Call for Papers

41st Anniversary Convention
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

April 7-11, 2010

Montreal, Quebec - Hilton Bonaventure

The 41st Annual Convention will feature approximately 350 sessions, as well as dynamic speakers and cultural events. Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA session; however, panelists can only present one paper (panel or seminar). Convention participants may present a paper at a panel and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable.

Abstract Deadline: September 30, 2009

Please include with your abstract:

Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee)

Travel to Canada now requires a passport for U.S. citizens. Please submit your passport application early.

American

Canadian: "If the Lion Could Speak: The Animal Story in North American Literature"; "Indigenous Literatures of Native North America"

Creative Writing: "Original Poetry and Teaching the Creative Writing Process Roundtable"

Gay/Lesbian/Queer: "Red, White and Blues for Mr. Charlie: Baldwin's New Queer America"

Pedagogy: "Writing Faculties: Intersections of Creativity and Pedagogy"

Spanish: "Chicano Literature in Spanish in the U.S. as Expression of Cultural Resistance"

Women's Studies: "Classic and Contemporary American Girl Lit Board-Sponsored"

The Adoption Memoir: As the forming of families through trans-national adoption has radically increased over the past decade, a new genre of memoir writing has emerged. This panel will examine the Adoption Memoir as a cultural expression of the need to interrogate this new form of family making, and its impact on the family members and society. Papers can be on single or selections of memoirs, from all viewpoints (adoptive parent, adoptee and birthparents). Literary, socio-political, psychoanalytic, feminist and global-economic approaches welcome. Lindsay Davies <lindsay.davies@nyu.edu>
African American Autobiography and the Archives: Teaching Students to Become Scholars: Recent critical editions of texts such as Harriet Wilson's Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (1859) have affirmed our need to continue exploring the complexities of African American autobiography. As we pursue this work, we must also consider how to involve students in research that enhances our understanding of the production of African American life writing. This panel seeks papers that explore pedagogical strategies that give students opportunities for conducting archival research that enriches the classroom experience. Proposals that examine non-canonical texts are especially welcomed. Rhonda Thomas <rhonddt@clemson.edu>
Ah Got De Law in My Mouth': Black Women Writing Justice: This panel seeks papers which consider the representation of law, rights, and justice in African-American women's literature. How have African-American women writers critically engaged the legal system and/or portrayed American legal discourse? Topics include, but are certainly not limited to: slavery, the civil rights movement, immigration, suffrage, lynching, and the prison-industrial complex. Please send a 1-2 page abstract and a brief bio as Word or PDF attachments to Courtney D. Marshall, cdj@ucla.edu, with "NEMLA" in the subject line.
The American Aesthetic of Marilynne Robinson: This panel invites papers that consider a singular work (or a combination of fiction and nonfiction) of Marilynne Robinson as it relates to the American tradition and the aesthetic. Panelists might explore Robinson's relationship to the American tradition of the pastoral, the representation of religion in literature, and /or the politics of aesthetics in literature. Inquiries or 250-500 word abstracts (and brief C.V.) to Jane Wood at jane.wood@park.edu.
American Collaborations Joint NeMLA/CAAS Panel: Arising from this ever-increasing interest in the topic collaboration, this proposed panel (to be sponsored collaboratively by NeMLA and the Canadian Association for American Studies) aims to analyze the role of collaboration in American culture and society, both national and continental. Topics could include, but are not limited to: Studies of specific literary collaborations; Criticism and/as collaboration; Theories of collaboration; Globalization as/against collaboration; National and continental American Studies: Collaboration or Cultural Colonialism?; Border crossings and collaborations. Please send 500-word proposals to Jason Haslam <Jason.Haslam@dal.ca>.
American Drama as Political Discourse Board-Sponsored: This panel invites papers that investigate American drama as a vehicle for socio-political discourse. In addition to analyses that consider specific dramatic texts, we would also encourage those that examine aspects of performance, staging, or the status of drama as a political discourse in the academy. We welcome papers examining American drama from any historical period. 300 word abstracts or full papers to Andrew Schopp at schoppa@ncc.edu.
Capital in Crisis: How have contemporary writers responded to economic and financial crises? What forms of narrative--fictional, autobiographical, or other--are being called into service to represent the highs and lows, virtualities and realities, of late capitalism? Submit abstracts to Alison Shonkwiler (a.shonkwiler@gmail.com).
The Changing Shape of the Suburb in Recent Fiction and Film: This panel seeks to investigate the way that suburban novels and films represent, critique, and construct notions of community in the context of a suburban landscape in flux: more immigrants now live in the suburbs than in the cities. Accompanying this increased diversity are new problems, including desperate need for housing, healthcare, and public transportation at a time when infrastructure is decaying and the economy has collapsed. How have recent novels and films reflected and negotiated these changes? Please submit 250-word abstracts to Kathy Knapp at kathy.knapp@uconn.edu.
Chaos in Tranquility: Humor in American Life Writing: James Thurber's famous remark that "Humor is emotional chaos recollected in tranquility," points to the essential connection between humor and life writing. Papers might consider any aspect of humor and its relation to life writing, including but not limited to: humorous memoirs (Twain, Thurber, Sedaris, Eggers, etc); wit and irony deployed in "serious" autobiography (Benjamin Franklin's, Mary McCarthy, Henry Adams); humor and theoretical issues (humor and the referential aesthetic, humor and its relation to authorial honesty, humor and ethics). Send 500-word abstracts in MSWord to chris-stuart@utc.edu.
The Coming of Age Stories of James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison: Submissions are invited on representations of characters whose coming of age as young men collide with individual sorrow and rage; threat and trauma, fear of loss and existentalist quest. The panel welcomes papers that explore experiences of de-centeredness, dislocation, identity and psychological de-construction. Please email inquiries of 250-500 words to: Nilgun Anadolu-Okur, anadolu@temple.edu.
Delineating the Contemporary in American Literature Board-Sponsored Roundtable: This roundtable discussion invites analyses that strive to map out, the aesthetic, socio-political, and/or pedagogical parameters of Contemporary American Literature. A decade into the 21st century, does "post-1945" or "post-war" literature still function as a productive category? Have we moved beyond the postmodern? Should multicultural literature still be primarily the province of what we call contemporary? Theoretical investigations are welcome, as are those that examine more practical contingencies (e.g., syllabi construction, anthology development, etc. 300 word abstracts to Andrew Schopp at schoppa@ncc.edu.
Down the Highway, Down the Tracks/Poetics, Geography and Location Seminar: The National Road, Inside Passage and Trans-Canada Highway are entry points to Charles Olson's "American Space." Narrative and lyric impulses in poetic movements across North American geography ask: What measures the land they survey? How do geopoetic readings of this SPACE locate coordinates formed in various grids of culture, identity or nation? These questions emerge from Olson, Rukeyser, C.S. Giscombe, Walcott, Ondaatje, Plumpp, Anzaldua, and Kerouac, to name only a few 20th century and contemporary poets. Submit 250-500 word abstracts of seminar papers to Michael Antonucci <mantonucci@keene.edu>.
Ecocriticism and Contemporary American Literature: Co-sponsored by the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment. This panel will highlight ecocritical assessments of literature produced in America from 1970 to the present. Papers on very recent literature, or on texts or authors one might not initially associate with ecocriticism, are welcome. Send 750-1000 word proposals to nmmerola@gmail.com.
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American Masculinities: This panel will address the conflicting ideas about American masculinity in eighteenth and nineteenth century American literature. Please submit abstracts about any issue related to this topic to Michael Shaw at mishaw@fordham.edu.
Female Absence and the Expression of Black Masculinity in African-American Literature: This panel will examine female absence as a trope, which, throughout the African American literary tradition, problematizes the complex constructions and performances of black masculinity. Papers will explore the ways in which female absence (whether through death, abandonment, marginalization, or travel) challenges monolithic characterizations of black masculinity, phallocentricism, and heteronormative masculinity in general. Papers which employ African-centered theoretical frames are highly encouraged. Please send your name, academic affiliation, a brief biography, contact information and a 250-500 word abstract to Lynn R. Johnson (johnsoly@dickinson.edu).
Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form: Buddhism and American Poetry: Although the Buddha's teachings have long influenced American literature over the last century, within the last twenty years we have seen the publication of three collections of poetry published featuring Contemporary American Buddhist Poetry, with the most recent being The Wisdom Anthology of North American Buddhist Poetry (2005). This panel seeks papers addressing American poetry and poetics intersecting with Buddhist philosophy and practice. Email submissions preferred; please send 250-500 word abstracts as MSWord attachments to Dr. Clare Emily Clifford <ccliffor@bsc.edu>.
Formal Progress? American Poetry 1890-1933: Current discussions of early 20th century American poetry are rooted in the modernist myth that backwards-looking Victorian writers ruled the scene until Pound and Eliot "made it new." This panel seeks to explore what this narrative leaves out. Papers exploring the formal innovations of Stephen Crane, Vachel Lindsay, Amy Lowell, and poets of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as papers reevaluating the works of George Santayana, Edwin Arlington Robinson, and Sara Teasdale, are particularly welcome. Please send abstracts of 250-500 words to Erin Kappeler, erin.kappeler@tufts.edu.
Four Dimensions: Spatio-Temporal Shifts Reflected in Nineteenth-Century Literature: With the massive amounts of urbanization and land acquisition, notions of space were fundamentally altered in the nineteenth-century U.S. and U.K.; similarly, experiential time (that fourth dimension of space) was sped up through communication and travel technology. This panel seeks to explore the shifting categories of space and time in the nineteenth-century and their ramifications--in form, content, and context--on English and American texts. Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements to Lydia Fash (lfash@brandeis.edu).
Harlem Renaissance as Usable Past: As one of the most celebrated, defining moments of African American life and literature, the Harlem Renaissance persists in our contemporary moment as a signal useable past. This panel seeks to convene critical and creative treatments that examine how a host of cultural workers--visual artists, creative writers, musicians, and scholars among them--express nostalgia for and make use of the Harlem Renaissance. Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Shawn Christian: schristi@wheatonma.edu.
Henry James's Children: This panel will consider Henry James's distinct representations of children, who appear as early as Watch and Ward. Some of James's children, like Pansy in The Portrait of a Lady, are shrouded in silence; most, however, in his later fiction, suffer tragically at the hands of their caregivers, although there are exceptions, such as Maisie Farange, who miraculously manages to overcome the odds. What, I would like to ask, is James suggesting? Readings are invited from biographical, psychological, cultural and historical perspectives. Elaine Pigeon, Concordia University, elaine.pigeon@sympatico.ca.
Illness, Wellness, and Medicine in Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing: This panel will focus on portrayals of illness, wellness, and medical treatments in nineteenth-century American women's writing. Papers may explore 1) types of health care such as conventional medicine, homeopathic medicine, mesmerism, faith healing, and others; 2) types of women health caregivers, such as mothers, slaves, herbalists, spiritualists, mediums, charlatans, and others; or 3) definitions of illness and wellness as they relate to women in nineteenth-century America. Submit 250-word proposals to Dr. Georgia Kreiger, Allegany College of Maryland, gkreiger@atlanticbb.net.
In-betweenness in Adolescent Literature: Adolescent literature occupies an interesting place in literary studies; it is not quite children's literature yet it is not quite for adults. As adolescents attempt to define themselves in the space between childhood and adulthood, some struggle while others thrive as they negotiate their liminal position. This panel will explore how adolescent literature represents a place of in-betweenness. Papers might consider the relationship between children's, adolescent, and adult literatures or explore the roles of adolescents within the texts. Please send 500 word-abstracts to Lisa Perdigao at lperdiga@fit.edu.
Individual and Collective Memory in Contemporary Multi-Ethnic Literature: This panel seeks papers that investigates how contemporary multi-ethnic writers negotiate sites of memory, relating any genre to current theories of memory, nostalgia, commemoration, memorialization, cultural memory or trauma studies. Papers might consider the role of narrative in cultural preservation or individual identity; evaluate how the recollection of personal incidents is tied to survival; evaluate the accuracy or inaccuracy of memory and/or nostalgia; tie memory to sensation; or consider the ways memory-or remembering-can be seen as an ethical act. Submit 250 word abstracts to Shari Evans (sevans@umassd.edu).
James and the Women: This panel seeks proposals on Henry James's fiction and/or criticism that extend assessments of James's literary relationship to women writers. Topics might include James's appropriations of British as well as American women writers, both popular and literary; new perspectives on his relations with women writers that have already received critical attention; instances of women writers appropriating James; James's effect on the careers and writing of women writers he reviewed; and other topics. Please direct 250-500 word proposals, and a brief biographical statement to Rita Bode: rbode@trentu.ca. Queries welcome.
Leon Edel and Henry James Scholarship: The papers of Henry James biographer Leon Edel are archived at McGill University in Montreal, where NEMLA holds its 2010 convention. Thanks in large part to this archive, scholars can begin to reassess Edel's contributions to and influence on James scholarship. Send abstracts on any aspect of Edel's work as a James biographer, editor, and critic to Pierre A. Walker, Salem State College, pwalker@salemstate.edu.
Looking Back on Activism and American Literature of the Twentieth Century: This panel will examine through the theme of "looking back" how American literature of the Twentieth Century both represents activism and defines its relationship to activism in such a way that renders the idea of the progressive problematic. This panel thus seeks papers that ask how a literature or literary history understands the distinction, if at all, between the world of words and that of action. Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Clare Callahan at clare.eileen.callahan@gmail.com.
Lying With the Truth: Harrower, Nabokov, and Shanley Blink!: This panel will examine the construction and deconstruction of truth and lie as they shape multiple realities in the texts Blackbird, Lolita, and Doubt. Whose perceptions of reality are privileged when constructions of reality clash? When/how do perceptions of sexual intimacy transform into accusations of abuse? In what ways does the trajectory of age impact formations of reality from memory? Please send 250-500 word abstracts examing at least one of these texts, alone or in relation to other American texts, to cathy.fagan@ncc.edu. PDF or Word files please.
'Making Her Meaning Known': New Scholarship about Audre Lorde: This panel seeks papers that are pursuing new questions and arguments about work by Audre Lorde. For Lorde--and for many of her readers-- writing was a form of survival; how will her work continue to have such powerful meaning and impact for the 21st century? Papers may analyze her prose writing, her poetry, and/or her impact on black cultural theory and feminism. Submit proposals of 250-500 words to Dr. Kirsten Ortega at kortega@uccs.edu.
Modernism, Poetry, and Faith: The convergence of historic Christianity's decline, Modernism's rise, and an enduring desire for spiritual meaning resulted in new avenues of epistemological exploration and poetic experimentation. Poets actively attacked religion, advocated its continued relevance, or suggested new sources of narrative by inventing new forms and manipulating past archetypes. How did Modernist poetry write new forms of faith, and how did it further dialogue about ultimate questions in a post-Christian paradigm? Please send a 300 word abstract and short bio to Kelly MacPhail <kelly.macphail_at_umontreal.ca>.
'Mother of everyone': The Achievement and Legacy of Muriel Rukeyser": The significance of Rukeyser's work is clear to poets like Maxine Kumin and Adrienne Rich, born half a generation later and thinking back through their mothers, as Woolf proposed. But it was possible to study literature in the 70s, as I did, eventually as a specialist in twentieth-century poetry, and never hear her name. This session aims at an early 21st-century (re)assessment of Rukeyser's poetry, with, ideally, parallel examinations of the lessons about canonicity, feminist intellectual and socio-political trajectories, and influence that her career suggests. Bill Waddell, bwaddell@sjfc.edu.
New Formalism, Aesthetics, and American Literary Studies: If, as some have argued, "new formalism seems curiously devoid of a coherent system of thought or unified methodological approach to studying literature, what then can "new formalism" mean? More specifically, what can it means for American literary studies? What are the possibilities of new formalism or a return to aesthetics for scholars of American literature? This panel seeks submissions that would explore answers to this question, whether through theoretical inquiry or applied readings of specific texts. Dustin Hannum <dhannum@mail.rochester.edu>
New Perspectives on Martin R. Delany: The publication of Robert S. Levine's Martin R. Delany: A Documentary Reader reminds us that Delany was an active participant in the antebellum public sphere, who utilized multiple genres to conceptualize community. This panel invites papers on Blake, as well as Delany's non-fictional writings to engage in conversations about nationalism, transnationalism, black cosmopolitanism, and the role of black civic organizations in order to reconsider Delany alongside new directions in nineteenth-century African American scholarship. Submit abstracts to Elizabeth Pittman at epittman@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Perception and Nation in Early America: While the role of affect is being increasingly examined as a force in the creation of early American national identity, as an emotional response to perception of the external world, affect is ultimately an indirect experience of that nation. Thus, perception is itself a critical component of shaping American identity. This panel seeks papers examining the relationship between perception/bodily sensation and affect in shaping ideas about national formation and American identity in the Revolutionary and antebellum periods. Please submit 300-500 word abstracts to Andrea Knutson at knutson@oakland.edu.
Poetics and Worldview: The Poet as Cultural Critic: Certain avant-garde poets of the last century, ranging from Ezra Pound to Charles Olson, Denise Levertov and Gary Snyder share the imperative to challenge and deconstruct dominant cultural paradigms, to move beyond the poetics associated with them, and to replace them with new interpretations of the human condition and new approaches to poetic expression-e.g., Olson's "projective verse"-that surpass the limits imposed by, and suffered by, mainstream traditions. Please submit paper proposals of 300 words or less to Charles Hall at challa11@hotmail.com.
The Politics of the Western: Why has the western--unquestionably a uniquely American genre--failed to find a place in the American canon? In an attempt to answer this question, this panel will explore the political investments and pedagogical potential of the classic western novel. Please send abstracts of approximately 250 words to Darren Millar at millardarren@gmail.com.
Race and Performance in American Literature and Culture: This panel will investigate the ways in which race and performance are linked in American literature, exploring the theoretical complexities involved in the performance of race. The panel will also examine the disruptive potential of racial performance and its ability to expose the hollowness of racist discourse. Finally, it will consider the legacy of early forms of racial discourse and their influence on contemporary performances of race. Papers that take a comparative approach to the study of racialization are highly encouraged. Please send abstracts to Kristin Moriah: kristin.moriah@mail.mcgill.ca.
Re-Approaching the 'Patriarch': The 'Father' in Asian North American Literature: Instead of the symbolic absence or ghostly presence of the father figure, this panel will focus on the discussion of the actual presence of the "Asian Father" in Asian American/Canadian literature. We will explore the Asian father's struggle with cultural emasculation and his melancholia and silence. Please submit a 300-word abstract and a brief biographical information to Brian Guan-rong Chen at gchen@georgianc.on.ca.
Reconsidering Consolation in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Elegiac Writing: Though many scholars have influentially defined the modern and the contemporary elegy in opposition to consolation, they often still do not exclude the possibility that new modes of elegiac writing may continue to offer mourners with either some minimal form or unique version of consolation for loss. This panel would thus like to rethink how we couple consolation and elegiac literature from the past century. Can we set them in a non-oppositional relation? Please submit 300 word abstracts to Daniel Moore, Queen's University, 4dwm5@queensu.ca.
Representations of the Body in African-American Literature: From depictions of freedom and enslavement to portrayals of race relations and descriptions of everyday life, African-American bodies, their physical and societal capabilities and limitations, and their cultural representations play a strong role in African-American texts. This panel seeks to explore the way bodies are written into being in African American literature and asks how they are extended and delimited to portray the presence or absence of power, unity, and cultural capital. Please email 250-word abstracts to Angela Francis at afrancis00@gmail.com.
(Re)Writing Anaïs Nin and Her Diaries: This panel's aim is to further explore Nin, her diaries, and her need to write. Papers may interrogate past critics' claims; engage with recent (or unfamiliar) theories, lenses, and approaches; present interdisciplinary connections; or analyze portions of her journals—all in attempts to offer novel and insightful perspectives by (re)writing Nin and her (non)fiction. Please send 250-500 word abstracts and one-page CV to Rachel N. Spear at rspear1@tigers.lsu.edu, with your subject line as "2010 NeMLA Abstract." Include name, affiliation, email, address, number, and A/V needs.
Rethinking Home: Representations of Male Domesticity: This session invites papers examining the significance of male domesticity in American literature spanning the long nineteenth century. Does male domesticity uphold the same values as more familiar forms of feminine home-making? Is male domesticity necessarily a domesticity without women? What do these efforts to ensure the care and comfort of the male body suggest about broader trends in gender formation? Creative interpretations of home and domesticity are welcome. Please send 500 word abstracts, brief bios, and contact information to Caroline Nichols: cecarp@wm.edu.
Rethinking Narrative in Contemporary Poetry: This panel inquires into where and how narrative is important in contemporary poetry. In recent decades, critiques of lyric-narrative poetic forms have cast the term "narrative" in a pejorative light, associated with confessionalism and conservative formalism. Yet narrative remains, in myriad guises, at the heart of contemporary poetic practices across the spectrum. Topics might include narrative poetry and its precursors, the narrative after Language writing, narrative theory and contemporary poetics, prose poems, and the verse novel. Email a 1-2 page abstract and a brief bio to Barbara Fischer, PhD, bkfischer@yahoo.com.
Rethinking the South: Psychoanalysis and U.S. Southern Literature: The U.S. South is a complicated site of cultural memory, for the region remains at once the site of the trauma of slavery and also the mythic location of a vast nostalgia industry. How has recent work in the fields of trauma studies and memory studies reinvigorated and challenged the role of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theory in southern studies? Please send a 1-2 page proposal and a brief c.v. to Lisa Hinrichsen at lhinrich@uark.edu.
Romancing America: Authorship, National Identity, and the Writing of Historical Romance: In his book on Hawthorne, Henry James famously enumerates the absences--intellectual, social, and civic--that contributed to the impoverished state of American culture. The challenge for early writers was to create literary works for the public's consumption within a context of cultural scarcity, while inventing the terms by which those literary productions could be viewed as meaningful in an increasingly industrious society. Consequently, the historical romance might be best viewed as a discourse of anxious self-authorization. Send 250-word abstracts to sean.kelly@wilkes.edu
Serializing Fiction: Submissions are invited on serial publication of novels in periodicals in America and England. Possible topics include effects of serialization on relation of author and readers, on the structure and content of a novel, effects of editorial policies, use of illustrations, differences between serialized novel and book. Papers may focus on one periodical or single issue, one novel or one writer, such as James, Dickens, Howells, Wharton, most of whose novels were serialized. Please send 300-500 word abstracts to Elsa Nettels, exnett@wm.edu or to 211 Indian Springs Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185.
Teaching Early Native American Literature: The increasing availability of Native American texts written before 1900 has only deepened questions about how best teach them. Issues of authenticity, literariness, scholarly ethics and cultural sovereignty come to the fore in early Native American literatures. How do these issues play out in literature or composition courses? How do teachers connect these texts to contemporary issues facing native communities? Papers that explore a variety of pedagogical approaches to this topic are welcome. Please send 1-page abstracts to John J. Kucich at jkucich@bridgew.edu.
Terrified White Masculinity in Twentieth-Century American Literature: From Quentin Compson to Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom and beyond, twentieth-century American literary representations of masculinity have revealed a preoccupation with the idea of terror. Why? Is terror a necessary condition of white American masculinity? Was it new to the twentieth century, and does it continue in the twenty-first? Do non-white-male authors represent masculinity in its terror? Why does the triangulation of whiteness, masculinity, and "the American century" give rise to so much terror? Please send 250- to 500-word abstract to Sharon Paradiso at sparadis@endicott.edu.
Theorizing Compassion: Activism and Global Citizenship in the Works of Alice Walker: The session will present a panel discussion of global citizenship as defined and re-defined against the frame of Alice Walker's work as "theorist of compassion." Papers - approximately 20 minute presentations - addressing any aspect Walker's work, from disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary perspectives are invited; papers addressing the redemptive power of compassion as a foundation for spiritual, social and political revolution(s) as well issues of the body and/or embodied spirituality are particularly welcomed. Andrea Price <priceaj@muc.edu>
'There's nothing so sensible as sensual inundation': Mary Oliver's Search for Transcendence: This panel investigates best-selling, widely read, Pulitzer prize winning American poet Mary Oliver, about whom there is only one book of litrary criticism. What place does she hold in American letters? What might an ecocritical or ecofeminist reading of Oliver reveal? What other types of theoretical readings of Oliver are we missing? What influence has she had on American poetics, if any? Is she simply a "nature" poet or does her work expand beyond nature? What draws readers to her writings? Please send 500-word abstracts to Jen Riley, jen.riley@umassd.edu.
'This world only my body remembered': Women Writing Nature, Nation and Self: This panel will bring together analyses of gender, geography, and ecology to consider the ways that women writers in the United States have reclaimed and redeployed the space of the wilderness as a context for redefinitions of self, of nation, and of gender in fiction. Please submit 200-300 word proposals to: meanes@sage.edu.
Turning Their Backs on the Land: American Literature at the Waterline: This panel will focus on the waterline in American literature, what that space means to authors or their characters, how it transforms them, or how they transform it. How do the waterline and people's experiences of it - at lakefront, riverfront, or seaside - appear as significant themes, images or moments American literature? What does that moment and space reveal that land or water alone cannot? Abstracts (300-500 words) to Colin Clarke at clarkeco@sunysuffolk.edu.
Unearthing Ephemera: Retrieving Extra-Poetic Work of 20th-Century American Poets: Seeking new accounts of textual scholarship and archival forays into the extra-poetic texts (prose, correspondence, artwork, etc.) of 20th-century American poets. What new forms of critical response might emerge from a practice in which ephemeral material of the genre and period is made a central feature of an analytical project? How does unearthing these pieces expand our understanding not only of New American Poetry, but of the present state of poetry, the academy, the world? Please submit 250-word abstracts to lindsey.freer@gmail.com.
The Urban Pastoral in Contemporary American Fiction: This panel seeks papers examining contemporary American authors who expand the ideas of the pastoral to include urban settings. By looking at authors who use the pastoral in urban settings, this panel hopes to position urban and multiethnic American literature within the broader context of environmental writing as well as develop an understanding of the ways in which the urban pastoral can be used to forge a deeper connection with environment and place. Email 250 word abstracts, including contact information and affiliation, to Amanda R. Toronto at art299@nyu.edu.
Urban Places: The Literary Ecology of American Cities: Papers from any period of American literature discussing representations of a city or cities as a form of literature of the environment, as well as papers seeking to form a methodology for performing the literary ecology of cities, are welcomed. Please send abstracts to Karen Waldron at waldron@coa.edu.
The Visualizing Gift: Description and Material Culture in the Novel: This panel aims to explore the emergence of interest in visualization as a fictional method. Description of place and details of material objects in pre-1959 American fiction inform, perhaps, the later genres of comics, graphic novels, and film adaptations such as those by Merchant Ivory Productions. Using Edith Wharton's assertion of her "visualizing gift" as a framing device, proposed papers should explore the emergence of visual culture in early modern American writers. E-mail attachments to cmachesk@lagcc.cuny.edu.
Winnifred and Edith Eaton: Beyond Asian America: This panel seeks papers that examine the non-Asian-focused writings of Edith and/or Winnifred Eaton. Examples might include their Jamaican writings; Edith's early pieces for Canadian papers; Winnifred's Hollywood screenplays; and Winnifred's novels, stories, and plays about Alberta. Karen Skinazi, kes202@nyu.edu
With Great Pleasure: Sentimentality and Form in Early African-American Literature: This panel invites proposals that reexamine early African-American literature from a perspective that emphasizes the means by which these early authors (such as John Marrant, Phillis Wheatley, James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, and Olaudah Equiano) strategically deploy modes of sentimentality in their writings. Papers should address the means by which these authors explore alternative notions of subjectivity through a relationship to literary forms, such as (but not limited to) the conversion narrative, spiritual autobiography, poetry, and sermon. Please send 300 word abstracts and biographical information to tbynum@towson.edu.
Writing Across the Medicine Line: Confinement and Freedom in Native American Literature: This panel--the title of which borrows the phrase "Medicine Line" from Blackfeet/Gros Ventres author James Welch--invites papers that address notions and realities related to physical, conceptual, and spiritual borders and boundaries in Native American literature. Especially welcome are analyses of works in which authors reclaim Indigenous geographic, creative, social, cultural, political and spiritual realities, challenging or transcending limitations and, in effect, writing across the "Medicine Line." Please send 250-500 word proposals to Ashley C. Hall, achall@ucdavis.edu.
Zrá mó croi: Mapping the Moral Domain in Alice McDermott's Novels: This panel will examine girls' moral development in Alice McDermott's novels Child of My Heart and That Night. The reader may begin to critique more than the women in the lives of these young girls, for as Carol Gilligan claims in her analysis of the moral domain for girls, greater questions and concerns might emerge "about the society and culture in which [Theresa and Sherry] are coming of age." Gail Corso <gcorso@neumann.edu>

