Beside You in the C19:

Elizabeth Freeman’s Legacies

The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists Biennial Conference

March 12-14, 2026, Cincinnati, OH

This proposed roundtable will explore the impact of Elizabeth Freeman’s scholarship on nineteenth-century American studies. Freeman (1966-2024) was the author of three monographs focused on questions of temporality, kinship, and affiliation from the nineteenth century through the present: The Wedding Complex: Forms of Belonging in Modern American Culture (2002); Time Binds: Queer Temporalities and Queer Histories (2010); and Beside You in Time: Sense Methods and Queer Sociabilities in the American Nineteenth Century (2019), as well as numerous essays, journal issues, and edited collections; at the time of her death, she was working on a project on illness, care, and reading practices. Participants are invited to deliver brief presentations focusing on one or more of Freeman’s works and/or guiding concepts, including (but not limited to) erotohistoriography/libidinal history, queer sociability, chronicity, temporal drag, kin aesthetics, overclose reading, sacra/mentality. 250-word abstracts and one-page CVs to Dana Luciano (dana.luciano@rutgers.edu) by August 30th. Participants will be notified by September 2nd, in time for the September 5th submission deadline.