Universities increasingly recognize the value of connecting students to local communities to promote concepts of care: volunteerism, problem-solving, stewardship. What role does literature play in place-based community engagement? How does reading or writing ‘literatures of place’ (regional or environmental literature, travel or nature writing, ecopoetry) connect students to a place and contribute to place-based solutions?

This session seeks contributions that explore the integration of literatures of place with place-making practices. Of particular interest are discussions that incorporate interdisciplinary theories of place, regional literature, travel writing, environmental literature, nature writing, ecopoetics, ecocriticism, or the like, with consideration of their relation to civic engagement.

Discussions might entail assignments that engage students in service-learning (with a literary or writing focus); teaching, research or writing projects that create impact to an area in other ways (for ex., preservation of cultural heritage, literary tourism or literary events); or reflections on interdisciplinarity, the relation of the local to the global, issues of mobility, sustainability, or other relevant topics. What do best practices look like? Finally, how can institutions support humanities faculty and students in these endeavors?

Please send abstracts of 200-300 words by Oct. 15 to the NeMLA portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/19961