British

Comparative Literatures: "Shakespeare, Language and Translation: An Inquiry into National Identity Seminar"

French: "Empowering Silence"

Pedagogy: "Interlanguage Commmunication: Mishaps of Misunderstood Language"

Theory: "Speculative Systems: Literature and Finance"

The Aesthetics of Social Problem Literature: This panel explores the relationship between social-problem literature and aesthetics in the British nineteenth century. How do novels-with-a-purpose, industrial fiction, social-problem plays, and political poetry lay claim to or distance themselves from aesthetic value? What can we make of the aesthetic dimensions of the critical response to these texts? Both before and after the advent of the Aesthetic Movement, how do art and purpose cohere? Proposals examining specific novels, plays, and poems are welcome, as are those addressing broader genre issues. Please send 300-word abstracts to Elizabeth Starr, estarr@wsc.ma.edu.
Affect and Ethnic Literature: This panel will explore the intersection of contemporary theories of affect and emotion with issues of ethnicity and race in literature. How does affect lead to reconceiving subjectivity in ways that inform ethnic and racial formations, considering the borders of the subject and identifications with community, nation, and diaspora? Do theories of affect facilitate a reconception of ethnic studies "beyond" identity politics? Email 250-500 word abstracts to Susan Moynihan, sm246@buffalo.edu.
Charles Dickens: From Pickwick to David Copperfield: This panel will focus on the earlier novels of Dickens, from 1836 (The Pickwick Papers) through 1850 (David Copperfield). These years of Dickens's life are crucial in his development as a novelist and the novels he published during this time, while not getting the consideration of some of his later novels, deserve our attention. Questions to consider:How does he develop as an artist? How do we see his identity as a novelist taking place? What kinds of recurrent questions or themes are being shaped? Papers should look at one or more novels from this period of time. Send proposals to Robert Lougy, rxl1@psu.edu.
Death Resentenced: 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of Garrett Stewart's important study of the manner in which 19th- and 20th-century British authors represented death. In the quarter decade since Death Sentences, how do we now conceive of 19th-century British writers' efforts to iterate death? And how do we readers respond to 19th-century portrayals of death? Papers may consider deathbed scenes, narrative closure, descriptions of graveyards, funeral customs, elegy, etc. Especially welcome will be papers with specific, argumentative theses and close readings. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts (preferably as attachments) to Bianca Tredennick at tredenbp@oneonta.edu.
The Future of Women's Literature in Modernist Studies Roundtable: Many modernist women writers, re-discovered after extensive recovery work undertaken in the past 20 years, have again fallen out of print. Is recovery work worthwhile since these writers are unlikely to be published again any time soon? Or is recovery work increasingly immaterial, replaced by interest in transnational writers or interdisciplinary inquiry? How does past and future recovery work in modernist studies affect how women's literature is considered in other periods? Please send 250-500 word abstracts for a roundtable on the future of women's literature in modernist studies to lauren.rosenblum@gmail.com.
Importance of Studying Oscar [Wilde]: Plays, Stories, Letters, and Lectures: This panel offers an opportunity to analyze the role Oscar Wilde has played and continues to play in literature, theater and other aspects of culture. Focus can be on his influential wit and wisdom and/or techniques used to present Oscar in the classroom. This topic calls for a diversity of approaches. Please send 200-400 word abstracts to Annette Magid at a_magid@yahoo.com.
Insular Identities and the Borders of Medieval Britain: While England, Scotland, and Wales each produced their own bodies of literature in the Middle Ages, their physical proximity at times engendered a sense of shared literary culture, even as the fraught political relations among them complicated any notion of a shared identity. This panel seeks to explore Britain's insular identities through an examination of its borders, and invites papers dealing with depictions of borders, bordered identities, border theory, or cross-border relations in medieval Britain. Send 500-word abstracts to Katherine Terrell: kterrell@hamilton.edu.
Jane Austen and the Contemporary World: Continuing the Conversation Roundtable: This roundtable explores the Austen phenomenon today from film adaptations and novelistic spin-offs, websites and listserves to fan fiction, romance novels, fictionalized biographies, advice literature and more and their effect on Austen scholarship and teaching. Are Austen's texts being lost in the pop culture industry? What are the issues and implications of such transformations? Please submit 200-500 word abstracts about Austen in specific areas of popular culture and/or general implications for the future of Austen scholarship to Pat Elliott (patricia.elliott@regiscollege.edu).
Lessons in Sympathy in 19th-century British Literature: This panel investigates various ways in which nineteenth-century British literature approached the moral/immoral function of literature, focusing particularly on the relationship between readers' reading habits and their capacity for sympathy. Please send 300-500 word abstracts to Kyoung-Min Han (han@ohio.edu).
The Limits of Language: From Experimentation to Ethics in a Modern World: This panel seeks to explore how 20th and 21st century poets, playwrights, and novelists experiment with grammar and form in order to advance ethical questions, social critiques, and/or political agendas. How-in the words of Marjorie Perloff in Wittgenstein's Ladder-have writers "bumped their heads against the limits of language" to question "the ethical dimensions of the language game"? How does language-centered literature go beyond experimentation and become ethically charged? Please send 200-400 word abstracts to pnugent2007@yahoo.com.
The Margins of the Logos: Children in 19th Century English Literature: Alongside Realism in the 19th C., there ran a trend in literature that emphasized experience at the margins of the logos, including childhood, absurdity, fantasy, trauma, eroticism, and comedy. This panel seeks papers that will explore this literature by looking at the role of childhood and what it reveals about subjectivity. Topics might include the role of childhood memory or fantasy in adult subjectivity; questions of gender, genre, eroticism, or empire in relation to childhood. Send abstracts (450-750 words) via email to: Alexander Bove, aboveagosto@gmail.com.
The Marketplace in/and Twentieth-Century Literature: Ezra Pound once wrote, "Nothing written for pay is worth printing. Only what has been written against the market." As if in response, Robert Frost wrote, "Modern poets talk against business, poor things, but all of us write for money. Beginners are subjected to trial by market." How do market forces or market values function in twentieth-century English/Anglophone, American, or Canadian literature? Emphasis on literary representations of the marketplace and/or the tensions and contradictions that emerge when artists attempt to exploit the marketplace. 250-word abstracts to Steven Canaday at sbcanaday@aacc.edu.
The Multicultural Middle Ages: The European Middle Ages was far from insular, as authors of the period repeatedly remind us. How are cross-cultural encounters and their consequent problems involving language difference or ethnic and religious others depicted? When are differences elided and when are they emphasized? This panel seeks papers exploring any aspect of cross-cultural connection as represented in medieval narratives. Send abstracts to Erin Mullally, English Dept. Le Moyne College. mullalee@lemoyne.edu
Negotiating History, Memory, and Trauma in New South African Literature: This panel welcomes papers that engage with themes of history, memory and public and private experience in contemporary South African literature. How are South African history and its traumatic legacies explored, explained, and reconciled in new literature? What new forms are created? What old forms are re-made? How do texts negotiate individual and collective experiences? Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements to Amanda Carr (ajcar0@english.umass.edu).
Our Present Time and Self-Made Misery: Anti-Industrialism and the Fantasy of Resistance: This panel will explore critiques of modernity and industrialization in works of fantasy fiction with an emphasis on the works of JRR Tolkien. We will explore ecocritical interpretations of Tolkien's work and investigate parallel expressions of his anti-industrialism in the works of other speculative fiction authors such as Ursula K Leguin, Stephen Donaldson, and William Gibson, as well as in non-fiction works by authors such as Aldo Leopold, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Edward Abbey. Please send 250 word abstracts and contact information via e-mail to: Chris Hall, Teaching Associate, Humboldt State University; cgh11@humboldt.edu.
Overreachers & Machiavels: The Works of Christopher Marlowe: No playwright of the 16th Century, apart from Shakespeare, is better known or more widely read, despite having such a short life and a relatively small oeuvre, than Christopher Marlowe. This panel is soliciting papers that will examine the impact of Marlowe's work, in particular this is an attempt to complicate the standard readings of his protagonists and to uncover, as Stephen Greenblatt puts it, the fact that it is Marlowe's "own country men that he broods on and depicts." Submit to Nathaniel Leonard at nleonard@english.umass.edu.
"Pillars of Witness": Brontë Literature as Commentary: Anne Bronte’s harassed governess, Agnes Grey, reflects that in stressful times poetry can provide solace, yet it also documents life experiences. She confides: “I still preserve those relics of past sufferings and experience, like pillars of witness….” Building on “pillars of witness”, this panel will investigate the role of recording or witnessing in Brontë literature. How do the works bear witness to events or concepts? How does this affect their “art”? Consider the consequences or benefits of the Brontës” acts of bearing witness. Email 250-500 word abstracts to Kristin.LeVeness@ncc.edu.
The Politics of Meat in the Nineteenth Century Novel: "Meat is a symbol of patriarchy," declares Carol J. Adams. Her study of the sexual politics of meat shows that carnivorousness is also linked to inequalities in addition to those of gender. While beef was a nineteenth-century symbol of Britishness, Percy Shelley claimed that meat - eating widened the gap between rich and poor. This session will consider the politics of meat in the nineteenth -century novel. We invite papers which explore the ways in which carnivorousness is imbricated in issues of class, race, nationhood or gender in literary representations. Maggie Berg <bergm@queensu.ca>
Psychoanalysis and Early Modern English Tragedy: If Sophoclean tragedy supplied Freud with the Oedipus complex, Hamlet supplied him with the paradigm for the working out of that complex. What if Freud had been more familiar with Middleton's The Maiden's Tragedy however? This panel invites papers that construct a dialogue between psychoanalysis and early modern English tragedy. How can each inform the other in ways that expand our understanding of psychoanalysis, early modern English tragedy, and tragedy as a genre? Please send 500-word paper proposals to Mathew Martin at mmartin@brocku.ca.
Redefining Masculinity in 20th-Century British Popular Fiction and Culture: Since conceptions of British masculinity had been shaped by a longstanding culture of empire and its agenda, the shift from an imperial to a decolonized Britain and the impact of the World Wars make the 20th-century a particularly ripe period for inquiries into concomitant reformulations of masculinity in popular culture and literature. This panel will examine redefinitions of masculinity that challenge and intersect with global and national relations. Genres may include adventure tales, comics, war/espionage fiction, graphic novels, sci-fi, fantasy, and film. Please submit a 300 word abstract to mcartt@sage.edu.
Religious Argumentation in Women's Writing of the Mid- to Late Eighteenth Century: Sociological and historical studies have long ago located the religious sources of political writing by men, while religion in women's writing is often seen as a product of personal belief, and rarely as a living rhetorical language in a contentious public sphere. This panel will present cutting edge work by scholars who examine religious discourse in texts primarily by British women. The papers may focus on source study, poetic expression, contemporary political/religious crises, the role of gender, and rhetorical adaptation of theological principles. Please contact Fiore Sireci: SireciF@newschool.edu.
Rethinking Modernism, Rethinking the Child: Modernist Experimentations in Children's Literature: This panel will examine modernist literature's relationship to childhood. Modernism has been significantly reassessed as a transgressive period, working across national, sexual, and cultural divides. However, few have explored modernism's trespasses into childhood. This panel will consider such questions as: Who is the modernist child? In what ways do modernist experimentations in, for example, subjectivity, form, and method get applied to childhood and/or to children's literature? What are the ramifications of these youthful transgressions for the period as a whole? Send 300-500 word abstracts to Michelle Phillips at hphillip@rutgers.edu.
Rhetoric, Rights, and Transatlantic Modernist Fiction: The Modernist era saw the development of a host of declarations, treaties, and conventions aiming to codify an emerging philosophy of supposedly "universal" human rights. What are the rhetorical parameters of human rights? This panel will engage with the ethical implications of formations of language in Transatlantic Modernist fiction. How does the literary production of this period frame and anticipate contemporary debates on the nature and scope of human rights? Please send a 300-word abstract with your name and institutional affiliation to Charlotte Nunes at charlotte.nunes@gmail.com.
Shakespeare and the Environment: In what ways does Shakespeare imagine the natural world in his plays, and are there ways that Shakespeare's treatment of physical space shapes-or might usefully instruct-our own understanding of the environment? This panel will explore both the depiction of the natural world in Shakespeare's plays and poetry and the consequent paths that characters take given the ways they read the environment. Rather than simply applying ecocriticism to Shakespeare, this panel aspires to disclosing the environmental worldviews latent within Shakespeare. Miles Taylor <taylorme@lemoyne.edu>
Shakespeare's Cougars: This panel welcomes papers on any aspect of the sexuality of mature early modern women as exemplified in the plays of William Shakespeare. Suggested topics include (but are not limited to) flirtations between older women /younger men; the sexual appetite/desire of the mature woman in its historical context; possible lesbian desire/consummation; the views of moralists and/or Puritan divines pertaining to adult female sexuality; sexual place/spaces; differences in the sexuality of younger vs. older women; and male characters' views of mature female sexuality. Marlene Clark <westgate63@yahoo.com>
Teaching Shakespeare: This panel will present innovative and effective ways to teach the works of William Shakespeare to undergraduates. Please send 250 word abstracts to Roberta Milliken at rmilliken@shawnee.edu.
To Give or Not To Give: The Ethics of Nineteenth-Century Charity: This panel will address the ethics of charity to show where doing good is perhaps to do harm, as to do good for some is to not do good for others. Papers will explore how the Victorian devotion to charity engages citizens' allegiance to local and global communities, allegiances which often lead to conflicting positions of how to act. I am particularly interested in papers which consider these issues from the perspective of material culture. Please submit 250-word abstracts to Leslie Graff at leslie.graff@gmail.com.
Travelling Genre, Geopolitical Space, and Reception, 1775-1830: Transatlanticism invites us to consider the various effects of market circulation, and how generic features of genre must be equally mobile and culturally adaptive. How do genres such as the exploration narrative or the confessional function differently when they are situated in differing geopolitical sites of representation? In what ways does this "travelling" influence the ideological work of genre? Please send 250-word abstracts to either Steve Bellomy at bellomys@mailbox.sc.edu, or John Knox at knoxt@mailbox.sc.edu.
Uncovering the Irish Woman in Early 20th Century Fiction: This panel will explore what Eavan Boland has termed Irish women's "adventure of powerlessness" in Irish fiction. Although many representations of women do appear to conform to Boland's bleak assessment, papers that critique this view are especially welcome. This panel is most interested in representations of Irish womanhood by female writers from the fin de siècle to World War II but will also consider papers on female characters in male-authored texts. Please send a brief abstract to Elizabeth Foley O'Connor at lizfoley@gmail.com.
Violence & Passion in Twentieth Century Irish Literature & Film: The lines between passion and violence are never clearly demarcated, and as Yeats depicted so famously in "Easter 1916," crossing their borders can produce surprising results, often equally disastrous and transformative. This panel will explore this relationship between violence and passion in twentieth century Irish literature and/or film. Please send abstracts of 250 words to Gavin Keulks at keulksg@wou.edu.
William Blake and His Influence: Papers are welcome on William Blake and his influence on any one of the many artists or movements he impacted, including not only literature but visual arts and music: including but not limited to the Pre-Raphaelites, the Ancients, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Ginsberg and the Beats, Van Morrison, Billy Bragg, Patti Smith, composer William Bolcom, -- not to mention popular writers like Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Harris, etc. What do the artists "half create/And what perceive" in their own vision of William Blake? What is Blake's legacy today? Josephine McQuail <jmcquail@tntech.edu>
William Blake in Conversation: This panel invites papers that will place the poet/visual artist William Blake in conversation with others: his contemporaries, the artists whom he inspired, and the theorists to whom his work connects. By placing Blake's voice in conversation with the voices of others, we will investigate his continuing power to inspire new vision and committed action. Please send 300-500 word abstracts to Laura Rutland at (email) rutland001@gannon.edu or (regular mail) English Department/Gannon University, 109 University Square, Erie, PA 1641.
William Hogarth: Interpretation and Influence: This panel will examine the works and legacy of William Hogarth. We seek papers on a range of topics, including interpretation of his works; cultural, political, or autobiographical context; Hogarth's relationship with literary correspondents (Fielding, Smollett and other other authors); his contributions to the genre of satire; his achievements as artist; and the dissemination of his images on china ware and other objectPlease send 250-500 word abstracts in MS Word to Sara Schotland, ss735@georgetown.edu.
Women and the Politics of the Vernacular: This panel will address issues of translation and the development of vernacular authorship in medieval texts by and for women. Modern and medieval translation, the roles and constructions of medieval authors, and the impact of gender on language and authorship in medieval texts will be the focus of the presentations. Susannah Chewning <chewning@ucc.edu>
Zadie Smith: After the First Decade: This panel will draw together examinations of Zadie Smith's fiction (including early short stories) and/or her journalism a decade after her first major publication White Teeth (2000). Surprisingly little has been published on the writer by academics, and yet her work appears on courses worldwide. The proposed panel will consider whether new perspectives might be introduced that can cast new critical light on variously, her fictional oeuvre, her public pronouncements, and the emphasis of much of her critical and journalistic writing. Send abstracts to Philip Tew <Philip.Tew@brunel.ac.uk>.

