papers

Sneakers have constituted one of the most significant cultural phenomena in recent history, and yet they have not garnered sustained attention by scholars of humanities and cultural studies. This project, an online sneaker archive will consider how specific shoes have become icons of their historical eras. This is a second call for papers this time with a more focused question.  We are interested in studies of specific athletes as pitchmen and their changing relationship with signature shoes or shoe lines. 

The goal of this seminar is to provide a forum in which to discuss how TV shows (reality shows, true crime shows, documentary broadcasts, docufictions, and web series) bridge the gap between factual knowledge and myths, and how it facilitates the transfer of ordinary knowledge into the implausible, especially in Iberia and Latin America. Entertainment business and journalism intertwine to engage an audience oriented to the consumption of serialized narratives.

“Environments” will be the theme of the 21st biennial conference of the International Society  for the Study of Early Medieval England, planned for 28-30 June, 2023. Under this broad  rubric, we invite papers from all disciplines that study aspects of early medieval England.  Possible topics include: 

• material and physical environments (e.g., landscapes, seascapes, architecture, travel)• ecologies and cosmologies (e.g., conceptions of Nature, the Universe, astrology)• spiritual environments (e.g., Heaven and Hell, the Church and the church)• cultural and intellectual environments (e.g., scholarly networks, libraries, networks  of cultural exchange, source study)  

Event:    Ingenium2023 LAS VEGAS

Hosted on the campus of the University of Nevada--Las Vegas (UNLV)

in the Student Union Ballrooms

May 22-25, 2023

Produced by:   IngeniumCreatives    

Contact:   cathy.allen@unlv.edu

Submission Deadline:    January 28, 2023

Submission Proposal link:  Ingenium 2023 Proposal Form

Canadian Review of American Studies (University of Toronto Press) is the leading American Studies journal outside the United States and the only journal in Canada that deals with cross-border themes and their implications for multicultural societies. Published three times a year, the journal aims to further multi- and interdisciplinary analyses of the culture of the US and of social relations between the US and Canada. CRAS is a dynamic and innovative journal, providing unique perspectives and insights in an increasingly complex and intertwined world of extraordinarily difficult problems that continue to call for scholarly input.