general announcements

Henry James occupies an unusual position in the literary categories of English language fiction. Claimed by both the British and the Americans, as well as by both the 19th century and the 20th, James’ fiction crosses many of the artificially imposed borders our field has created, yet his stories often deal explicitly with the social changes and their consequences that caused the borders to be established in the first place. As we live through yet another period of social upheaval, is James still relevant? What can his short fiction offer a 21st century reader? How might we convey this to our students, many of whom initially find his content dated and his prose challenging?

Samford University invites paper proposals for its third biennial Teaching the Christian Intellectual Tradition Conference: Teaching Dante, to be held in Birmingham on October 25-27, 2018. This conference is designed to encourage excellence in undergraduate teaching across the curriculum, with a particular emphasis on core curriculum and general education courses. Specialists and non-specialists are encouraged to submit proposals; however, all presentations should be designed with the non-specialist audience in mind and should directly address curricular and/or teaching strategies. Proposals that demonstrate interdisciplinary connections are strongly encouraged.

LOVE, ETC.

A conference sponsored by the “Uses of Literature” Research Project at the University of Southern Denmark, October 3-4, 2019

What is there left to say about love? Endlessly invoked, celebrated, assailed, abused, and parodied, love has been hailed as the meaning of life and disdained as the ultimate cliché. This conference is inspired by the conviction that love is poised to become a focus of renewed interest in the humanities. We anticipate two main focal points for the conference, without excluding other options.

Jill Carroll, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, argues that all instructors use a “teaching persona,” even those who unconsciously adopt what she calls a “default” persona. “If it [the default persona] works for you, consider yourself lucky,” she writes, “but if it doesn’t, the results can be messy.” This panel intends to address our teaching personae, and asks that participants consider the following questions (or any other questions that seem relevant to the issue at hand):

-Do you purposefully craft a persona for yourself, and if so, how have you gone about it?

-If at multiple universities, do you sample different approaches or personas?

-Who or what are your influences?

International Seminar on Identity, History, and Narrative in Contemporary Afghan Literature in English

6-8 February 2019

The Department of English, Gauhati University, has been organizing a series of international seminars on literature emerging from India and its neighbours, with two seminars already held on Sri Lanka and Pakistan. This year, we are shifting our focus to Afghanistan, the nation, and its diaspora.