Canadian

Canadian Drama Board-Sponsored: For this Board-sponsored panel, we seek papers on any aspect of English Canadian drama (including television drama). Papers from a variety of theoretical perspectives are welcome. Please direct queries, and/or submit one page abstracts and a brief biography to Paul Chafe <pchafe@ryerson.ca>.
The Boundaries of Québec in Contemporary Immigrant Fiction: This panel invites papers that explore the ways in which contemporary immigrant writers in Québec redraw the boundaries of Québécois literature. Which literary-critical paradigms (national, regional, or global) are apposite when reading authors like Régine Robin, Dany Laferrière, Sergio Kokis, and Ying Chen etc., who straddle multiple cultures and languages? By employing tropes of hybridity and multiculturalism, are they complicit with a global literary market that fetishizes hyphenated writers, or do they contest the market's commodification of their literary identities? Email 300-word abstracts & short bios to Oana Sabo, osabo@usc.edu.
Ecocriticism and Canada: This panel seeks to investigate how Canadian authors and artists shape the way we, as humans, understand our relationship to "nature." How do Canadian literary and cultural artifacts interrogate and collapse dominant binary modes of thinking about nature and culture, the humanities and the sciences, human and non-/post-human, and life and non-life? How does current Canadian ecocritical discourse shape the global imagining of Canada? Please send abstracts, 500 words or less, to MaryAnne Laurico at maryanne.p.r.h.laurico@queensu.ca.
French-Canadian Literatures Outside Quebec: Given the increasing scholarly interest in French-Canadian literatures outside of Quebec, this panel invites abstracts that explore new directions in Acadian, Franco-Ontarian, Franco-Manitoban, Fransaskois, and Franco-Albertan literatures. Papers may be delivered in either English or French. Send 250 word abstracts to Andrea Cabajsky, Universite de Moncton, andrea.cabajsky@umoncton.ca. french
If the Lion Could Speak: The Animal Story in North American Literature: At once uniquely North American and globally resonant, the Animal Story has been explored by many of Canada's most prominent authors (e.g. Timothy Findley, Yann Martel, Barbara Gowdy, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Margaret Atwood, etc.). In North American literature, the Animal Story intersects broadly with questions of domination, resistance, and the politics of representation, while also embodying concerns with both ecocritical and literary critical inquiry. This panel takes all angles on animal representation in Canadian and U.S. literature. Please e-mail 250-word abstracts vguihan@gmail.com
Indigenous Literatures of Native North America: The Indigenous Literatures of Native North America panel welcomes papers that address the works of indigenous North American writers. Special consideration will be given to papers that address the work of Thomas King, Louise Halfe, Lee Maracle, Rita Mestokosho, Armand Ruffo, and Richard Van Camp, and other indigenous Canadian writers. Benjamin Carson <benjamin.carson@gmail.com>
Literary Montreals Roundtable: The Literary Montreals roundtable calls for 4 to 6 position papers, first of all, to provide a collection of sights (citations) to be collaboratively sited on a google map and made available to conference participants, and to engage, in turn, in a roundtable discussion of a) how Montreal, in particular, is a literary city--which, of course, begs the question of what "literary' means--and b) how literary spaces and practices can be described as particularly urban in character. Please send inquiries and/or approximately 300 word abstracts, plus a short bio, to richard.cassidy(at)umontreal(dot)ca.
Margaret Atwood and Canada/ Canadians: Interventions, Influences, Interconnections: This panel attempts to situate the preeminent author Margaret Atwood within a Canadian context. How has being Canadian shaped Atwood's oeuvre? How has she influenced/ been influenced by, or responded in dialogue with, other Canadian writers, artists, scholars and thinkers? The panel welcomes interdisciplinary approaches as well as analyses of fiction, poetry, literary criticism, and essays. Please send abstracts of 250-500 words to Karen Stein: karen.whd@gmail.com.

Caribbean

Comparative Literatures: "Black Modernisms: Harlem Renaissance, Negrismo, Negritude"; "Postcolonial Ecologies"

Queering the Caribbean: Towards an Open Discussion of Queerness in Caribbean Literature: This panel will examine queer presences (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, androgynous, hermaphrodite) in Caribbean literature. It seeks both discussions of texts that explicitly present queer characters and engage queer experience, and interesting re-readings of texts not commonly placed within this rubric. Papers (in English) on texts from the francophone and hispanophone Caribbean particularly welcome. Please send 250-300 word abstracts in body of email to Rachel Mordecai <mordecai@english.umass.edu>
(Re-) Writing Caribbean History Through Literature: This panel examines the intersections of history and literature in 20th century Caribbean fiction. How do Caribbean authors conceptualize, narrate, and (re-)inscribe their place in history and literature? How have the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and tourism shaped the modern Caribbean and the authors' re-writing of the region's history through literature? Possible topics: the Caribbean historical novel, the bildungsroman as microcosm of the region's history, and the problematic concept of "the return." Papers spanning national and linguistic boundaries encouraged. 300 word abstracts to charlottewrogers@gmail.

Comparative Literatures

British: "The Multicultural Middle Ages"

Caribbean: "(Re-) Writing Caribbean History Through Literature"

Creative Writing: "Border Crossing Poetry Creative Session"

Film: "Cinema and the Narrative Roundtable"

French: "North African and Arabic literature: Resisting or Embracing Modernism? Roundtable"

German: "Literature and Time"; "Translation and the Transnational Past"; "Walter Benjamin and Memory"

Italian: "Beyond Traduttore/Traditore: Translation from and into Italian across the Centuries"; "Comparative Futurism"; "The Myth of Rome"; "Travel-Writing from its Origins to the Present"

Pedagogy: "Translation and Pedagogy Roundtable"; "Why Do They Hate Us?: Teaching 9/11 Literature Seminar"

Russian: "After the Berlin Wall: Rethinking Contemporary Russian and East European Writing"

Spanish: "Contemporary Trends in Latin American Narrative"

Theory: "Exegeses on Psychiatry"; "Illuminating the Everyday Imagination"; "Seeking a Postmodern God: Representations of the Absent Center in Contemporary Writing"; "The Trouble with Health Society for Critical Exchange Session"

World Literatures: "Non-Western Literatures in Translation"; "South Asia's Orients"

