The Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association permanent section invites proposals for in-person presentations at the 2023 meeting of the Western Literature Association taking place at the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Casino on the Fort Hall Reservation, home of the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes, near Pocatello, Idaho, from October 11-14. The conference’s theme this year is “Home on the Rez: Sovereignty and Sustainability.”

Histories of Westward expansion and settler colonialism have impacted dominant conceptions of “the range” in myriad ways. Perhaps Idaho thus makes for an ideal location to discuss the cinema, drama, prose, and poetry of the American West. This panel welcomes proposals that explore, problematize, and/or redefine the West as a construct that emerges throughout various forms of representation with particular interest in topics that deal with the conference theme of “Home on the Rez: Sovereignty and Sustainability,” ideas of “home(s)” in/on the “range,” as well as proposals with a special interest in Idaho/the West as a site of change, whether ideological, historical, philosophical, or cultural. Proposals considering Idaho’s Indigenous peoples, regional languages and literatures, or more generally addressing literature of the American West are welcome.

 This panel is the result of an exciting affiliation between WLA and the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA). As per PAMLA and WLA policies, presenters on this panel must be members of both PAMLA and the WLA. If you are not a PAMLA member and your proposal is accepted, we will refer you to https://www.pamla.org/membership/ for details regarding membership.

Please email submissions to WLA's PAMLA liaison, Anne Jansen, at ajansen@unca.edu.