The objective of this round-table session is to explore, examine, and discuss, in a variety of manners, particular literary protagonists and antagonists in world literary cultures. What seems to be their intrigue? What empowers them, or, perhaps, who do they empower? Consideration of and elaboration on points of view, themes, idiosyncrasies, heroisms, actions, styles, diction, and purpose(s) will be important to ascertain and reveal in a deliberate, inspirational, thought-provoking, as well as insightful dialogue with, hopefully, a sharing of esoteric discoveries. Contemplate how and in what ways certain protagonists and antagonists across world literatures continue to have tremendous value or a long-lasting effect in their specific roles.

This panel invites interdisciplinary proposals that bring to attention the multiple, contradictory, and shifting approaches that encompass the studies of the Southwest Asia North Africa (SWANA) region. The overarching aim of this panel is to shed light on the theoretical and political significance of intersectionality for critical engagement with the SWANA region. We invite contributions examining how the relationalities of bodies, cultures, and cultural productions in the SWANA region and its diasporas shape discourses across nations, re(li)gions, and languages as they converge and diverge in their religious, racial, ethnic, and gender*sexuality-based identities.

Call for Papers -- 54th annual NeMLA conference (23-26 March 2023, Niagara Falls, New York USA)

What does it mean to write and think about nature? Do language, thought, and mimesis ultimately have the capacity to impact (and possibly cultivate) our natural environments, and do these environments in turn have the capacity to impact (and possibly cultivate) our words and ideas? Taking such questions as a starting point, this panel aims to explore how the relationship between the human community and the environment has occupied a central space within literature and thought across various epochs and epistemological arenas.