Two years ago, soon after the first wave of pandemic-related closures, Laura Hartmann-Villalta and Emily C. Bloom organized a discussion on “Precarity, Caregiving, and Covid” at the MLA’s first virtual conference. It offered an opportunity for scholars from a range of academic positions to discuss the personal impact of Covid on their lives and careers. We discussed juggling online teaching with supervising children’s virtual schools; the shifting regulatory terrain that international scholars faced; the “triple crisis” of police brutality, a lack of childcare support, and the pandemic for Black scholars; the pressures of relocation during a pandemic for early career scholars and contingent faculty; and the costs of constant vigilance for those at high risk for Covid or those with children, spouses, or parents at high risk. It is now 2022 and these concerns have not gone away; if anything, we must now contend with the impact on our lives and careers of several years with Covid as we try to imagine a better future.

For Modernism/modernity’s Print Plus edition, we plan to continue this conversation as a cluster of short essays. We are looking for essays that draw on personal experiences while also connecting those experiences to broader concerns about the impact of contingency; gender and racial inequality in the academy; and care work and academic labor. We are especially eager for forward-looking articles that include policy recommendations or organizing strategies. The final cluster will include 7-8 essays that range from 3,000 to 5,000 words and will undergo outside review. For initial consideration, please submit a 500-word abstract with your name, institutional affiliation (if relevant), and a brief bio by March 1, 2022 to lah132@georgetown.edu.