Beckett's Letters / Les Lettres de Beckett / Becketts Briefe Seminar: This seminar invites papers that explore the relevance of The Letters of Samuel Beckett for his oeuvre. Possible topics include but are not restricted to: Thematic, structural, narrative, stylistic, textual and/or inter-textual relationships between Beckett's letters and his work; polyglotism in/of the letters and the work; letters as textual variants of the work; The Letters of Samuel Beckett as textual research tool: benefits, limits and/or comparison with previously published letters; letters and other authorial research tools (manuscripts, notebooks, production notebooks, etc.). Please send 400-500 word abstracts to Carla Taban, carla.taban@utoronto.ca.
Black Modernisms: Harlem Renaissance, Negrismo, Negritude: This panel proposes a re-examination of three important moments in the articulation of a Black modernist consciousness in the Americas and beyond: the Harlem Renaissance, the Negrismo current of Hispanic poetry, and the Francophone Negritude movement. Proposals relating to poetics, the visual arts, and music are especially encouraged. Please send all presentation abstracts via e-mail to christopher.winks@qc.cuny.edu.
Canada and the Spanish-Speaking World: The purpose of this panel is to explore connections between Canada and literatures of the Spanish-speaking world. This can take many forms: literature in Spanish produced in Canada by immigrants, refugees or expatriates; representations of Canada, including Niagara Falls, in poetry and fiction from Latin America and Spain; the reception of the work of Canadian singers/songwriters in Spanish-speaking countries; etc. All genres (including film and performance art) and all potential connections are welcome subjects. Please email 200-300 word abstracts to Adam Lifshey <aml58@georgetown.edu> by Sept. 10.
The City as a Space of Exile: The session will examine text that present the city, any city, as a space of exile. The text can be fiction, poetry, song, essay or letters and personal accounts of the encounters with a city - a place of exile. However, it has to reveal a city whose design is not limited to a mere geographical reference and whose function is not confined to a static setting. Agnieszka Gutthy <agutthy@gmail.com>
Communal Modernisms: This panel will explore the relationship between modernist aesthetics, ethics, and politics in the production of modernist media concerned with the idea(l) of community. Papers might consider how reading and teaching communal modernism(s) can serve as a counter to the predominant idea that the early twentieth-century valued, and therefore we should value art as a means of individual self-expression over art as a way of envisioning more inclusive and interconnected communities. Please email (as Word attachments) a 250 word abstract and a short c.v. to Dr. Emily M. Hinnov at: ehinnov@bgsu.edu.
Comparative Postcolonialities: What is the value of a comparative approach to postcolonial literary and cultural studies? How might a comparative framework impact our understanding of concepts such as "colonialism," "coloniality," and "postcoloniality?" This panel aims to bring together scholars from across disciplines to reflect upon colonialism--past and present, internal to nations or externally imposed. We invite papers analyzing colonial and postcolonial texts (including, but not limited to, literature, media, and film) from single or multiple linguistic and national contexts. Shakti Jaising, sjaising@eden.rutgers.edu, Johanna Wagner, jrwagner@rutgers.edu.
Dante meets MTV: Studying Medieval Literature in a Post-Medieval Context Roundtable: This roundtable aims to create a discussion about the role and methods of the study of medieval literature in the contemporary world. How can the twenty-first century reader approach and comprehend medieval literature? What roles can modernization or anachronistic comparison play in the study of medieval literature? Approaches involving specific case studies are welcomed as well as discussions of wider pedagogical issues and methods. Please send 250-word abstracts in English to Anna Strowe, astrowe@complit.umass.edu.
Displacement, Dispossession, and Uprootedness Seminar: How do we approach and teach traumatic representations of displacement, dispossession, and uprootedness? How do forced displacements and violent migrations mark bodies and psyches? How do literary narratives attempt to work through catastrophic loss and dispossession? This seminar welcomes presentations dealing with literary texts, case-studies, and particular ethnic groups, as well as broader theoretical, social, and historical engagements. Please submit a 500 word abstract to Trisha Brady, SUNY at Buffalo, Dept. of English, tmbrady@buffalo.edu.
Fiction Writers (1960-present) and Their Use of Fairy Tales: How and why do fiction writers from the explosively experimental period of 1960 to the present use (subvert, disturb) the seemingly conventional form of the fairy tale? Both American (e.g., Barthelme, Coover) and international (e.g., Atwood, Garcia Marquez, Angela Carter, Rushdie) writers are drawn to fairy tales. This panel will explore writers' reworkings of classic or existing tales, their creation of new tales, and the overarching issue of how the ethos of the time period and the fairy tale genre interrelate. Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Charles Cullum <ccullum@kutztown.edu>.
Fictional Histories/Historical Fictions: Reconceptualizing History in Renaissance Literature: This panel seeks papers on early modern historical fiction examining the ways that early modern fiction writers use fictional genres to rewrite history. Among other topics, papers for this session might theorize the relationship between fiction and history in the Renaissance or investigate the connections that historical fictions posit between public and private events, gender and history, and truth versus fact. Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Elizabeth Ketner at elizabeth.ketner@plattsburgh.edu.
Figuring out Fascism: This panel welcomes papers dealing with the representation of Fascism and anti-Fascism in European literature, arts and cinema. Suitable topics might be, for example, the reproduction of the Self, of the Other, of the State, and of the relationship between them.If you are interested in presenting a paper, please send an approximately 300-words long abstract and your CV to the chair Marja Härmänmaa, e-mail address: marja.harmanmaa@helsinki.fi.
French and German Exile Writers: Dialogues: This session calls for papers on the literature written by French and German exiles during World War II. Possible foci include works written in exile, treatment of exile in them, their domestic reception in the post-war period. Comparative papers as well as those treating only one of the literatures are invited. Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements to Christine Evans (cevans@lesley.edu).
Indigenous Writers on the Montreal Region: This panel addresses some of the ways in which indigenous writers, storytellers and filmmakers such as Taiake Alfred and Alanis Obomsawin among others displace representations of "the imaginary Indian" in Montreal writing, offering their own understanding of the Montreal region's history, culture and literature. Michele Lacombe <mlacombe@trentu.ca>
Italian Medieval Vulgar Preaching and Romance Literature: The influence of the preachers' words on the Romance literatures of the Middle Ages. If interested in partecipating to a panel analyzing the relationship between sermons and major literary works over the Middle Ages, please send inquiries or 250-500 words abstract to Enrico Minardi, eminardi@wisc.edu.
Machiavelli after Machiavelli: The Art of Power: The Art of Power Few political writers have had as much of an influence on literature as Niccolò Machiavelli. This panel will explore that influence in works from the early modern period to today. Although Machiavelli may have inspired these writers, how have their own cultural backgrounds and historical contexts shaped their depiction of his ideas? This panel hopes to gain a better understanding of how our view of Machiavelli has changed and of how our view of villainy has also changed. Please submit 250-300 word abstracts (preferably MSWord) to Jackie Cameron at jackiec159@hotmail.com.
Male Femininity in Twentieth Century Literature of the Americas: This panel aims to identify representations of male femininity in twentieth century literature of the Americas, and to examine the cultural work done by the appearance and circulation of these representations. Please send abstracts to Harry Thomas, UNC-Chapel Hill, at harryothomas@gmail.com.
Mysticism, Epiphany, and Enunciation Narratives: Although religion cannot be verified that doesn't mean it doesn't count. Our panel seeks papers that discuss religion as a knotty cubed or not-whole relation, Historical examples of such "religious literary" texts are Robert Musil's Three Women, Gertrude Stein's hagiography Three Lives, Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas, Freud's "Three Caskets," or Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Jessica Datema <jdatema@bergen.edu>
No More "Happily Ever After"? : Rewriting Fairy Tales in the Postmodern: Proposals from an inter-disciplinary and comparative perspective on the rewriting of the fairytale that consider social, historical and cultural factors are encouraged for this session. How have the traditional versions of the fairytales "mutated" and what characterizes the dialogue between the original text and its "postmodern" version? Please send 200-300 word abstracts and any inquiries to Cristina Santos, csantos@brocku.ca.
Poetry with Questions: This panel seeks papers that explore poetry which "questions" via subject or design or both. Papers may also address poetry that answers certain questions. Toward these ends, we may explore poetry of or against the divine, for example, or poetry that challenges certain poetic schools of thought, i.e. poetry that "breaks rules" or creates new ones. (Dickinson, Hopkins, Celan, and Strand are examples, though there are many more.) Finally, writers may emphasize poetic technique itself as a vehicle for questioning or expanding the art. Scott Minar <minar@ohio.edu>
Postcolonial Ecologies: How is the state of the environment represented in postcolonial literature? What is at stake in this new field of scholarship? Paper proposals for this panel should identify postcolonial literary representations of ecologies and the ecological frames by which to read such literature. Please send proposals to Elaine Savory savorye@newschool.edu.
Seeing Things: Dreams, Visions and Hallucinations: This panel explores the connections between reality and imagined or imaginary worlds, examining the ways in which sight, and in particular the sight of things that are not present or do not exist, contributes to knowledge and understanding. How do "real" worldviews come through in narratives of dreams or visions? How do stories of hallucinatory experiences provide information about non-hallucinatory ones? How can one tell, as a literary subject or as a consumer of literature, where the boundaries of reality are? 250-word abstracts in English to Anna Strowe, astrowe@complit.umass.edu.
Shakespeare, Language and Translation: An Inquiry into National Identity Seminar: International Shakespeare: This seminar will explore Shakespeare and language as a means to examine national identity and the ways that translation can play a role in both its destabilization and creation. Paper proposals are welcome on case studies of translation, production, imitation or reception of Shakespeare worldwide, as well as on the impact of these phenomena on the interpretation of Shakespeare's texts. The panel can integrate theories of identity, political perspectives, translation, readership, reception and censorship. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts to Marie Blackman (marie.blackman@comcast.net).
Textual Refigurations: Examining the Practice of Rewriting Old Texts into New Contexts: This panel will examine the practice of importing characters and plot lines from one literary work to another. This panel hopes to reveal how the relationship between the newer work and its source material affects the way the way that readers and audiences receive both works, particularly when this relationship crosses cultural, chronological, and genre divides. Please send abstracts to Michael Rio and William Duffy at wsduffy@buffalo.edu.
Thinking the Sacred Today: This panel will address the spiritual “malaise” or relative emptiness linked to the erosion of the sacred, that once functioned as a traditional core of existential meaning. We wish to discuss the traces of this fragmented core by investigating in which ways the sacred has been reorganized in modern literary and theoretical discourse and by examining what new theoretical models might allow us to interpret its manifestations in modern literature and present day culture. Please send 250-500 words abstracts to Sara Danièle Bélanger M. (sdbm22@gmail.com).
Transformations of Antiquity in the Long Eighteenth Century: This panel addresses the relationship between revivals of antiquity and the development of cultural reform projects in the eighteenth to mid nineteenth centuries. Topics of the session include, but are not limited to: university education and Bildung, the emergence of the arts as disciplines, Ancient-Modern debates. Please send abstracts of ca. 250 words and a brief bio to Ulrike Wagner, auw2101@columbia.edu
Translation and Human Rights: This panel seeks to explore the transnational role and impact of translators/translations in the process of discovering and revealing truth, human rights abuse, and state sponsored violence. For example, how have translations of testimonios, such as I, Rigoberta Menchú, contributed to national/global truth reconciliation and collective pursuit of justice? Please send a short abstract and brief biographical statements to Rick J. Santos at santosr@ncc.edu.
Translation and Translingualism: This panel focuses on issues of translatability as key for understanding encounters between cultures and interactions within cultures. How do issues of language, gender, race, class, and national identities "translate" or fail to do so in transnational texts and contexts? What is or is not translatable from one place or condition to another? How does it get transformed in the process? Papers examining literature, language, film, or any aspect of culture in transnational and translingual settings and texts are welcome. Carine Mardorossian <cmardoro@buffalo.edu>
Whose Africa?: Representations of Africa in Contemporary African and Diasporic Literatures: TRepresentations of Africa in Contemporary African and Diasporic Literatures This panel seeks papers on representations of Africa by contemporary writers on both sides of the (black) Atlantic. The global imaginary is marked by a long history of claims made to Africa by western writers/thinkers (e.g., Hegel and Conrad) and 20th century responses to them by African and diasporic writers/thinkers following movements such as Afro-centrism, decolonization, and Négritude. How are contemporary writers dealing with this complicated inheritance? Do they want to problematize it? If so, how? Please send 250-abstracts to mjniemi@buffalo.edu.
Women, Utopia and the Fantastic in 20th and 21st-century narratives: This panel seeks to examine utopian and fantastic narratives that represent sociological, cultural, and/or political treatments of the human condition by Western women writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Papers that analyze authors' use of utopian and fantastic writing as literary technique will also be considered. This panel encourages contributors from multiple literary areas. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts to: staylor@washjeff.edu or btrigo@gettysburg.edu.
The World is Not Flat: Body Traffic across the Global Village: We will examine the ways in which literary, cinematic, journalistic and internet texts portray the lives of deracinated workers within the global marketplace. How do these texts serve as correctives to Thomas Friedman's celebration of increasingly symbiotic economic relations across the globe? Do such texts also manifest a transmigrational imagination, engendered by a thoroughly globalized media? Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to Alexandar Mihailovic (cllazm@hofstra.edu), and may consider any of these questions in regard to identities that are redefined through the migration of labor(ers).

Composition

Creative Writing in the Composition Classroom: This panel seeks papers that explore the value of creative writing exercises in the composition classroom. How does imagination, inherent in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, lend to the skills required to write analytic research papers? What is the relationship between creativity and the ability to transform and invent meaning? Does creative writing, arguably not a formal discipline, become valid in the service of composition learning outcomes, and what specific exercises achieve these outcomes? Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements via email to Brooke Comer, brooke_c@aucegypt.edu.
If We're Writing about Writing, Then What Kind of Writing Do We Assign?: As composition programs begin to implement the Writing About Writing approach (introduced by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs), important questions such as the nature of reading and writing assignments have come back into focus. This panel looks at the types of writing that can and perhaps should be assigned to students across all levels of a vertical writing curriculum focusing especially on questions such as the role of personal narrative and academic inquiry assignments. Email proposals (250-500 words) as Word attachments to Heather Urbanski (urbanskihea@ccsu.edu)
Literature vs. Composition: Revisiting the Relationship Roundtable: In 2002, Peter Elbow proposed that Literature and Composition learn from one another to both improve scholarship and pedagogy and heal the longstanding gulf between the two fields. Since 2002, how has the relationship between Composition and Literary Studies changed? What challenges still inhibit their alliance? What type of connection should exist between the fields? How might they become more mutually enhancing? And, how are current economic concerns changing the prominence of, and relationship between, Literature and Composition? Email 200-400 word abstracts to Grace Wetzel at wetzelg@mailbox.sc.edu.
New Media, New Narrative: Technological Effects on Student Writing Roundtable: 'Because our students are so immersed in electronic communication, their sensibilities about writing have undergone radical changes. The new narrative they are creating is a very public, shared experience. This roundtable seeks to foster discussion on how composition instruction can capitalize on the collaboration, resource sharing, and creativity that is redefining the act of composing in the 21st century. Please submit inquiries or 250 word proposals along with a brief biographical description in English to Kim.Ballerini@NCC.Edu.
Re-Imagining First-Year Composition Roundtable: In this roundtable session, participants will discuss how they have met the demands of First-Year Composition's various constituents, including non-composition faculty and students, and will share innovative approaches to make the course more effective, specific, challenging-and enjoyable. Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements via email to Carol-Ann Farkas, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, carol-ann.farkas@mcphs.edu.
Responding to Traumatic Narrative in the Context of the College Writing Classroom Roundtable: Despite significant instructional counsel against disclosure of personal trauma, students in writing classrooms regularly choose to represent traumatic experiences in composition. This roundtable solicits reflection and inquiry on the presence of trauma, especially in composition courses. Jeannie Tietjen <jtietjen@massbay.edu>

Creative Writing

Border Crossing Poetry Creative Session: For NeMLA 2010 in Montreal, poets are invited to read their border crossing poetry-poetry that breaches formal and thematic boundaries; that positions the listener/reader in a no man's land-edgy, and rich with opportunity; that, in its violations, potentially opens up a view of our frontiers. Submit samples of your poetry along with a brief bio either as a word attachment to mary.bodwell@mcphs.edu, or in hard copy to Mary Buchinger Bodwell, Associate Professor of English and Communication Studies, Arts & Sciences, MCPHS, 179 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115.
Original Poetry and Teaching the Creative Writing Process Roundtable: This creative roundtable will consist of poets presenting their original poetry, discussing the process of creating it, and sharing ideas on how to teach this process to creative writing students. Panelists will be asked to read and distribute two original poems, then discuss their own personal writing routine and how they encourage their students to come up with their own. If interested, email Perry Nicholas at nicholas@ecc.edu for guidelines.
Personal Narrative in Political Times Creative Session: This panel seeks personal narratives in progress (or completed) that attempt to put the writer's life in a political context --in particular by using forms that might enliven the somewhat cliched idea that 'the personal is political.' This could include the use of graphics with text, or the insertion of photographs, news clippings, police reports for example, or collaborative projects. Please submit 250-300 word abstracts with brief bio to Page Delano at pdelano@bmcc.cuny.edu popularculture
Publishing Your Work, Surviving in Your Department: Stories and Strategies Roundtable: Papers requested for a roundtable workshop on ways to increase the odds of publication in an increasingly tight market for creative writing. Possible subjects include arranging a manuscript of short stories or poetry, strategies for contest entries, querying publishers, and promoting your work. Queries and proposals should be sent to Michelle Tokarczyk at mtokarcz@goucher.edu.

Film

French: "Le cinéma français contemporain"

Gay/Lesbian/Queer: "A Bridge Too Far: Bisexuality in Contemporary Culture Board-Sponsored"

German: "Archives of Transgression / Transgressing the Archive"; "Exhibiting Capital(s): Berlin and Beyond Seminar"

Italian: "Contemporary Italian Cinema"; "Food as Reality and Metaphor in 20th Century Italy Roundtable"; "The Interplay of Literature, Music, Theater, Cinema and the Visual Arts"; "Literature Cinema of the Fascist Period"; "Nature in Italian Literature and Film"; "Past and Present on the Screen: History and Society in Italian Film"; "Shifting Boundaries of Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood in Italian Contemporary Film"; "Uno, Nessuno e Centomila: Tipologie omosessuali nella letteratura e nel cinema italiani"

Spanish: "Amnesia and Memory in Contemporary Spanish Cinema"; "Behind the Spanish Lens: Stars and Sexualities in Contemporary Spanish Film"; "Immigration Stories"; "Latin American/Latino Cinema: Literary Adaptations and Representations of Identity"; "Screening Spanish American Revolutions"

Women's Studies: "Traveling Alone: Women Migrating Across Cultures"

Cinema and the Narrative Roundtable: This roundtable seeks to shed light on the relationship between film and literature by clarifying how film techniques have influenced the narrative page and how literary constructs are adapted to the screen. It will examine, for example, elements of time, space,voice, the real and the imagined. Please send a 300-500 word abstract of your proposal to Dr.Vincenzo Bollettino, Montclair State University, Normal Avenue, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043. E-mailed proposals may be sent to bollettinov@mail.montclair.edu. Include relevant autobiographical and contact information.
Cinematic Representation of Immigration, Spaces and Identities: The representation of immigration and immigrants through films is very often linked to the space in which they choose to live. This panel will explore how, through its cinematic representation, we define the dynamics between the notions of immigration, spaces and identities. How do these different spaces foster the immigrants living in them? How does the space where they migrated affect them? What other factors, such as culture, language, moral values, etc. really seem to shape their identities? Send abstracts to Carole Salmon <Carole_Salmon@uml.edu> and Maria Matz <Maria_Matz@uml.edu>.
Considering the Reading of Films: The aim of this panel is to explore the place of interpretation in contemporary film studies. The central question that the panel will address: what is the value of the work we do when we read movies? We seek papers that respond directly to that question. We also welcome readings of individual films that, in the process of their unfolding, make a case for the value of interpretation-or that discuss and/or demonstrate the importance of reading well. Send 250-500 word abstracts to Phillip Novak at novakpp@lemoyne.edu.
El espacio en el cine del siglo XXI: El panel explorará los usos del espacio en el cine español y latinoamericano del siglo XXI. Se piden ensayos en español o en inglés que investiguen cómo funciona, cómo se sitúa y cómo se problematiza el espacio en el cine reciente de lengua española. Favor de mandar abstracts (en formato MS Word) de no más de 250 palabras a Alex Waid (alexander.waid@uscga.edu) antes del 12 de septiembre. Los ensayos completos se piden para el primero de febrero.
Film and Philosophy: The past decade has witnessed a heightening interest in the intersection between cinema and philosophy, with critical methods embracing ever more interdisciplinary approaches to theorizing the moving image. This panel invites participants from all disciplines to engage with a methodological approach in its infancy, encouraging original and innovative papers that address any intersection between visual studies and philosophical enquiry. Please email 200-word abstracts to Hunter Vaughan: hvaughan@wustl.edu.
Film: Poetics versus Theory: This panel invites papers on film and film theory or cultural theory addressing Richard Allen's objection, in Hitchcock's Romantic Irony (2007), to theory-driven criticism. Allen favors "discovering" rather than "making" meaning through what David Bordwell calls "poetics." Or is all meaning "made" as Bordwell attests? Can an "ideological agenda" likewise prove uniquely qualified to "discover" meaning? Can theory and poetics learn to play well together for film's sake? For cultural studies' sake? Please send papers or abstracts of 250-500 words to Randall Spinks, randall.spinks@ncc.edu.
From the Favela to the Novela: In light of the success of recent films such as City of God, Bus 174, Favela Rising, Manda Bala, and the television series City of Men, this panel seeks to examine representations of poverty and wealth in Brazilian cinema and television. Please email paper abstract of 200-300 words in English or Portuguese to Laurelann Porter at laurelannporter@yahoo.com. Please include "Favela Novela" in the subject line of the email.
Global Cinemas Seminar: This seminar explores the varieties of global cinemas from the silent era to the present. How are questions of nationhood, internationalism and globalism addressed in the medium of film? Panel welcomes submissions with emphasis on film studies and globalization. Matt Konzett <matt.konzett@unh.edu>
Lost Pasts/Broken Futures: Forgetting as Narrative Crisis in Film: Numerous films--from Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to Manchurian Candidate and Spellbound--are preoccupied with acts of forgetting. More than just a plot element, forgetting serves as a narrative device that keeps afloat multiple narrative possibilities, forcing the viewer to engage manifold variables by denying the possibility of a singular narrative. This panel invites papers that investigate how the act of forgetting--rather than the attempt to remember--is used as a narrative device in film. Send abstracts to Thomas Knauer at thomas.knauer@sunyit.edu.
Representations of the Working-Class in Film Seminar: This seminar seeks papers examining the representations of working-class people in both American and international films. How are working people, their communities, and their families depicted? Is the gaze classed? Proposals that demonstrate some familiarity with working-class studies theory (though other theories may be applied as well)are particularly sought. Send queries or proposal and vita by email to Michelle Tokarczyk, mtokarcz@goucher.edu.

