The Influence of American Literature Before 1870

The Permanent Section on American Literature I: Literature Before 1870 seeks proposals for papers on the topic of the ‘crisis in the humanities.’ Papers may explore the relationship(s) between early American literature and diversity, democracy, history, politics, education, social justice, etc. Questions papers might answer include: What light does early American literature shed on our current political realities? How can inquiring into our literary past foretell the future of our democracy? What is the influence of early American literature on modern society? How might teaching early American literature allow to us to recognize and stress the values of equity and diversity? Please send an abstract of 200-300 words by May 31, 2023 to Shawna Rushford-Spence at srushford-spence@lourdes.edu.