The University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada, Department of French, Hispanic, Italian Studies (FHIS)

November 20th – 21st, 2025 

The Silence of Forgetting: Absence, Void, and Memory in Literature and Culture Graduate Conference 

Remembering is an act that invites us to understand the present through the past,“a social andcultural process in which memory and forgetting, as opposing yet complementary practices,constitute the two operations that continually renew it,” [“un proceso social y cultural donde elrecuerdo y el olvido, en tanto prácticas opuestas pero complementarias, constituyen las dosoperaciones que le renuevan continuamente”] as suggested by Pilar Riaño Alcalá (2003:30). Understanding the sociocultural process of narrating memory from art and literature –especially in diverse cultural contexts where forgetting, silence, and pain are predominant elements – offers us an opportunity for dialogue, reflection and critique. 

It is within this framework that the 11th edition of the Biennial International Graduate Student Conference of the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies (FHIS) invites interdisciplinary reflection on how silence and forgetting affect the memories that shape culture, art, and literature while critically engaging with topics such as 

• Indigenous perspectives on memory-making: culture and resilience in literature and art through the eyes of Indigenous communities 

• Memory in art: the role of art and culture in the construction of collective memories

• Diaspora narratives: what is ‘lost’ and ‘gained’ through migration

• The absence of the other: representing marginalized voices through silence 

• Oral traditions: the recovery of collective memory and oral cultural heritage 

• Memory and longing: nostalgia, melancholy, remembrance, and loss in the reconstruction of memory 

• Archives, film, and memory: visual culture as a means of sealing or reclaiming the past (Azoulay 2019: 235) 

• Temporality and forgetting:analyzing the fragmentation of self and literary memory over time 

• The unspoken/the non-narratable: disorientation and silences in literature and art

Terms of participation for postgraduate students 

We invite all participants to apply by submitting a 250-word abstract along with 4-6 key terms explored in the proposal. Along with this, students will be prompted to submit the title of the presentation, the author’s name, and a short 150 word bio. Please fill out the information in the corresponding spaces of this form: https://forms.gle/2vMxJ8kKXJBszie57

CFP closes: August 27th, 2025 

Conference dates: November 20th-21st, 2025 

Format: In-person (with limited online attendance)

Location: Department of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada 

Languages: proposals are accepted in English, French and, Spanish

Presentation length: 15-20 minutes 

Notification of results: within two weeks of CFP deadline (international students seeking to attend in person should expect to hear back sooner) 

Contact us: fhis.gradconference@gmail.com

Interdisciplinary Call 

We welcome proposals from various fields within Literature, Art and the Social Sciences that contribute to the critical reflection on the proposed theme. We especially invite graduate students whose research interests intersects with one or more of the following areas: 

- Literature 

- Art 

- History 

- Philosophy 

- Indigenous Studies

- English