French

Comparative Literatures: "French and German Exile Writers: Dialogues"

Advocating for a Good Cause: Building and Maintaining a Strong French Program Roundtable: Many of us have felt the repercussions of the general budgetary squeeze--numbers loom large, our programs sometimes shrink. Jobs seem fewer and further between. This roundtable seeks to propose solutions that work. It aims also to create a network that will aid us in advocating for our profession, for our programs, and for our students. Please send 250-350 abstract to E. Nicole Meyer, meyern@uwgb.edu.
Au Croisement des Chemins: La fermentation intellectuelle dans la littérature de Maghrébines: This session will examine the literature of North Africa as an expression of the Maghrebian soul, underline its place on the cutting edge of French literature, and reflect on the perspectives that arise from writing "in Arabesques." In this crossroads of cultures, inheriting the traditions of both Sheharazade and Antigone, writers are in a superb position to play with their multi-cultural linguistic and cultural heritage. Submit proposals in Microsoft Word in French; plan maximum 15 minutes to allow for discussion, reflection, and synthesis. Lora Lunt <luntlg@potsdam.edu>
Beauvoir Reloaded: Possibilities and Dangers of 'The Second Sex': Like Godot, a proper translation of Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex' is never here, it is always 'still on the way.' Since it now appears that we may finally get the long-awaited new translation, this would be a good time to discuss some of the possibilities -- and some of the dangers -- that the new translation will present, especially to the generations of Anglophone feminists who have never actually 'met' Beauvoir. Stephen Gallagher <jeng_steveg@hotmail.com>
Between Present and Past: Nostalgia in Francophone Literature: "Nostalgia tells it like it wasn't," according to David Lowenthal's 1989 article, yet many are compelled to cling to their longing for the past. Francophone authors such as Marguerite Duras, Marie Cardinal, and Ken Bugul cannot help but recreate their colonial homes even though they write from a postcolonial position. In an attempt to understand how nostalgia affects memory writing and how writing sustains nostalgia, this panel will examine the recreation of the past in French and Francophone postcolonial literature. Email Amy L. Hubbell (ahubbell@ksu.edu) with proposed abstracts.
Detecting the Philosophical Ethos: The Persuasive Power of Enlightenment Literary Self-Fashioning: This panel seeks papers that will shed light upon strategies of identification of the authors; ethos in the literary France of the turn of the century to the 1760s. While in many genres the text's intentionality is made more obvious by a narrative voice which could often be conflated with the author's, we aim to better understand the impact of the intentional construction of an authorial presence upon the persuasive power of philosophical, scientific, and historical texts. Papers can be in English or French, send 250-400 word proposals to imonette.hroman@hotmail.com.
Elles réécrivent leur(s) H/histoire(s): le particulier et le collectif dans la littérature maghrébine: Ce panel a pour objectif d’explorer l’entrecroisement de l’individuel et du collectif et qui constitue un caractère intrinsèque de la réécriture au féminin, remettant ainsi en question l’ancienne dichotomie entre le particulier et le général. L’envergure historique dans ces textes est considérable, alors que le potentiel autobiographique reste propice à la révision de l’Histoire. Veuillez envoyer une proposition de communication (250 mots environ) en français ou en anglais à Névine El Nossery, University du Wisconsin-Madison: elnossery@wisc.edu.
Empowering Silence: As a rhetorical form of dissimulation, a liminal form between saying and not saying, silence communicates the inadequacy of language to convey experience, or can serve as a subversive rhetorical tool to critique the powerful. Silence may be more potent than words and can express the inexpressible. It can also be a creative force empowering a hermeneutical reading of the text. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts on the ambivalences of silence to co-chairs Valerie Dionne (vmdionne@colby.edu) and Audrey Brunetaux (abruneta@colby.edu).
From Nomad to Nobel Laureate: (Re-) Examining J.M.G. Le Clézio in 2010: This panel seeks papers that examine the work of J.M.G. Le Clézio in light of his new Nobel Laureate status. Any number of themes or approaches to Le Clézio’s work will be considered. Possible topics to explore include: Why had his work remained under the international literary radar screen for so long? How can we effectively incorporate Le Clézio’s body of work in French or World literature courses? In what ways is his work pertinent to readers worldwide today? Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Katharine Harrington at: Katharine.Harrington@maine.edu.
Fun and Games in Medieval France: Amusement in medieval France is the heart of this panel. Who had fun? How? How was this fun later concretized and/or embellished in such media as the lyric poem, the lay, the romance, the historical chronicle, or the illumination? Note: divertissements related to courtly love and chivalric pursuits are specifically excluded. Papers in French or English welcome. Please send a 250-word abstract to Paul Creamer, pcreamer@po-box.esu.edu
Générosité in the 17th Century: This panel seeks papers about the multifaceted and complex notion of Générosité in early modern France. How was générosité seen and understood in a society that privileged the individual? Was générosité a gendered concept, and if so, how? Did it have limits? What makes a person généreux? Générosité and ladrerie. Générosité and honnêteté. Louis XIV and générosité. Générosité and love, etc. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts to Bertrand Landry, bdlandry@uncg.edu.
Her Story: Telling Stories of French and Francophone Women's Lives: Diverse voices, common elements. How do these stories change across borders, literal and / or metaphorical? How do they stay the same? French and Francophone 20th century to the present, novel, autobiography, poetry, film, bandes desinees are all welcome. Please send 250-350 abstract to Professor E. Nicole Meyer, meyern@uwgb.edu
History and its Reflections: How are momentous events of the twentieth century reflected in its literary and artistic production? How do these translate the consequences that may be felt and lived on the political, demographic, social, philosophical, scientific or pedagogical levels? By what mechanisms do they bear effect on changes in aesthetics, literary and artistic movements, or literary theory and criticism? Papers may be presented in French or English. Please send inquiries or abstracts to: rima.joseph@stanford.edu
Intrangers: les écrivains beurs des origines à nos jours: L'immigration maghrébine en France a conduit, dès les années 80, à la naissance d'une nouvelle littérature, faite par les enfants des immigrés. Issus de France et d'ailleurs, ces «intrangers» - d'après la précieuse définition de l'écrivain Y.B. - nous obligent à repenser la problématique identitaire et à redéfinir le champ littéraire français. D'Azouz Begag aux auteurs plus récents, comme Faïza Guène, cette session propose d'étudier l'évolution de la littérature beure. Veuillez envoyer vos propositions à Ilaria Vitali <ilaria.vitali@unibo.it>.
Judging Women: Law, Literature and Female Guilt: This panel will explore the intersections of law and literature in relation to the representation of female characters in French and Francophone works. We will examine how legal norms and precedents, judicial authority, and a given period's notions of guilt and innocence shape portrayals of women. How and why do fictional women reverse, defy, or conform to law? Please send 250-500 word abstracts to: hbilis@wellesley.edu.
La lettre pose-t-elle de nouveaux enjeux en littérature?: La lettre épistolaire pose-t-elle de nouveaux enjeux à la littérature française et francophone d'aujourd'hui? Au tournant de ce nouveau millénaire, force est de constater que la lettre épistolaire est bien présente dans les oeuvres les plus récentes d'auteurs aussi variés qu' Orsenna, Ndiaye, Ken Bugul ou Pascale Roze. Ce panel se propose d'examiner les raisons socio-historiques de cette présence, les possibilités qu'offre peut-être la lettre à une littérature qui se dit tour à tour sans frontières, sans tabous, engagée et/ou désengagée,sensuelle et/ou artificielle, réaliste et/ou ludique. Frédérique Donovan <fdonovan@bu.edu>
Le cinéma français contemporain: L’esthétique cinématographique du cinéma français dans ce que qu’elle garde de son héritage et ce qu’elle acquiert de nouveauté: les rapports socio-culturels qui s’expriment dans un lien inextricable entre cinéma et identité nationale ; la représentation de « l’autre » ; l’annonce d’une société qui voudrait changer... mais change-t-elle vraiment? Celine Philibert <philibcg@potsdam.edu>
Les pratiques scripturales de la migrance littéraire: Cet atelier s’intéresse aux pratiques scripturales des écrivains dits ‘migrants’, ‘francophones’, ‘postcoloniaux’ ou ‘translinguaux’ entre autres. Nous examinerons la dynamique littéraire caractérisée par la multiplicité, l’ambiguïté, l’interstice, qui se tisse dans le texte. Quelles sont les stratégies employées par ces auteurs afin d'exprimer la migrance entre leur multi-appartenances, une migrance géographique, mais aussi une migrance linguistique voire ontologique, se situant au niveau de l’imaginaire ou de l’identitaire? Nous sollicitons des propositions de communication privilégiant l’étude de ces problématiques par le biais d’analyses de pratiques littéraires. Catherine Khordoc <Catherine_Khordoc@carleton.ca>
Les tropes artistiques: quelles nécessités textuelles?: Alors que la figure générique de l’artiste émerge, l’apparition des arts dans le texte romanesque répond à plusieurs besoins et prend diverses formes. Parmi ces vecteurs d'inclusion, les tropes artistiques feront l’objet de toute notre attention. Partant de la convocation des métaphores, comparaisons et métonymies artistiques, nous analyserons les différentes modalités du rapport entre l’art et le texte. Notre objectif est d’étudier, par une approche esthétique ou sociocritique, une rhétorique artistique à l’œuvre dans les romans. Les propositions de contribution (300 mots) doivent être adressées avant octobre à vlabeille.ewicky@gmail.com.
Literature as the locus of questioning and evolution in French Caribbean writings: By situating herself outside of the literary currents that appeared in the Caribbean, Condé embodies a vision of literature that allows for the inscription of difference, of the evolution of the individual and the world in which he/she evolves. Literature is indeed the locus of questioning and evolution. This panel welcomes analyses that explore how the writings of Condé and other French Caribbean authors incarnate their perspective on literature and writing. Please submit a 250-300 word abstract to Emmanuelle Vanborre emmanuelle.vanborre@gordon.edu.
Littératures en langue française: quoi de neuf?: This panel invites papers exploring what is new in contemporary literature written in French and published after 2000. Are globalization, immigration, multiculturalism, or diasporic identities coloring the narratives? Is the concept of “littérature monde” impacting writing? Are the “old” genres revisited or are new ones created? Proposals pertaining to 21st-century literary texts or authors directly linked to French-speaking Canada are especially welcome. Please send a 300-word abstract to Annik Doquire Kerszberg at akerszbe@lhup.edu.
Madness in Women's French and Francophone Fiction: Madness is a theme that is prevalent in writings by women from throughout the Francophone world. The proposed panel seeks to explore the theme of madness in women's fiction, with particular emphasis on female protagonists, as a reaction to factors including, but not limited to culture, tradition, religion, family obligations, education, colonial legacy, and romantic love. Please submit a brief abstract of approximately 200 words in the body of an e-mail to Leah Tolbert Lyons (ltlyons@mtsu.edu).
Masculinities in Recent Francophone Literature: 1900-present: Literary representations of men in narratives of war, the quest for independence, and racial identity are as multifaceted as a nation's interpretation of male roles in post-modern society. These narratives, which often center around institutions dominated by men, illustrate the importance of homosocial relationships in promoting men's interests. This panel invites papers on any aspect of masculinities--such as labor, family, the military, migration, ethnicity, or sexuality--in recent Francophone literature. Please send one-page proposals with e-mail address to Edith B. Vandervoort (dobyabear@earthlink.net).
North African and Arabic literature: Resisting or Embracing Modernism? Roundtable: This round table will examine the role of arabic culture and islam on literature and especially on francophone literature. What specific concerns, themes and influences are portrayed by the authors or the characters in their works? How are taboos and cultural issues reinforced, modified or transformed? Are there any specific patterns, issues related to gender and/or family relationships, genre and particular trends which are relevant to modernism? Please send a 500 word abstract to David Delamatta <ddelamatta@lfcc.edu>.
Postcolonial Francophone Writers Narrating Places of Creation, Transformation and Connection: This panel will explore the relationships between space and place, as postcolonial Francophone writers rethink place as a potential for personal and social creation, for transformation and connection. Some themes to consider: how is the virtual site of the page a place where narrator and reader connect? How do old memories and new geographical place interact and connect? How do urban environment, nature, gender, sexuality or class affect the reconfiguring of place? Please send 250-300 word abstracts to Anna Rocca at arocca@salemstate.edu.
Recent Trends in Sub-Saharan Francophone Literature and Criticism: This panel welcomes contributions on any aspect of recent Francophone Sub-Saharan literature and theory/criticism associated with it. Please send 300-word abstracts to Christopher Hogarth at christopher.hogarth@wagner.edu.
Scénographie de la maladie et de la mort au XIXe et XXe siècle: Cette session (panel) propose comme point de départ La Dame aux camélias d'Alexandre Dumas et poursuivra sa réflexion jusqu'à la trilogie sur le sida d'Hervé Guibert, les communications voudront explorer toutes les évolutions littéraires, génériques, physiologiques et historiques du thème de la maladie mortelle dans le texte romanesque des XIXe et XXe siècles.Merci d'envoyer votre proposition de 250 à 500 mots en français ou en anglais à Clarisse Couturier-Garcia, université Michel de Montaigne garciaclarisse@yahoo.fr.
Secularization in Contemporary French and Québécois Literature and Film: How can we explain the recurrence of religious/Catholic themes in contemporary French and Québécois literature and film? Does current secularization theory, which understands “the secular age” not as the gradual sloughing off of religious sentiment, but rather as the coexistence of multiple secular and non-secular belief systems that constantly challenge and influence one another, help inform our understanding of the role of religion in otherwise secular works? Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Scott Powers, spowers@umw.edu.
Seventeenth-Century French Writers' Lives: Who really were the men who wrote the classicist masterpieces of French seventeenth-century literature? The goal of this panel is to think about the lives and value systems of these writers and their interactions with groups as diverse as Port-Royal, libertinage, world of the theater, preciosity, and the ideal of the honnête homme. Major seventeenth-century authors will include female and male moralists, poets, novelists, and playwrights. Send abstracts (200-300 words) by email to Stéphane Natan, Rider University: snatan@rider.edu.
Technologies et Acquisition du Français au Niveau Universitaire: Un Potentiel Pédagogique Tangible? Roundtable: Dans la perspective du 41e congrès de la NeMLA à Montréal, nous vous invitons à nous faire part de vos points de vue pour une table ronde ayant pour thème l’impact des technologies (TICE) sur l’acquisition en français langue seconde ou étrangère au niveau universitaire et plus particulièrement sur les trois aspects que sont la motivation de l’apprenant, les stratégies d’apprentissage, et l’autonomie d’apprentissage et langagière. Proposals can be in either French or English. Please send inquiries or 200-300 word abstracts to Marion Vergues, McGill University, marion.vergues@mcgill.ca.
War in French Literature: War has played a most significant part in the human experience from Antiquity to the present, encapsulated in much of French Literature, from its beginnings until the most recent times. From the “Chanson de Roland” to “Syngué Sabor” (Prix Goncourt 2008), French literature encompasses at its core the representation of war and its enduring albeit devastating effects on human life. This panel proposes to examine representations of war in French Literature, from the Middle Ages to the present. Abstracts should be addressed to Lison Baselis-Bitoun (lbaselis@fas.harvard.edu) and Philippa Kim (jpkim@bmcc.cuny.edu).
Rebelles, mécréantes et vilaines dans la littérature francophone: Co-Sponsored by Women in French. Cette sessions vise à analyser les représentations de femmes déviantes par des écrivaines à travers les siècles. Quelques sujets de réflexion possibles: Qu'est-ce qui amène ces personnages à défier les normes de la conduite dite « féminine »? Quelle est la frontière entre rébellion et criminalité dans certains cas ? Comment est représentée la violence au féminin ? A travers leurs stratégies narratives, les écrivaines élicitent-elles notre compassion, notre révulsion ou restent-elles neutres? Colette Trout <ctrout@ursinus.edu>

Gay/Lesbian/Queer

Comparative Literatures: "Male Femininity in Twentieth Century Literature of the Americas"

German: "Beyond "Girls in Uniform" and "Death in Venice"?"

Italian: "Homosexual Women in Italian Literature, Cinema and other Media"

Theory: "Queer Ecocriticism and Literature Roundtable"; "Re-Defining/Re-Mapping Queer Identities Roundtable"

A Bridge Too Far: Bisexuality in Contemporary Culture Board-Sponsored: This panel seeks papers discussing the representations of those who seem to escape any attempt of categorization. What is then bisexuality? To what extent does attraction to both sexes affect a person's self-identity? Please send 300-400 word abstracts and contact information to Paolo Pucci at ppucci@uvm.edu.
Double Agencies: Parsing Dissent between LGBTQ Studies and Queer Theory: Reflecting a disciplinary turn from studies in feminism to theories of gender, the shift from LGBTQ studies to poststructuralist queer theory is due for reevaluation. What do genealogies of LGBTQ studies and queer theory tell us about impasses between these fields? Do incompatibilities between ethics and politics shape each field's ideological bearings? Are certain discourses (e.g. social theory in LGBTQ work, psychoanalysis in queer theory) overdetermined? What forms of subjectivity & agency (political, literary, cultural) do such allegiances exclude? Please send detailed abstracts to raji.soni@queensu.ca.
Ghostly Women & Apparitional Lesbians: This panel will examine the appearance of "apparitional lesbians" in various works of fiction in order to question whether the apparitional, the unseen, and the invisible can be rendered visible, and how such a new visibility readjusts our understanding of those works. The panel will also consider papers on newer lesbian texts that employ the ghostly or empower it explicitly. Please send abstracts of 250-500 words to Ula Lukszo (ula_lukszo@yahoo.com).
Places, Faces, and Queer Spaces: How have authors created fictional reality by developing their queer characters within particular settings? That is, place plays an important rôle in the formation of believable personages. Abstracts of 250-400 words: Francisco R. Pérez, perezf@midlandstech.edu
Queer Transformations: From Page to Screen (and Back): Much has been written on how queer characters in novels are "straightened" in mainstream television and film adaptations. This panel seeks to investigate the opposite practice: the queering of straight or coded characters in the process of adaptation from written text to film, television, or fan fiction. Are these queer-friendly recharacterizations always liberatory? What political, aesthetic, or pedagogical effects do they have? What are the effects of genre, medium, and audience? Please send 300-word abstracts, along with a brief biographical statement, to emcclure@umd.edu.
Red, White and Blues for Mr. Charlie: Baldwin's New Queer America: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time functions as a post-dated call to queerness that the U.S. finally seems to be willing to heed, almost forty years after publication. This panel encourages a contemporary re-reading of Baldwin that examines the queerness of his politics and limns the marked shift in 21st century American political potentialities, in order to validate, in new ways, the prescient queerness of Baldwin's political writing. Papers on fiction and drama are also welcome. Send 250-word abstracts in MSWord to Don Gagnon at DonnEng@aol.com.

