Trials Before Change

April 7 & 8, 2023

Location: Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 

Sponsored by the English Graduate Student Association and the Cultural Events Committee at Idaho State University

We are pleased to announce the 2023 Intermountain Graduate Conference. This year we are seeking a variety of papers around the theme “Trials Before Change,” interpreted and explored broadly. Our current time does not lack for challenges and fears. We need only attend to the world around us for a moment to see crises such as those of the climate, economics, human rights infringement, social justice, and political systems run rampant. While these trials owe much to humankind’s shortsightedness, they also signal a call to action for those of us in the humanities to connect, explore, and contribute to understanding and solutions. We invite you to join us in entering conversations that acknowledge the trials we now are experiencing and that consider the changes that need to be made at many levels, from micro-aggressions to shifting global energy habits.  

Various approaches to our theme might include:

• Historical, artistic, or scientific methods to understand the trials taking place in the world or the processes of change afforded by the humanities
• Representations of or approaches to understanding and acknowledging the trials in gender, racial, and cultural studies
• Attempts to broaden our understanding of psychological or philosophical approaches to positive change in response to the trials of current history
• Interdisciplinary approaches to acknowledging trials and offering positive change through visual or performing arts
• Pedagogies that investigate or promote affordances of the humanities in positive change

We welcome submissions from both graduate and undergraduate students in all disciplines, and we are open to topics unrelated to the conference theme. In addition, we would happily consider other forms of presentation, such as performance art, poster presentations, and readings of creative work. 

Please submit a 300-word proposal to egsa@isu.edu by Tuesday, February 28, 2023. 

Undergraduates should submit with their proposal a scanned signature from a professor who has reviewed the proposal or paper. 

For more information, please email us or visit our website at 

intermountaingraduateconference.wordpress.com

The conference is free and open to the public.