Chapters are needed for an edited collection entitled Monsters with Minds of Their Own in Western and Global Literatures and Media. This collection seeks to contribute to a series on the non-human in literature and culture. It aims at examining (the intersections between) the notions of monstrosity and evil in the literary and artistic depictions of non-human and hybrid (or post-human) intelligence in different cultural and historical contexts. It focuses on the representation of monsters and creatures that have cognitive abilities as well as on the demonizing and vilification of artificially or magically enhanced human intelligence.

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS

Reinventing The Witch: Witchcraft and Sorcery in 21st Century Fiction and Film

 “Under Strong Interest” by McFarland’s "Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy" Series

-UPDATE on the CHAPTERS-

Editors’ Introduction

Russell Crowe’s talents were globally recognized in the early 2000s after he appeared in a slate of well-received films – L.A. Confidential, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind, among others – that earned him critical acclaim. Nevertheless, in the years following these productions, he has continued to be a part of numerous projects with international and creative appeal. Alongside his films are his associations with Roman soccer teams – established in Spera’s (2023) chapter in my recent volume on Gladiator (https://vernonpress.com/book/1213) – his social media presence, and his musical performances.

This collection seeks essays on paleontologists in film, literature, and contemporary media. The Jurassic Park franchise solidified the presence of paleontology in the pop cultural imagination, but there have been other media and portrayals that have captured the public's imagination. Topics can include, but are not limited to:

-Studies of specific films

-Studies of specific novels

-Studies of fictional and/or real-life paleontologists in modern media

Chapters will be due in September 2025. Chapters should be approximately 5,000 to 7,000 words, with Chicago-style endnotes and a bibliography page.

(Re)Animating the Middle Ages: Adapting the Medieval in Animated Media

Co-organizers Michael A. Torregrossa, Karen Casey Casebier, and Carl B. Sell

Sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Call for Papers - Please Submit Proposals by 15 October 2024

56th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown (Philadelphia, PA)

On-site event: 6-9 March 2025

Rationale

Infrastructures, both visible and invisible, are all around us and they permeate our lives in various ways. Larkin defines infrastructures as “built networks that facilitate the flow of goods, people, or ideas and allow for their exchange over space” (327). Though most commonly associated with its physical manifestations, the term infrastructurealso encompasses intangible elements that play a crucial role in society. Thus, infrastructures are not merely "limited to pipes, roads, and wires" but should, instead, be understood as “interdependent networks of materials, people, and nature that enable the functioning of modern life” (Lockrem 529).

Guru Dutt’s films are integral to the golden age of Hindi cinema as they were both critical and commercial successes. In a short career spanning twenty years, Dutt has served as an actor, a director, and a producer. His versatility is testament to a deep understanding of every aspect of filmmaking. Critics contend that contradictory ideas coalesced in his movies. A prominent theme of nationalism is at the heart of Dutt’s oeuvre. While he set out to refashion Indian national identity, Dutt envisioned a utopia for the new nation. Ideologically, Dutt was influenced by Nehruvian socialism, which finds its expression in his selection of subjects and themes. His movies also critiqued the new nation’s failure to afford equal opportunities to every citizen.

Critical Plant Studies, a book series published by Lexington Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, calls us to re-examine in fundamental ways our understanding of and engagement with plants, drawing on diverse disciplinary perspectives. A sampling of topics appropriate for this series includes but is not limited to:

Essence & Critique: Journal of Literature and Drama Studies invites submissions for the fourth issue of the journal - a general issue on Literature and Drama Studies. 

Indexed by MLA and EBSCO databases.

Essence & Critique: Journal of Literature and Drama Studies is an open access peer-reviewed academic journal that serves as a forum for multi- and interdisciplinary discussions across Literature and Drama Studies, providing academicians, scholars, professionals and students with the opportunity to disseminate their research to a diverse audience of peers and professionals.

The second issue aims to cover literary and theatrical works in general.

All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts not only because of their historical development … but also because of their systematic structure, the recognition of which is necessary for sociological consideration of these concepts. 

–Carl Schmitt, Political Theology (1922)

Educators empower students through narrative nonfiction and writing that allows for empathy, candid discussion, and articulation of self. This roundtable will seek to examine how narrative nonfiction literature and writing is used in a variety of contexts and courses to engage students and empower them to embrace facets of their identities and strengthen their ties to our national and international community.

This roundtable seeks collegiate voices that will contribute to a robust conversation on narrative nonfiction literature and writing with a focus on how we use narrative nonfiction and writing to help students navigate conceptions of their identity and negotiate their place in the world. Topics can include, but are not limited to:

Samuel Beckett’s drama may not be yet mapped as a site of carnival; nevertheless, the Beckettian dramatic ecosystem is open to a sense of the carnivalesque. In Europe and the northern Americas, the carnival tends to be understood as a secularised Christian tradition, the religious roots of which are enshrined in the epistemology of the word. Originating from the Latin carnem levāre – the removal of the flesh (OED) – the carnival used to be a festive threshold leading into the frugality and modesty of Lent. Yet, such grassroots street performances have thrived beyond this limited cultural, historical and geographical frame.

ACLA: GROWING UP IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH: CHILDREN AGENCY AND WORLD-MAKING IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

WRITING THE MIDWEST: A Symposium of Scholars and Creative Writers

The Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature (SSML)
May 29-30, 2025. Kellogg Hotel and Convention Center, East Lansing, Michigan

About SSML and The Writing the Midwest Symposium: The Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature (SSML), founded in 1971, exists to support the study and dissemination of work in Midwestern literature, art, film, and scholarly study.