German

(Auto-)biographical Features in Post-Unification Literature and the Question of Self-Reconstruction: This session investigates the genre of autobiography, as a blending together of biographical fact and invented fiction in the literary scene of post-wall Germany. By placing a subject into this multilayered border territory, a writer gives a divided self the chance to express ambivalent reactions to the East German past and the unification process and to question "truthfulness." Invited are contributions about individual literary works, trends, or narrative features within the realm of the "memory"-genre and confrontation with conflicts. 1-page abstracts to Barbara Mabee: (mabee@oakland.edu).
Architecture and Literature: This panel addresses the relation of architecture and literature. It welcomes proposals for papers that examine theoretical attempts to conceptualize their relationship, but is also interested in papers that address the use of architectural tropes in literary texts, and the use of literary strategies in architectural theory. Please send 300-400 word abstract to Julia Weber at j.weber@yale.edu.
Archives of Transgression / Transgressing the Archive: This panel explores how German literature and film thematize the archivization of transgression. In the afterlives of rebellious or revolutionary periods is it possible and even desirable to reanimate the memory of transgression? Can strategies of transgression be successful in today's world if they don't conform to the demands of the archive? Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to: tlornsen@unb.ca AND tkruger@uvic.ca.
Beyond "Girls in Uniform" and "Death in Venice"?: Why have a few queer German texts attracted considerable popular and scholarly attention, while others have been forgotten, neglected, or obscured? Papers are encouraged that explore one or more of the following topics: 1) the fate of lesser known queer texts; 2) the privileging of particular texts; or 3) the concept of and institutional and historical conditions for canonicity in queer German culture. Please send 300-word abstracts to Darren Ilett (ilettd@msu.edu).
The Body in German Realism Seminar: Numerous developments during the 19th century center around the human body. Its perception changes through phenomena such as photography, hysteria, pathology, evolution, colonialism, secular magic, spiritualism, statistics, criminology and the archiving of human data. How does German literature of the time--namely Realism--represent the shifting paradigm? Can we attribute a poetics of the body to German Realism? This seminar invites papers that explore the discourse of the body in canonical and non-canonical texts from the period of German Realism. Christiane Arndt <arndtc@queensu.ca>
Catalog or Temple? The Library in German Literature: This panel examines the meaning of librarians and libraries (archives, book dealers, readers) in recent German literature. Can discrete trends be articulated? How do they relate to literary antecedents, to daily politics? Possible topics include the library as parallel universe, refuge, place of the imagination; modern labyrinths and spaces of madness or excess; social commentary; or the relationship between archival historiography and alternative realities. Of special interest are inquiries into the impact of modern recordkeeping and information management on literary perceptions of libraries and archives. Regine Heberlein <heberlei@princeton.edu>
Contemporary Jewish-German Authors Roundtable: The purpose of this roundtable is to delve further into the themes currently examined by contemporary Jewish authors in Germany. Proposals addressing any aspect of Jewish-German writing are welcome, as are those which address Jewish-German writing and current affairs. Please send a 250 word abstract to Edith Vandervoort at dobyabear@earthlink.net.
Cultural Memory and Diversity: Continuity or Ruptures in Postunification Discourses on Identity?: This panel invites proposals for interdisciplinary papers that explore the effects of Germany's various "pasts" as well as present cultural transformations on contemporary identity formation in literature and film across a wide range of (trans)cultural and aesthetic perspectives. Please send a one page abstract to Elke Segelcke (esegelc@ilstu.edu)
Downtown: Cityscapes in Post-Wall German Literature: The panel invites discussions of German post-Wall novels that portray the urban experience in German and/or non-German cities and are concerned with the themes, narrative strategies, semiotics, and aesthetics specific to urban fiction. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts to Petra Fachinger at petra.fachinger@queensu.ca.
Exhibiting Capital(s): Berlin and Beyond Seminar: 20th and 21st century German cities are often studied in relation to national identity, their cultural displays (eg, films and exhibitions) as unique brandings that define specific cultures. Of these public displays, we ask whether / in what ways the "Germanness" of urban space as metonymy for regional/national space is constituted by that which is not canonically German. How might Berlin and other cities inflect more heterodox national/regional cultural identity through their uses of space than is generally recognized? Abstracts 250-500 co-org. session: Jennifer Hosek <jhosek@queensu.ca> AND Peter McIsaac <pmcisaac@yorku.ca>
Female Authors and Images of Femininity: This panel explores images of femininity in German-language literature by female authors since the late nineteenth century as sites of negotiation and innovation in the gender debate. Possible topics: changes in female images, role of audience expectations and genre, impact of race, ethnicity, class, and political systems, "milestones" in the history of female literary images and their influence on their successors. Please submit 300-word abstracts to esther.bauer@aya.yale.edu.
Gender and Performance in 18th-century Germany: The 18th century saw a growing interest in issues of performance, in the realm of the theater and in more private settings. In the world of theater, where a number of German actresses rose to prominence, critics often blurred the lines between theatrical role and self, raising issues of authenticity and "Verstellung." Such issues were also present in novelistic portrayals of theatrical performances and in conduct literature and women's journals. Please submit 250-word abstracts to Astrid Weigert (weigerta@georgetown.edu) and Anna Zimmer (aez6@georgetown.edu).
German Masters Reloaded?: The idea of sampling existing material and transforming it into something new is a concept well known in the DJ-culture. This session seeks to investigate literary sampling in contemporary literature and is specifically interested in updated versions of works from the German literary cannon. What authors from previous literary traditions are being remixed in contemporary literature, music, art, and film? What is the public reaction of incorporating the old German masters in contemporary cultural production? Is Rammstein inviting a new audience to explore the literary canon? Florence Feiereisen <ffeierei@middlebury.edu>
Interviews with German Writers: Self-Commentary, Self-Presentation and Narrative Form: This panel deals with a fairly recent genre: interviews with writers. Presentations may refer to an author's particular style and performance, to historical developments, or to systematic aspects of the genre. Central questions are: How do writers comment on and present themselves in interviews? Are interviews secondary texts or another way of literary narrative pertaining to a writer's work? Please submit 300 word abstracts and a short biographical sketch to Gundela Hachmann (hachmann@fas.harvard.edu) and Torsten Hoffmann (torsten.hoffmann@phil.uni-goettingen.de).
Literature and Time: This panel examines the possibilities and limitations of time as a concept in literary analysis and interpretation. It invites contributions on specific literary works and/or on the theory of time and literature. Thoughts on the cultural history of time as it could be written with regard to literature are also welcome, as are thoughts on genres that depend on 'time' such as the "Zeitroman" or the historical novel. Please submit 300-500 word abstracts on time in literary criticism and/or time and any literary genre to Thomas Herold at therold@fas.harvard.edu.
Literary Production of Non-Territorial German-Speaking Writers: The viability of transnational identities and their possibilities of fulfillment can be analyzed through the artistic representations - including the literary production produced by non-territorial processes (migrations, exiles...). A detailed analysis of different intercultural German-speaking authors, such as Dante A. Franzetti, Yoko Tawada and Irena Brezna, will lead us to understand different viewpoints which characterize the reasoning behind the authors, works and migrations which make up Europe's intercultural record. (Yolanda García, yolanda.garcia@uam.es).
Outside from Within: The German Literary Outsider: Though authors are often considered outsiders, there are those authors who truly have become outcasts from their families, contemporaries, and/or social class. This outsider status may have a discernible impact on the literary production of a particular writer, especially with respect to thematic elements in his/her works. This session seeks to examine the outsider within German literary history utilizing representative examples from a variety of time periods. 250 word abstracts to Tom Buckley at buckley@sju.edu.
Rewriting and Reinventing the American West in German Culture: Germans have had a long love affair with the American West. This panel will explore how the American West rewritten and reimagined in German literature, film and popular culture. Invited are papers that investigate representations of cowboys, Indians and European settlers in America, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to Indians as a pop cultural phenomenon in Germany. Also welcome are investigations of race and gender and the politics of authenticity and representation. Please send one-page abstracts to Maureen Gallagher, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, mogallag@german.umass.edu.
Satirical Narrative Aesthetics and Their Subtexts in Contemporary German Literature and Film: This panel works against views of contemporary German satirical texts and films as political artworks lacking in aesthetic complexity. It focuses on aesthetic strategies and the challenges these strategies can pose for the reader/viewer by producing hidden subtexts. Specifically, the panel examines how intertextuality, symbols, metaphors, and other figures of speech are employed within satirical modes to produce alternative meanings and subtexts that are original, pleasurable, and intellectually challenging. Jill Twark <twarkj@ecu.edu>
The Sociability of Print: This panel is interested in investigating how the fundamental orality that underpinned theories of early-modern sociability were translated over the course of the eighteenth century into and through print media. How did the saturation of print during this period enable new forms of social interaction among eighteenth-century individuals and how did it disabel other forms? Please send 250 word abstracts and a brief bio to Andrew Piper at andrew.piper@mcgill.ca.
Space and Subjectivity in German-language Modernist Literature: Modernist artists, theorists and writers alike have used space to representing and analyze the modern experience. While figures like Georg Simmel examined how space was inhabited by the modern subject, this panel seeks to focus on the various ways in which space and spatial imagery inform the literary portrayal of the Modernist subject him/herself. Panelists are invited to address both thematic and formal conceptions of space in German-language Modernist literature. Please send a 300-500 word abstract and a brief biographical statement to Hang-Sun Kim at kim23@fas.harvard.edu.
Teaching the Representation of the Holocaust - in English or in German?: This panel takes as a point of departure Alan Rosen's concerns regarding the use of English in teaching representations of the Holocaust, extending it to the use of German as the language of instruction. What are the pedagogical concerns about the choice of language? Is it possible to teach original German texts at the undergraduate level without risking the loss of in-depth discussions? How do our learning objectives differ in courses taught in English versus those taught in German? Please send 250-word abstracts to Natalie Eppelsheimer, eppelshe@middlebury.edu.
Transcending the Binaries: Re-conceptualizing Heimat and Fremde Roundtable: Presentations sought that address alternative visions of "Heimat" and "Fremde" in post-1945 narratives (literature, film, performance, art, music) within the broad field of German Studies. We invite contributions that discuss a wide range of texts and methodologies that blur the oppositions, transcend such binaries, and employ "a more dialectical view" (von Moltke) of Heimat and Fremde. All forms of scholarly inquiry such as papers, posters, audio or film elements are welcome. Please send 250-500-word abstracts to Monika Moyrer (mmoyrer@vt.edu).
Translating German-Language Literature Creative Session: This session will bring together translators of German literature to share works in progress. Participants will exchange short excerpts of the source text and their translations in advance of the conference. At the conference we will discuss these translations and any particular issues the translators are facing. Translation is often perceived as less creative than writing literature and not as serious as literary criticism. This session will attempt to rethink translation and its place within the academy. Please send 1-page abstracts to Maureen Gallagher, University of Massachusetts, mogallag@german.umass.edu.
Translation and the Transnational Past: Prompted by notions of the untranslatable, cultural translation, and cultural mobility, this panel explores the work of German translations/ translators before 1800. Papers on both accidental and professional translations, both into and out of German. When do gaps between original and translation become explosive? What is the place of interlanguages? How might we theorize "fake translations"? Abstracts of max. 250 words to both organizers by e-mail: Bethany Wiggin (UPenn)at bwiggin@gmail.com and Birgit Tautz (Bowdoin C) at btautz@bowdoin.edu.
Traveling and Yet Standing Still? - Travel in the Age of Globalization: This panel seeks to investigate the possibility of discovering the foreign in a world characterized by an alleged homogenization. Our search for authenticity is not a genuine one since we only seek to verify our preconceived notions of the foreign and the exotic and are unable to discover the unknown since all we actually strive for is the familiar. Are the authors and protagonists in contemporary German literature able to become familiar with the foreign or are they traveling, yet standing still? Please send abstracts (~300 words) to Gabi Eichmanns (eichgabi@andrew.cmu.edu) and Dagmar Jaeger (djaeger@mit.edu).
Verena Stefan: From 'Radical Feminist" in "Häutungen" to "Feminism as Humanism" in "Fremdschläfer": Devoted to Verena Stefan, one of the convention's special guests, the panel seeks to provide new perspectives on, among others, "Häutungen," the development, topics, and form of Stefan's fiction, poetry, and essays, up to and including her most recent novel; the role of autobiography and language, the impact of/on feminism. Abstracts of 250 words by e-mail to both organizers, Birgit Tautz and Barbara Mabee, at btautz@bowdoin.edu and mabee@oakland.edu, respectively.
Walter Benjamin and Memory: This panel invites papers that consider the theory of memory as it emerges in and through the work of Walter Benjamin. It will bring together scholars interested in exploring the complex figuration of memory and forgetting to be found in his thought. Contributions might confine their attention to Benjamin´s corpus, or stage comparative enquires into such areas as holocaust memory, trauma, or nostalgia. Papers that consider the commemoration of Benjamin´s life - in novels, films, at the memorial site in Portbou - are also welcome. Please send proposals to Wayne Stables at stablesw@tcd.ie.
Withdrawals. Debating Masculinities in German Literature and Media: As current German media have displayed ongoing debates about today's masculinity some articles claim that men have lost the gender debate, others state the opposite, some feel a need to defend the accomplishments of feminism, yet others intend to clarify the question "What is masculine"? Why is such a discussion occurring now? This panel seeks to explore this debate as well as the underlying crisis, and discuss its reasons, impacts and implications within the realm of media and literature. Please submit 250-300 word abstracts to aknlange@gmail.com.
Women and Politics in Swiss German Film and Literature: This panel on Swiss German literature seeks papers that explore and examine the role and the influence and/or impact that Swiss female artists, particularly women writers and film directors have had on advancing the political agenda and rights of Swiss women since they acquired suffrage in 1971. Abstracts of 250-500 words along with a brief biographical statement should be sent via e-mail or snailmail to: Richard R. Ruppel, Dept. of Foreign Languages, University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, 2100 Main Street, Stevens Point, WI 54481 or e-mail: rruppel@uwsp.edu.

