An urgent focus on ecocriticism in the humanities has developed in parallel to increased cultural engagement with folklore studies, particularly as such areas relate to the relationships between human communities and ecosystems. The application of folklore studies in ecocriticism facilitates the incorporation of previously marginalized perspectives and identities in order to speak to a global reality, building on the 'past' while responding to potential, and potentially unstable, 'futures'.

The roundable discussion will take place at the NeMLA conference, March 5-8, 2026, at the Wyndham Grand Hotel Downtown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants will discuss how creative responses to and 'regenerations' of the 'folk', folklore, and folk traditions in contemporary literature and media interrogate relationships with the land, encourage ecocritical engagement, and potentially lead to a more restorative, equitable, and empowering understanding of the environment in the age of climate change and migration. It will query how we might, as students of the humanities and as humans, work to further explore this complex intersection, deepening our understanding of folklore traditions, ecocritical theory, and the role both of these play in constructing culturally- and ecologically-responsive identities.

Interested participants are asked to submit an abstract for a brief presentation (5-8 minutes in length) to https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21820. The roundtable will be in hybrid mode (in-person but accepting remote presentations). Submissions are due by 09/30/2025.