The Incredible Nineteenth Century: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fairy Tale will host an online conference via Zoom on March 31-April 1. The theme is "Beginnings," and we will be exploring how, in many ways, the nineteenth century saw the birth of science fiction and fantasy as we know them, as well as the scholarly study of folk and fairy tales.  Suggested topics may include, but are not limited to:

• the origins of science fiction and/or fantasy
• early scholarship of folk and fairy tales
• non-western science fiction, fantasy, and fairy tale
• nineteenth-century premonitions of the anthropocene
• noncanonical or understudied writers and scholars
• concepts of gender in nineteenth-century science fiction, fantasy, or fairy tale
• subversive narratives
• fictional explorations of the impact of the Industrial Age
• Steampunk narratives and aesthetics
• fantastic reinterpretations of the nineteenth century

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Nathaniel Williams, the author of Gears and God: Technocratic Fiction, Faith, and Empire in Mark Twain's America. To register for the conference, please click the link below and fill out the form.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKYUxarMaIVFS7M6g3R5nVYNejetJwMVwF4gMWV_MCbo6ykg/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0 The deadline for registration is March 15. If you have any questions, please feel free to send an email to i19@mtsu.edu.