Italian

19th c. Italian Writing: National History, Literary Genres and Linguistic Norms: This panel focuses on the evolution of 19th c. Italian literary genres, as examined in the light of the debates about national language, nationhood, and literary norms. Essays on any genre and from any period of the 19th c. are welcome. Essays dealing with debates about the role of dialects, linguistic and national origins, the "questione sociale" and discussions of periodization are especially welcome. Please submit 250-500 word astracts to Mark Epstein <mwepstein@verizon.net>.
900 sommerso: This panel wants to analyze all those forgotten authors from the XX century Italian literature who, though they managed to publish at least one work, didn't get the public recognition they deserved. Particular attention will be given to those writers who for biographical reasons (political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, contrasted sentimental relations, sudden death, and so on) were denied better and wider success. Papers are welcome in English and Italian. Please send a 250-word abstract to Andrea Carosso, Universita di Genova, andreacarosso@hotmail.it.
Alla Ricerca di Nuove Identità nel Teatro Italiano Contemporaneo: Negli ultimi decenni l’Italia è diventata un paese di immigrazione, di passaggio; un paese di frontiera in cui gli scambi culturali sono inevitabili e implicano una trasformazione della società. Questo panel offre l’occasione di esplorare le nuove identità culturali e sociali emergenti dalle reppresentazioni teatrali e/o cinematiche. Possibili questioni: pluralità della società italiana, l’integrazione sociale, l’identità nazionale, politica, religione, ruolo dell’arte nel processo dell’integrazione sociale e nella negoziazione delle nuove identità. Mandare abstract di 250 parole a Anna Cafaro <annacafaro@hotmail.com>.
Best New Practices in Teaching Italian with Technology: The goal of this panel is to present some of the most innovative methodologies available today in teaching Italian language and culture by integrating technology. The panelists should exemplify those practices they have found in their experience to be the most useful and effective. Papers that will also address strategies related to interaction, execution, infrastructure, course design, implementation of material, and tools for self-assessment are also welcome. Send 250-500 word abstracts to giulia.guarnieri@bcc.cuny.edu.
Beyond Traduttore/Traditore: Translation from and into Italian across the Centuries: This panel intends to explore the various facets of translation of Italian and Anglo-American literature from all time periods. Topics can include, but not be limited to, the exploration of the demand for translation into English of Italian works, the representation of Italian and Anglo-American culture and civilization through translations, mis-translations and re-translations, and specific issues in translating Italian literature into English and Anglo-American literature into Italian. Presentations may be in Italian or English. Please e-mail 250-word abstracts to Marella Feltrin-Morris, Ithaca College, mfeltrinmorris@ithaca.edu.
Bridging the Gap Between Language and Content in the Foreign Language Class Roundtable: Can the two track model Language-Literature of the traditional foreign language department be overcome moving toward a unified language-content curriculum? How can we integrate literature, film and theater in our language classes? And how could we focus on language literacy in our literature classes? This roundtable is open to contributors willing to share experiences, projects and research in the subject matter. Please send 250 words abstract for a 10 minutes presentation by email to Cristina Abbona-Sneider <Cristina_Abbona@brown.edu>.
Comparative Futurism: This panel will explore Italian Futurism in relation to other avant-garde movements elsewhere. Papers may focus on Italian and Russian Futurism, Italian Futurism and Vorticism, Italian Futurism and Cubism, Italian Futurism and Expressionism, and Italian Futurism and Surrealism. Please send 300-400 word abstracts, biographical notes and requests for special equipment to Paola Sica <psica@conncoll.edu>.
Contemporary Italian Cinema: After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Italian films have exceeded the previously privileged space of the nation, to explore the transnational sites where cultures intertwine and crisscross. Recording the complexities of a renewed socio-political and cultural context, this cinema is marked by a growing process of investigation and negotiation of national identities and communities. This session will consider the authorial talents and the generic developments of the last two decades. Different critical approaches are welcome. Send a 250 word abstract to Fulvio Orsitto <orsitto@gmail.com>.
Food as Reality and Metaphor in 20th Century Italy Roundtable: This roundtable intends to explore 20th century Italian novels, cinematic works and visual arts which present food as reality and metaphor. Topics can include, but not limited to, food as aesthetic experience, abundance or lack of food during WWII, sublime and erotic cuisine. Chair Daniela Bisello Antonucci; send a 250 word abstract (in English or in Italian) to daniela.antonucci@gmail.com.
The Giallo italiano from 1945 to the present: One of the characteristics of the "giallo italiano" is that it shares space with "highbrow" literature: Gadda, Sciascia, Tabucchi, Eco are examples. In the Eighties and Nineties a new-found relish of writing met the structure of the detective novel. Many writers (Camilleri, Lucarelli, Carlotto, Fois) achieved a great success, renewing the genre and contaminating it with historical or postmodernist elements. Papers-in Italian or in English-on any aspect of Italian detective story are eligible. All theoretical perspectives are invited. Submit 250 word abstracts to Andrea Pera <andrea.pera@hotmail.it>.
Homosexual Women in Italian Literature, Cinema and other Media: Expressions of female homosexuality have only recently begun to enter the mainstream of Italian writing and culture. This panel will review the state of lesbian expression in various Italian media. Topics may address the past, present or likely future of all or any lesbian depictions or expressions in Italian, and may focus on their literary, sociological, erotic or other implications. Please send enquiries or abstracts to Erika Papagni <erikapapagni@gmail.com>.
The Interplay of Literature, Music, Theater, Cinema and the Visual Arts: The panel welcomes interdisciplinary papers (in both Italian and English) that consider the interplay between two or more of the following: literature, music, theater, cinema and the visual arts. Please submit your abstract (300 words) to cerocchi@lasalle.edu.
Italian Contemporary Poetry: This panel will accept engaging, critical works on poets and poetry that have been published in the last 25 years (starting from 1984) or that have a great, evident and justified significance on contemporary Italian poetry. Matteo Benassi <mabenass@yahoo.com>
Italian Language: A Mirror of a Country Identity Roundtable: Each language has its peculiarities from its geographic, historical and social environments. Italian is a rich language that, through its linguistic elements, gives a picture of the country's cultural identity. It is necessary to highlight those aspects when the language is being taught so that the distinctive features of the Italian cultural identity can be learned. This roundtable wants to explore pedagogical models that reflect this too-often ignored cultural element of the language so that they can easily be integrated into the teaching of Italian. Samuel Ghelli <sghelli@york.cuny.edu>
Italian Literature: From The Twentieth Century Into The New Millennium: The panel invites papers delving into the Italian literary production of the Twentieth century and of the new millenium, including both major and minor authors and the literary movements that have shaped the Italian cultural and artistic scene. Giovanna Migliara <galiba@hotmail.com>
Italian Literature: Renaissance to Humanism: Papers on any aspect of Italian literature of the Renaissance through Humanism are eligible for this panel. The panel seeks to explore major and minor authors of the period; all theoretical perspectives are invited. Submit abstracts (email preferred) to Maryann Tebben, Bard College at Simon's Rock, mtebben@simons-rock.edu, Division of Language and Literature, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230.
Italian Political Theatre from the Renaissance to the XXI Century: This panel explores the ways in which in the past five centuries Italian playwrights, composers, and librettists have used their craft to comment on the politics of their time. Directorial choices, both in Italy and abroad, in the XX and XXI centuries have made relevant past political concerns. Papers that show the relationship between text, staging, and politics in theatre and opera are welcome. Comparative approaches are encouraged. Please send a 200-word abstract to Gloria Pastorino <gpastor@fdu.edu>.
Italian Short Story: This panel is interested to examine the Italian short story literary phenomenon from XIV to the contemporary times. All possible perspectives and critical approaches are welcome. Roberto Nicosia <rnicosia@eden.rutgers.edu>
Italian Urban Landscape and Identities Roundtable: What is "new"? Are the Italian cities or the urban communication "new"? Interpreting the main processes of change and continuity in the Italian city through visual arts, design, architecture, food, cinema and literature. This roundtable is focused on the numerous layers of shapes, spaces, cultures, functions and symbols in the Italian contemporary city. Send 500 word abstract to sonia.massari@gmail.com.
Italian Women Writers and Autobiography: This panel welcomes papers dealing with theoretical issues or analyzing aspects and themes pertinent to the autobiographical genre (i.e. memory, identity, experience) in one or more Italian female authors, as well as works considered particularly controversial because they are at the border between the autobiographical genre and fiction (i.e. "Cosima" by Grazia Deledda). Please send a 250-300 word proposal in Italian or English to Ioana Larco at ilarco@indiana.edu.
La poesia italiana del XX secolo: This panel welcomes papers that examine the rich and deeply engaging work of Modern Italian Poets, and many of the dominant literary and poetic movements of the period such as Symbolism, Crepuscolarism, Hermeticism and the New Avant-garde. Contributors may send one page abstract via e-mail to laura.baffoni-licata@tufts.edu.
Language, Literature, and Culture in Italy's New "Multiculturalism": This panel investigates "multiculturalismo" ('multiculturalism') in Italy by examining migrant voices in diverse media (literature, film, oral narrative, conversational discourse), whether animated by migrants themselves or by Italians of different positions and political backgrounds. The session will sample the various textures of Italy's multiculturalism, not as elements of a single, monolithic discourse or social movement, but as fragments of large-scale debates over cultural difference that play out in diverse media. Send 1-page abstract to perrino@cua.edu or sperrino@gmail.com.
Leggere e (ri) scrivere in epoca umanistica: esegesi, eloquentia e libertas dicendi: Il panel riflette sul commento quale pratica esegetica che si trasforma dalla scolastica medievale alla moderna filologia avviata da Petrarca e definita dagli intellettuali umanisti. Si accettano relazioni che discutono sia testi composti in volgare che in latino. Please send 200 word abstracts to: Roberta Ricci, Bryn Mawr College, rricci@brynmawr.edu
Literature Cinema of the Fascist Period: During the fascist "ventennio" (1922-1943), the attitude of the regime towards both literary creation and film production was characterized by both censorship and support. This panel will explore this contradictory moment in the history of Italian culture. The ways in which writers and filmmakers gained ground either in spite of or in deference to the political and social circumstances will provide a forum for discussing the distinctive literary and filmic achievements of that period. Send a 250 word abstract to Daria Valentini <dvalentini@stonehill.edu> and Cristiana Furlan <cfurlan@ubishops.ca>.
Lo sguardo di Calvino (Calvino's "eye" on the world): Calvino's "eye" moves from looking at reality as if for the first time to viewing it through layers of social and cultural history. This panel will explore different aspects of Calvino's way of looking at reality, discussing the pedagogical function of literature. Calvino stated that in literature he hoped to teach a way of looking at reality and living in the world. Those interested may want to consider, as a point of departure, Domenico Scarpa's entry for sguardo in his book Italo Calvino (1999). Franco Gallippi <gallipp@mcmaster.ca> <Fgallippi@gmail.com>.
Male in Progress: Re-defining Masculinities in Italian Studies: The purpose of this panel will be to investigate the evolution and the repositioning of concepts of masculinities in Italian culture as articulated throughout the centuries. Renato Ventura <ventura.renato@gmail.com>
Medieval Italian Literary Culture: In Memory of Michelangelo Picone: This panel's papers will draw inspiration from the pioneering work of Michelangelo Picone, who taught at McGill from 1969 to 1990. Papers may deal with topics such as: Dante and his sources; Boccaccio; Guittone d’Arezzo; chivalresque literature; the cantare; and the novella (but other relevant topics are welcome). Emphasis should be on philological aspects of these authors and genres, and/or on their ties to their contemporary readership. Please submit 250-word abstract to George Ferzoco (ferzoco@gmail.com).
The Myth of Rome: Rome has earned the appellations: The Cradle of Western Civilization, the city par excellence, caput mundi, as well as the Eternal City. It has served as the capital for the ancient world’s greatest empire, a major world religion, and a modern nation-state. This panel seeks to identify the prevailing characteristics of the Myth of Rome as found in a variety of media across space and time, from Dante’s notion of “Rome where Christ is Roman” (“Roma onde Cristo è romano”) to Ridley Scott’s epic film The Gladiator. Victoria Tillson <victoria.tillson@gmail.com>
Nature in Italian Literature and Film: The panel invites papers that explore nature's role in Italian literary works and in filmic production. The panel seeks to continue the investigation of the philosophical debate that has sustained the dramatization of nature in literary and cinematic representations and has contributed to shape modern aesthetics. Welcome are also papers that examine the literary and cinematic production that was the result of the cross-pollination between philosophy and art. Please send abstracts to Simona Wright, Modern Languages Department, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718; simona@tcnj.edu.
Past and Present on the Screen: History and Society in Italian Film: Retelling history through the written word is the usual format for interpreting events or understanding society, but when motion pictures are put to the service of decoding them, readers are transformed into spectators who are directly drawn into the events (re)produced on the screen. Italian filmmakers have been protagonists in the interpretation of history and society, offering their personal points of view. The panel seeks to investigate the past and present in the light of cinema, focusing on history and society. Please send abstracts to Chiara De Santi <desanti@wisc.edu>.
Physical and Mental Diseases: Plague, Madness, Hypochondria in Italian Literature: This panel proposes to analyze particular literary examples in which illness is the pretext for writing. From the plague of 1348, used as a narrative expedient in numerous works, to physical and mental problems that led authors such as Tasso, Leopardi, and Campana to write within a particular existential atmosphere. Here, illness seems to signal the potential of the intellectual and expressive faculties, rather than the attempt to compensate for a disability. This session accepts proposals that analyze all literary periods, without limitations of literary genre. Send abstract to gspani@bowdoin.edu.
Pier Vittorio Tondelli: 30 years after "Altri libertini" Roundtable: What is the present importance of Pier Vittorio Tondelli? Has he been one of the best 20th century Italian writers or just a good journalist? Who is the Tondelli we want to believe in: the devote believer or the post-modern experimentalist? Send a 250-word abstract to s.gastaldi@utoronto.ca.
Primo Levi's Works Between Testimony and Literature Roundtable: Primo Levi's work has shaken consciences around the world with the testimony of his imprisonment in Auschwitz. Both as a witness of the Shoa and a literary author Levi occupies a paramount position for the lucid analysis of the human social construct. Francesco Ciabattoni <francesco.ciabattoni@dal.ca>
The Role of Intellectuals in Contemporary Italy Roundtable: This roundtable invites explorations of the connection between intellectuals and Italian society and the role of the "Intellectual" after World War II. Italy changed from an agricultural country-with hopes and dreams born from the Resistenza-to a "Neocapitalistic" society. Does the Intellectual have to oppose the mass-culture and fight against the communicative Power and its mystification to open a debate? Is it possible to re-establish the concept of truth? All approaches are welcome. Please send a 250 word abstract to Ron Kubati <ronkubati@uchicago.edu>.
Shifting Boundaries of Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood in Italian Contemporary Film: This panel explores the difficulty of representing and defining the shifting boundaries of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in Italian cinema. Possible topics may include: the changes of these boundaries over time; the consequences of these shifting boundaries on family and society; media's influence on defining these boundaries; gender issues in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; the fear of growing up (the "eternal boy"); coming of age tales. Different critical approaches are welcome. Please send a 250-word abstract to Tania Convertini at convertini@wisc.edu.
Teaching Italian Culture: The purpose of this section is to explore different ways of teaching Italian culture using an interdisciplinary approach. How can we design courses that effectively connect the teaching of the Italian language with literature, history, art and cinematography? How can we make students linguistically and culturally competent at the same time? How can we help students sharpen their cross-cultural awareness and critical thinking skills, as well as their language skills? Send short proposals, in Italian or English, to Daniela Bartalesi-Graf at daniela.bartalesi-graf@tufts.edu.
Travel-Writing from its Origins to the Present: The panel seeks to address the various interpretive difficulties posed by travel-writing (travel accounts, guidebooks, diaries and letters) and our understanding of the reasons underlying the popularity of such genre. Papers in Italian or English are welcome. Send a brief abstract to eocchipi@drew.edu.
Uno, Nessuno e Centomila: Tipologie omosessuali nella letteratura e nel cinema italiani: Quali altre caratteristiche fisiche, caratteriali e comportamentali sono state affisse all’individuo attratto dai membri dello stesso sesso dalla cultura italiana? Questo panel intende esplorare la possibilità di una gamma di tipi omosessuali, da Pietro di Vinciolo nella novella V, 10 del Decameron a Massimo, il marito (omosessuale o bisessuale?) che tradisce la moglie con Michele ne Le fate ignoranti di Ozpetek. Please send 300-400 word abstracts in Italian or English and contact information to Paolo Pucci at ppucci@uvm.edu.

Pedagogy

British: "Importance of Studying Oscar [Wilde]: Plays, Stories, Letters, and Lectures"

Comparative Literatures: "Dante meets MTV: Studying Medieval Literature in a Post-Medieval Context Roundtable"

Composition: "If We're Writing about Writing, Then What Kind of Writing Do We Assign?"; "Literature vs. Composition: Revisiting the Relationship Roundtable"; "New Media, New Narrative: Technological Effects on Student Writing Roundtable"; "Re-Imagining First-Year Composition Roundtable"; "Responding to Traumatic Narrative in the Context of the College Writing Classroom Roundtable"

French: "Technologies et Acquisition du Français au Niveau Universitaire: Un Potentiel Pédagogique Tangible? Roundtable"

Italian: "Best New Practices in Teaching Italian with Technology"; "Bridging the Gap Between Language and Content in the Foreign Language Class Roundtable"; "Teaching Italian Culture"

Professional: "The Role of Non-Tenure Track Faculty in the Academy Roundtable, CAITY Caucus Sponsored Session"

World Literatures: "Teaching Contemporary Fiction from the Middle East"

Innovative Approaches to Teaching Canonical Works: Papers on strategies for teaching new or old "classics" or "canonical" works of English, American, or world literature are invited. How do you stir interest in, make relevant, and revitalize these works for 21st Century students? Do you use popular culture, or sister arts like music, visual arts, or film? Activities, student projects? Innovative ways of introducing your own research on canonical works into the classroom are also welcome. Send abstracts only to Janet Wolf <janet.wolf@cortland.edu>.
Interlanguage Commmunication: Mishaps of Misunderstood Language: This panel will consider the relevance of Interlanguage composition and the teaching of English. The term, used to refer to the transitional competence of language users, enables us to interpret misuse in positive terms. In contrast to the positive, might words be 'weapons' when used inappropriately or ineffectively? Can misuse or misunderstanding of language cause drastically negative effects? How might interlanguage be converted into a praxis that facilitates the negotiation of standard English and/or academic discourse? Submit abstracts to Myrna Santos <smyrna@nova.edu> and Justin.Hayes@quinnipiac.edu.
Let's Talk: Methods for Teaching/Improving Conversation in the Second Language Roundtable: This roundtable will discuss pedagogical methods for teaching and/or improving students' conversation skills in their second language. Ideas for any level of language instruction, basic to upper-level, are welcome. We are interested in both in and outside of class activities or assignments. Contributors will be asked to share any helpful items such as course syllabi, websites, and other class materials with participants. Tina Ware <tina.ware@oc.edu>.
Local Writing Assessment in an Era of Accountability: In an era of accountability and high-stakes assessment of writing, how can one address the nature of writing as contextualized, local, and particular to a time, purpose and audience? This panel will consider how recent calls for local assessment can address the needs of every institution to be accountable to its stakeholders, as well as how such localized assessment better serves our understanding of the rhetorical nature of writing and of the hermeneutic task of the reader. Anne Doyle <a5doyle@bridgew.edu>.
Multiculturalism and Globalism in the Millennial Classroom: This panel seeks to address multicultural issues in the classroom, specifically focusing on considerations of the relevance of these issues for the millennial generation. Papers are welcome from all fields, especially technology, liberal arts classrooms, education and pedagogy. Please send proposals to Kathleen Maloney at kmaloney@stmarytx.edu.
Multilingual Texts in the FL Classroom: The panel examines the potential of multilingual texts (novels, lyrics, cartoons, theater, film, etc.) for the FL classroom. Multilingual texts can model intercultural speakership, promote language and cultural awareness as well as heightened contextual understanding. Contributions are invited that investigate new approaches on multilingual competence and/or present practical proposals to utilize multilingual potential(s) for foreign language teaching. Proposals of 250 words should be sent to Susanne Even <evens@indiana.edu> and David Delamatta <ddelamatta@lfcc.edu>.
No Turning Back: Distance Education in 2010: This panel considers the pressures and pleasures of distance education as it moves from an innovation to a mainstream practice at most colleges and universities. We seek papers on personal experiences and lessons learned from distance education as well as analyses of academic and workplace culture surrounding online teaching and learning. Predictions for the future are also welcome. Send abstracts to Emily Hegarty <Emily.Hegarty@ncc.edu>.
The Politics of Our Shared Learning Space Roundtable: This roundtable discussion seeks to explore the history of the university in harboring or stifling the development of grassroots politics, the contention of fundamentalist and humanist viewpoints in university classrooms and the significance of informal educational development in communities historically distrustful of hierarchies associated with governments, universities and churches. Please send paper proposals of no more than 500 words via email to Jennifer Keating-Miller at jtkeatingmiller@gmail.com.
The Publishing Revolution: Creating Textbook Content with Web 2.0 Tools: As textbooks continue to increase prices, publishers and Depts. of Education call for ways to provide instructional materials for the web. The use of computer, instructional software, internet resources and other media is generating courses where content is both designed to and created by a specific student community. Teachers and students are able to post updates, corrections and suggestions, with materials then reused for other courses. This presentation is open to projects involving the use of Multimedia Web 2.0 tools (wiki, blogs, podcast) for all language instruction. Andre Villagra <avillagra@pace.edu>.
The Shape of the Major Roundtable: For this roundtable discussion on the structure and content of the Literature Major, we invite presentations addressing how programs can balance their ideals of what should be taught with the realities of their faculty's expertise. Should the major be organized around periods? Genres? Concentrations? Something entirely different? Please send 200-word proposals via attachment or snail mail to Edward Shannon <eshannon@ramapo.edu> and Monika Giacoppe <giacoppe@ramapo.edu> AIS, Ramapo College, 505 Ramapo Valley Rd., Mahwah, NJ 07430.
Teaching the Connections: Interdisciplinary Dialogue in the Classroom: This panel invites submissions on interdisciplinary teaching as it occurs in a variety of settings-from team-taught courses, to 'writing across the curriculum,' freshman composition, or introductory humanities courses, and university core curricula that emphasize connections among the humanities and sciences-with the primary focus on matters of pedagogy: how we best engage students in a holistic examination of their studies, and why that's valuable to them-and to us. Please submit 250-300 word abstracts to Paul Almonte at palmonte@spc.edu.
Technical/Professional Writing for Undergraduates Roundtable: This roundtable solicits proposals on successful, productive approaches to teaching technical and/ or professional writing as a major requirement, an elective, a useful-but-not-required course, or any combination thereof. What works? What is to be avoided? How to prepare and meet such a challenge? What about support from colleagues and administrators (or lack thereof)? Standards/assessment? Rationale before students and not necessarily supportive colleagues? Please email 250-500 word abstracts as MS Word attachments to Maria Plochocki <mplochocki@ubalt.edu>.
Translation and Pedagogy Roundtable: The goal of this roundtable is to discuss the manifold functions of translation in the classroom, both as a resource and as the main focus of a course. Topics can include, but not be limited to, the examination of Translation Studies programs in the United States and abroad; the teaching of translation at the undergraduate and graduate level; the role of technology in translation training; the connection between theory and practice; the use of translation as a teaching tool in literature and language classes at all levels. Please e-mail 250-word abstracts to Marella Feltrin-Morris, Ithaca College mfeltrinmorris@ithaca.edu.
Why Do They Hate Us?: Teaching 9/11 Literature Seminar: This seminar focuses on teaching 9/11 literature. How do we choose which authors to represent on our syllabi? How do teachers develop a pedagogy that is responsive to the diversity of these voices and attendant to the "living history" experienced by students, who may be family of 9/11 victims and veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq? How do we address the representations of Muslims and Arab Americans in multi-ethnic or racially homogenous classrooms? Please send a 500-word abstract and a brief bio to jdymond@spfldcol.edu.
Writing Faculties: Intersections of Creativity and Pedagogy: How does teaching inform the writing of poetry? Papers are invited on poems by educators. Authors that might be considered include Gerald Locklin, Tony Hoagland, and Nathan Graziano. While this will be a critical panel, presenters might also comment on their own creative compositions inspired by or about teaching. Please send abstracts (250-350 words) to Noel Sloboda <njs16@psu.edu> between August 1st and 15th, 2009.

