The CUNY Graduate Center French Department invites submissions for our Spring 2026 student conference on the theme of “étrangeté.”

Étrangeté evades easy translation. It encompasses "strangeness," "foreignness," and "otherness," offering expansive variability. Etrangeté inhabits both the self and the other. It arises through external judgment and internal reflection alike. It can be unsettling, absurd, and beautiful.

Étrangeté is an active element in French and Francophone Literature. It has fueled major literary movements, including Absurdism, Surrealism, and Symbolism. Writers from the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa wield étrangeté as a tool to confront questions of colonial legacies and linguistic hybridity. The French students at The CUNY Graduate Center welcome you to explore this familiar yet unknown force.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

The aesthetics and poetics of étrangeté
Étrangeté in relation to exile, migration, and diaspora
The intersection of étrangeté with race, gender, and sexuality
Historical and philosophical perspectives on étrangeté
Étrangeté as a research process
Interdisciplinary: Linguistics, History, Digital Humanities, etc.

Languages: English & French
Submissions taken on a rolling basis.
First responses in September 2025
Final Deadline: 12/20/25

Make your submissions using the link. https://forms.gle/VHcRFqJBsjXjf6DPA