Margaret Atwood and Canada/ Canadians: Interventions, Influences, Interconnections
This panel attempts to situate the preeminent author Margaret Atwood within a Canadian context. Although much has been written about Atwood, little scholarship to date addresses her Canadian-ness and her relationship with other Canadians such as the artist Charles Pachter, or the novelist Margaret Laurence. Atwood has written extensively about Canadian culture and literature in her books Survival, Second Words, and Strange Things. As an early member of the editorial board of Anansi Press, she has been influential in the Canadian literary scene.

This panel invites papers that examine the significance of resilience in contemporary culture. In a wide array of fields, including ecology, health sciences, globalization studies, business and economics, the concept of "resilience" has become increasingly significant. Referring generally to a system or organism's capacity to "bounce back" following traumatic disruption, its contemporary currency reflects a sense of a constantly changing world. In ecology, resilience theory replaces traditional conceptions of stability or balance with models in which surprise plays a constitutive rather than an anomalous role in ecosystem development.

"Beauvoir Reloaded: Possibilities and Dangers with 'The Second Sex"

41st Anniversary Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA April 7-11, 2010 Montreal, Quebec - Hilton Bonaventure

Like Godot, a proper translation of Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex' is never here, it is always 'still on the way.' Since it now appears that we may finally get the long-awaited new
translation, this would be a good time to discuss some of the possibilities -- and some of the dangers -- that the new translation will present. Some ideas, intended to spur possible topics but by no means to limit them:

Poet Mary Oliver has often been criticized by feminist critics for her close association of women with nature, an association some believe put the woman poet in danger of losing her identity and ability to create meaningful art. However, Oliver's poems suggest that such a connection with nature may indeed be a powerful, transformative experience as her poems investigate how one can merge with nature, experience the natural world and its wonders, and discover how to live fully in one's life. She suggests that we need to look, watch, and feel our experiences more carefully if we are to transcend ordinary moments and find more meaningful ways of knowing and being in the world.

We would like to invite all postgraduate students of medieval studies to Imbas, an interdisciplinary medievalists' conference being held in the Moore Institute at NUI Galway from November 13-15th 2009. This conference welcomes delegates at all stages of their research from all areas of medieval studies including language, history literature, art, archaeology and philosophy. The theme for 2009 is Alliances. Delegates are encouraged to view the theme as a broad suggestion rather than in any way restrictive.

This is an amendment to the CFP posted about three months ago.

The December 2009 issue of the Journal of Contemporary Literature will be devoted not only to articles on contemporary Indian novelists, including novelists of the Indian diaspora, but also to articles on contemporary Chinese novelists, including novelists of the Chinese diaspora. The issue will be expanded to accommodate this expanded focus, which will make the issue contents more marketable as a collection of essays.

Articles should be between 3,000 and 8,000 words, including notes. Documentation should follow MLA guidelines. Analyses of individual works, thematic surveys of multiple works, as well as comparative treatments are welcome.