american

The American Literature Society is pleased to invite submissions for the 1921 prize, which is awarded annually for the best article in any field of American literature. The prize is named for the year the organization was initially founded “to promote and diversify the study of American Literature.” Judged by a panel comprised of members of the American Literature Society Advisory Board and other scholars in the field, the competition will be divided in two categories: one for tenured faculty and one for graduate students, scholars in contingent positions, and untenured faculty members. The winner will be announced at the 2020 MLA awards ceremony.
 
Rules for competition:

Since the turn of the millennium the United States of America has undergone what many have considered to be a series of political, financial, and institutional crises. At the same time, the increasing popularity of the science fiction genre has, in many ways, frequently both dramatized and provided a commentary on the fears and anxieties this period has evoked. The philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that allegory emerges most frequently in periods of crisis and uncertainty, correspondingly it is no coincidence that some of the most powerful films to emerge from American cinema in the last two decades are allegorical texts and many of which have come from the science fiction genre.

This panel celebrates the bicentennial of Herman Melville’s birth on August 1st, 1819 by welcoming papers on any aspect of Melville’s legacy both during and after the nineteenth century. Possible paper topics may include, but are not limited to: how Melville’s works may speak to contemporary issues; Melville’s literary influences and how he employs them in his works; other writers who were influenced by Melville and how this influence manifests in their works; the 1920’s Melville revival; Melville's depiction of racial, cultural, sexual, or gender plurality; or textual and thematic analyses of any of Melville’s works.

“‘Uncertain Terrain’: Negotiating Identities in the Global Community”

Call for Papers: Edited Collection on the Food Network Channel 

Edited by Emily L. Newman and Emily Witsell

Targeted Fields: Food Studies; Film, Television, and Media Studies; Women and Gender Studies; Queer Studies; Sociology/Anthropology; Popular Culture