The UC Davis English Department is hosting its third annual student-led Connections conference under the wide-ranging theme of “Landscapes.” Organized by the English Graduate Student Association (EGSA), the Connections 2025 in-person conference examines the concept of landscape in its broadest sense—not only as a physical terrain but also as a cultural, social, political, and literary construct.

Multidisciplinary scholars Francesca Bray et al. acknowledge that “our historical interpretations of a landscape are inflected by the structures of feeling” and “the social and material conditions of existence that direct and define our gaze.” This year’s theme works to explore the myriad ways that human and nonhuman agencies shape our landscapes and, in turn, how these spaces structure and inform our modes of creating and communicating meaning around the environment.

We welcome scholars of all experience levels (undergraduate, graduate, and independent scholars) to submit proposals for both critical and creative projects from literary studies, cultural studies, creative writing, history, rhetoric and composition studies, and other adjacent disciplines. Potential topics on the theme of landscapes may include:

• naturecultures & the country/city divide
• weather, biomes, & geopolitics
• regional, global, & planetary conceptions of landscape
• land cultivation & agriculture
• physical, topographical, & virtual relationality
• land, kinship, & belonging

Please submit proposals of 250 words or fewer at the link below by February 21, 2025. Presentations outside of the conference theme are also welcome and encouraged. Any questions can be directed to Stacey Baran (sbaran@ucdavis.edu) and Yasmin Mendoza (yimendoza@ucdavis.edu).

The conference will be held on Friday, April 18, 2025, from 9:00 am–4:00 pm in Walker Hall at the University of California, Davis.

Submission form: https://forms.gle/hMy7y1fhHK5RzeJv7