This roundtable invites speakers to address any aspect of the so-called Renaissance self. Borrowing from Jan Goldstein, the cultural historian Elwin Hofman describes the self as “individuated mental stuff.” How might this definition inform our understanding of conceptions of the self that developed during the early modern period? What was the relationship between selfhood, self-consciousness, and identity? What kinds of evidence—artistic, confessional, visual, literary, legal, philosophical, textual, or medical—allow us to approach this question? What methodologies offer the most promise? Given the paradoxical nature of the self, both historically and in our own moment, how might it be treated as a proper object of study?

“Quiet Desperation”: Pessimism in Emerson and Thoreau 

12-13 March 2027

University of Łódź

Faculty of Philology 

Sorbonne Université

Research Unit VALE

Online conference

Call for Papers 

The Animal Studies standing session seeks papers broadly related to the intersection of literature or media and animal studies, across genres and national literatures, with a special—but not exclusive —interest in proposals that engage with the 2026 PAMLA conference theme, "Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict." As such, it aims to enliven the conversation surrounding the conference theme through animal studies and literature, while making cross-disciplinary pathways with science, conservation, and public policy.

The Leon Edel Prize is awarded annually for the best essay on Henry James by a beginning scholar.  The prize carries with it an award of $300, and the prize-winning essay will be published in HJR.

The competition is open to applicants who have not held a full-time academic appointment for more than four years. Independent scholars and graduate students are encouraged to apply.

Essays should be 20-30 pages (including notes), original, and not under submission elsewhere or previously published.  Please send electronic submssions in Microsoft Word format and a current CV to hjamesr@creighton.edu.

As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence,
at a time of perceived challenges to its promises of freedom and equality, this symposium
invites a multidisciplinary reflection on the narrative strategies used to represent past and
contemporary interpretations of experienced scenarios of crises, resistance and change.
The Symposium is particularly interested in the connections between contemporary
political, social and cultural fractures and previous experiences of confrontation of
opposing visions of the collective national project, which also tested the fulfillment of the

The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) will sponsor up to four panels at RSA Philadelphia 2027 and invites proposals for individual papers or pre-formed panels on any topic within the scope of bibliography and book history. Papers and pre-formed panels may address, but are certainly not limited to, the following topics:

20032. The Picaro and Picaresque Fiction "The Picaro and Picaresque Fiction" examines variations on theme of the picaro from its sixteenth-century Spanish origins to the present day. What does this recurring impish rapscallion have to offer readers in different political and historical contexts?