Popular Culture

British: "Jane Austen and the Contemporary World: Continuing the Conversation Roundtable"; "Redefining Masculinity in 20th-Century British Popular Fiction and Culture"; "William Blake and His Influence"

Comparative Literatures: "Machiavelli after Machiavelli: The Art of Power"

Creative Writing: "Personal Narrative in Political Times Creative Session"

Film: "Global Cinemas Seminar"; "Representations of the Working-Class in Film Seminar"

Gay/Lesbian/Queer: "Queer Transformations: From Page to Screen (and Back)"

German: "German Masters Reloaded?"

Pedagogy: "Multilingual Texts in the FL Classroom"

Spanish: "Controversy as Art and Political (In)Correctness in Latin America"; "Ideology and Popular Culture in the Spanish Avant-Garde"; "La novela gráfica: formas alternativas de narrar"; "Performing Democracy: Cultural Representations in the Spanish Transition"; "Technology, Diaspora, Migrations and Internal Displacements in Narratives from the Portuguese-speaking Spaces"

Asian-American Cultural Producers and Hollywood Board-Sponsored: Much has been written about how Hollywood has represented-or mis-represented-Asia and Asian Americans. In turn, Asian American authors have explored the consequences of such representations on their protagonists and their communities. This panel will move beyond studies of response to consider how Hollywood has influenced Asian American cultural producers more broadly. Papers on fiction, film, web media, graphic novels, etc. are welcome. Please send proposals of approximately 250 words, with a brief CV to Jennifer Harris <jharris@mta.ca>.
Breaking Atoms: Reading Hip Hop as Literature: This panel seeks papers whose primary purpose is the application of the art of close reading to rap lyrics. Papers may explore any genre, era, or region of American rap music: readings should foreground explication, not polemics. Please send 250 word abstracts to timstrodemeister@gmail.com.
Bytes, Blogs and Bildungsroman: YouTube and the Coming of Age Novel: Papers exploring various works of literature, preferably modern (but other periods welcome) which explore the intersection of the bildungsroman and You Tube that incorporate some aesthetic theorists such as Berger, Barthes or others are most welcome. Send abstracts to deeboof@ncc.edu.
Completely LOST: Going Back to TV's Most Elusive Island: 2010 marks the sixth and final season of "Lost," the television series about a group of plane crash survivors on a mysterious island. The 41st NeMLA convention will take place just a few weeks before the final episode, presenting an ideal opportunity to look back over the run of the show as a whole from an (almost) complete perspective. This panel will be particularly interested in critical approaches to "Lost" that survey the show's entire narrative arc. Selected submissions will be considered for publication. 250-word abstracts to Randy at rlaist2000@yahoo.com.
Gay Representations in Popular Film: A New, More Androgynous, Nationalist Imaginary?: If mainstream films have in the past linked nationalism with hyper-masculinity, what are we to make of more recent celebrations of gay identities in film that are also linked, sometimes quite explicitly, to nationalism? Is it plausible to see such films as Brokeback Mountain and Milk as representing the first stirrings of a new popular imagining of nationhood? Or do these popular culture offerings represent nothing more than power somehow rehearsing its own inviolability? Send abstracts (300 words) and short bio to njoseph3@uwo.ca.
House Work: Masters and Servants in Post-Modern Culture: While many people might assume that contemporary fascination with servant characters is limited to British TV and literature (i.e., "Upstairs, Downstairs," "1900 House," The Remains of the Day, Gosford Park), even the Americans have gotten in on the game. 1980s American television was fascinated with the importation of servant characters in shows like "Benson," "Mr. Belvedere," and Fran Drescher's "The Nanny." This panel will explore post-modern representations of servants and servant culture. Please send 300 word abstracts to akmcclellan@plymouth.edu.
Images of Prophecy: Dystopian and Apocalyptic Graphic Novels: This panel will examine graphic novels dealing with dystopian or apocalyptic themes (e.g Watchmen, Kingdom Come and The Last Man). How did comic books evolve into a genre that bridges "high" and "popular" cultures? Why have graphic novels become such a popular forum for examining urgent contemporary questions? Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Joshua Cohen <Josh.Cohen@massart.edu>.
Inking the Self: Autobiography in Comics: What are the advantages of presenting autobiography in a graphic format, rather than in print text? How are autobiographical comics related to other comics and to one another, and what seems to be the impetus for creating such a comic? This panel seeks papers about a wide variety of autobiographical comics artists in an attempt to chart and understand this emerging genre. Send 300-500 word abstracts to Miriam Brown <Miriam27@uga.edu>.
New Directions in Detective Fiction: Where, exactly, is detective fiction heading? Is it truly changing to become, contrary to long-accepted accusations, more inclusive and hence less conservative and limited? What do new detective authors, such as those from Latin America and Africa, add to the genre? How are they challenging and modifying whatever "formulae" there may have been all along? Papers in this panel may be case studies applying these questions to particular authors/works and/or more general overview of this issue. Please email 250-500 word abstracts as MS Word attachments to Maria Plochocki <mplochocki@ubalt.edu>.
Our Monsters, Ourselves: Following the line of thought that societies' monsters in many ways define them, "Our Monsters, Ourselves" hopes to open the discussion of the ways monsters in contemporary North American Anglophone fiction and film have come to represent the tacit panics, problems and pleasures of their specific historical moment. Papers representing work explaining monster/moment dialectics ranging from Steven King's 1989 "The Dark Half" to the contemporary Twilight and True Blood series will be read with equal interest. 200-400 word abstract to ourmonstersourselves@gmail.com.
Pictures of an Exhibition: Museums and Collections in Literature and Media: This panel explores the ways that museums and practices of collection have been treated in literature, film and other media. Papers are invited to address literary or visual media texts in which museums or other collections play an important role. The goal of the panel is to assess the cultural place of museums indirectly; complimenting the cultural studies scholarship on museums and collection themselves with a look at how museums circulate as objects of interest in the culture at large. Edward Wesp <ewesp@wnec.edu>
Playing Web 2.0: Intertextuality, Narrative and Identity in New Media: Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, blogs and social networking sites, allow the average web user to actively participate in online life. Given our societal bent toward postmodernism, it is not surprising that much of this online participation is characterized by a proclivity to challenge and play with traditional conventions. This panel will examine play, defined in the broadest sense by Salen and Zimmerman as "free movement within a more rigid structure", using Web 2.0 tools and new media. Submit 250-word abstracts to cleblanc@plymouth.edu.
Postmodern Tourism: From DeLillo's most photographed barn in America, to the still-popular New Hampshire site of the now-absent Old Man of the Mountain, to the booming disaster tourism business, a look at the postmodern qualities of tourists, tourism, and tourist sites in contemporary literature and culture. Abstracts to Dr. Robin DeRosa at rderosa@plymouth.edu.
The Power of Images: The Ethics and Efficacy of Photography: Can photographs bring about change, or do they merely inure viewers to the reality they depict? This question expresses the long-standing dilemma of those who claim to use or consider the photograph as a political instrument. This panel proposes to consider the ethics and political efficacy of the photographic image. Panelists are invited to address topics from any point in the history of photography, and to consider these ideas as they emerge in literary or visual media texts. Kelly Klingensmith <kek.wnec@gmail.com>
Resilience Narratives in Literature and Popular Culture: In the context of an increasing focus on resilience in fields ranging from ecology to business, health sciences and globalization studies, this panel invites papers on the idea of resilience. How is resilience narrativized in literature and popular culture? What are its uses and limitations as a concept for illuminating connections between (and struggles within) cultures and ecologies? Please submit 250-500 word abstracts (Word or PDF) to Susie O'Brien <obriensu@mcmaster.ca>.
Rethinking Quality TV: Since 2007, with the end of many HBO quality productions, the debate on Quality TV has gained new urgency: has Quality TV migrated to network television? What is the significance of the resurgence of Quality drama in other cable companies such as FX or AMC? This panel solicits papers that discuss different aspects of Quality TV. Analyses of "Damages," "Mad Men," "Fringe," and "True Blood" particularly welcome. Comparative and transnational analyses of programs and institutional practices would particularly enrich this discussion. Submissions to Giancarlo Lombardi <glombardi@gc.cuny.edu>.
The Silent Figure in Literature, Film and Culture: Silence is powerful. This panel investigates the silent figure in literature, film and culture to reveal the interests and anxieties for which that figure is a foil. Send 200-250 word abstracts to Berkeley Kaite at berkeley.kaite@mcgill.ca.
Slumming It: Metatextual Bleeding Between Contemporary Literature and Popular Media: When literary forms consort with pop culture, is it really a case of textual "slumming"? This session wonders what, if anything, may be gained by metatextual bleeding across literary and pop culture boundaries, especially considering the familiar "high"/"low" culture divide. Please submit 300 word abstracts considering the implications of literary metatextual encounters with pop culture, as they may pertain to the politics of form to Angela Szczepaniak at aws4@buffalo.edu.
Spirits Rapping: Spiritualism in Anglo-American Fiction: This panel seeks to analyze the many ways in which authors in the United States and England use Spiritualism as a means of exploring cultural tensions emerging during the period between 1848 and the end of the First World War. Papers could address competing narratives of Spiritualist practices or beliefs, Spiritualism as subject of scientific inquiry, Spiritualism as symbol of larger cultural concerns, or other uses to which authors put the movement in fiction. Email 300 to 500 word abstracts to Michael Cadwallader <cadwallader@unc.edu>.

Professional

Creative Writing: "Publishing Your Work, Surviving in Your Department: Stories and Strategies Roundtable"

Pedagogy: "No Turning Back: Distance Education in 2010"; "The Politics of Our Shared Learning Space Roundtable"; "The Publishing Revolution: Creating Textbook Content with Web 2.0 Tools"; "The Shape of the Major Roundtable"; "Teaching the Connections: Interdisciplinary Dialogue in the Classroom"; "Technical/Professional Writing for Undergraduates Roundtable"

Navigating the Academic Nexus Roundtable: This roundtable invites scholars to participate in a discussion about constructing an academic identity through publishing, conference presentations and networking. The aim is to aid graduate students in understanding how to create a strong and effective academic presence through various forums as well as to advise young scholars about how to successfully promote themselves and their work during and after grad school. We welcome discussion about publication expectations, conference prep, service opportunities, and tailoring to career goals. Send abstracts and questions to jrwagner@rutgers.edu.
The Practice and Purposes of Book Reviewing MLS Roundtable: This roundtable will explore the art of literary and scholarly book reviewing and its practice in both the public and academic spheres. What are the implications of the decline of book review sections and the rise of literary blogs? Is the review form itself changing? Are scholarly book reviews increasingly insular reflections of academic politics? Who reads them? Presentations are invited that consider reviewing in terms of both its craft and its social and cultural functions. Please send abstracts to Laurence Roth at roth@susqu.edu.
Publishing an Edited Collection of Essays Roundtable: This is roundtable session aims to demystify the process of collecting and publishing an edited collection of essays, either as a book or special journal issue. Participants will share their experiences, tips, and advice with the audience. Interested participants (who have published a collection within the past 5 years) can e-mail Suha Kudsieh at Trent University suhakudsieh@trentu.ca by Sept. 1. The e-mail should contain the following information: name of participant; e-mail address; edited collection details (title, date of publication, publisher, and co-editor).
The Role of Non-Tenure Track Faculty in the Academy Roundtable, CAITY Caucus Sponsored Session: Recent articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education, New Directions for Higher Education and elsewhere question the wisdom of so many part-timers teaching General Education Courses at US colleges and universities. This roundtable proposes to explore ways non-tenure track faculty can acquire respect within the academy and resist marginalization. It welcomes participants from part- and full-time faculty to consider the question of how to provide equitable and dignified compensation for the non-traditional faculty member. Mary Ann Tobin <matobin@att.net>.

Russian/Eastern European

After the Berlin Wall: Rethinking Contemporary Russian and East European Writing: This panel seeks papers that examine the work of Russian and East European writers active during and after the events of 1989 and the way these authors have addressed the cultural and sociopolitical changes in the region, in a diverse variety of creative and analytical genres, from poetry to blogging. Please submit proposed paper topics and brief abstracts, along with your contact information, to Vitaly Chernetsky at chernev@muohio.edu.
Russian Poetry: The Silver Age: This panel encourages a variety of approaches and inter-disciplinary considerations. We welcome submissions across the spectrum of Silver Age movements, poets, and texts. Please submit abstracts and a brief outline of your proposed paper, via e-mail, to Professor Rosset (Wheaton College, Massachusetts) at FRosset@wheatonma.edu.
Russian Women Writers: New Views: A post post modernist cultural environment has re-energized feminist criticism. Those who are interested in the specificities of women's writing are now less likely to be labeled "essentialists," while being able to take advantage of both the theoretical concepts of post modernism, post colonialism, queer theory, gender studies, and also those of earlier feminist criticism. This panel invites examinations of 18th-21st century Russian women writers in this new, rich critical context. Send 250 word abstracts to diana.greene@nyu.edu.

Spanish

Theory: "Ecocriticism for the Americas: Global Discourses and Local Realities; New Directions"

Amnesia and Memory in Contemporary Spanish Cinema: This panel invites papers that analyze, discuss, and interrogate the use and effects of amnesia and memory in contemporary Spanish films, and how all the voices related to identity, race, gender, age, or religion negotiate their own space within the Spanish, European, and global society. Please, send inquiries or 250-500 word abstracts in English or Spanish to Javier Venturi <jventuri@spanport.umass.edu>.
Animals in Medieval Spanish Literature: This panel seeks to explore the role of animals in Medieval Spanish Literature. Ecocritical approaches are encouraged but not essential. What is the relationship of humans to the animal world? How is this relationship reflected in Medieval Spanish literature? How does this compare with the role of animals in contemporary literature? Please send 200 word proposals with NEMLA in the subject line to Mary-Anne Vetterling at MAV@regiscollege.edu or vetterma@hotmail.com.
The Articulate Silence of Women Authors/Literary Subjects in Early Modern Spain: This session will consider papers that examine the writings by and about women in a variety of literary discourses of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain; the relationship between the appropriation of voice and the authenticity of feminine discourse; orality vs. literary authority; women's voices that support/subvert the social discourses of power. Please submit electronically a 500 word abstract/paper, contact information, and a brief biographical statement to jcammara@aol.com. Joan Cammarata, Modern Languages, Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York 10471.
Behind the Spanish Lens: Stars and Sexualities in Contemporary Spanish Film: The direction and look of Spanish cinema of recent decades has been transformed by the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers who reinvented a new Spain in their films. This session considers the responses of Spanish cinema to the changing political circumstances surrounding it, with particular emphasis on gender identity and its relationship to the historical and political questions of national and 'ethnic' identities in Spain. Please send a 500 word abstract with brief biographical statement electronically to Dr. Monica Leoni at mleoni@watarts.uwaterloo.ca.
Chicano Literature in Spanish in the U.S. as Expression of Cultural Resistance: This panel will focus on the analysis of Chicano literay works written in Spanish before and after the U.S. Southwest became part of the United States. Particular emphasis should be placed on how Spanish has been used as a mode of cultural survival and resistance to the dominant Anglo culture. Also concern for the decline of literary works in Spanish by Chicano authors can be discussed. Any text written in Spanish from different periods can be analized in this panel. Send abstract no longer than a page to Filemón Zamora at fzamora@sulross.edu.
Contemporary Trends in Latin American Narrative: This session highlights the changes that have occured with the advent of the "Crack Generation" of Padilla, Palou, Urroz, Volpi, Herrasti and Fuguet. It examines the ways in which these young writers of the "McOndo Movement" differ from the "Generation of the Boom" which they seek to counter. Are elements of Garcia Marquez, Faulkner, Mann and Melville still to be found in their language, milieu and techniques? Send a 300-500 word abstract and biographical and contact information to bollettinov@mail.montclair.edu.
Controversy as Art and Political (In)Correctness in Latin America: Panel invites proposals investigating the ethical and aesthetic dimensions of Latin American artworks, literature, music, films, performance art that thrive on being overtly controversial or are deemed as controversial because of its incendiary content. Possible topics and artists include: queer sexualities, child abuse and pornography, human & animal rights, Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis, Fernando Vallejo, Guillermo "Habacuc" Vargas, Calle 13, Sabina Berman, Griselda Gambaro, Virgilio Pi�era, among others. Please send 300-word abstracts and brief bios to Juan G. Ramos <jgramos@complit.umass.edu>.
Displaced: Psychoanalysis in Latin America: This panel will explore the contributions that Latin American intellectuals have made, directly or indirectly, to Freudian psychoanalytic theory. We will ask what other forms of knowing (repressed, displaced) the continent has produced since its discovery as a radical Other with regard to the Western psyche. What happens to psychoanalytic theory when it is removed from its typical zone of discomfort, Europe? Can psychoanalysis become doubly marginal? Please submit a one-page abstract to jrivera@american.edu by August 30th.
Don Quixote: Perspectives on the Life and Times of Miguel de Cervantes Roundtable: This roundtable will consider papers that examine: aspects of Cervantes' life and his historical moment; the cultural and intellectual conflicts of the seventeenth century; the relationship between the Quixote and the historical paradigms of early modern Spain; the historical, political, and social issues integral to Cervantes' discourse that convey the intellectual currents of seventeenth-century Spain. Please submit electronically a 500 word abstract/paper, contact information, and a brief biographical statement to jcammara@aol.com. Joan Cammarata, Modern Languages, Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York 10471.
The Dramatic Monologue in Hispanic Poetry: The dramatic monologue, introduced in English poetry in the nineteenth century by Robert Browning, is a genre increasingly embraced by contemporary Spanish and Latin American poets. This panel seeks papers that deal with a hypothesis explaining the recent popularity of the genre or how contemporary Hispanic poets have used the genre. Papers may be in English or Spanish. Send 200-500 word abstract to Marlene Gottlieb <marlene.gottlieb@manhattan.edu>.
(En)Gendering Literary Translation: This panel seeks papers on the role of gender in literary translation. How is gendered behavior translated? What are the translator's options when dealing with a noticeable patriarchal language? Special emphasis will be placed on translations of literature from Spanish into English. Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements to Marko Miletich, (via snail-mail or email) marko.miletich@hunter.cuny.edu, Hunter College, Continuing Education, 695 Park Avenue, Room East 1025, New York, NY 10065.
Envisioning the Spanish Empire: In recent decades, colonial Hispanic literature has enjoyed a renewed respect as a verbal form of New World "mapping", in part due to its visual content: picturesque descriptions of pre-Columbian cities, cinematic recounting of battle scenes, poetic depictions of Baroque opulence. This panel welcomes papers in English or Spanish on the scholarship and pedagogy of the visual in Colonial literature, including topics such as the city, treasure, geography, commerce, conflict, travel, etc. Please send 500 word abstracts via e-mail to Dr. Sara Lehman, Fordham University; E-mail slehman@fordham.edu.
Escritores hispanos de aquí y allá: polémicas y críticas del siglo XX: Esta sección quiere abrazar los estudios dedicados a autores de España y de los paises Hispanoamericanos, sus relaciones, sus encuentros y sus polémicas. El siglo XX ha representado un periodo lleno de debates y críticas, desde principio del siglo hasta el posguerra, escritores de los dos continentes que se encuentran y otros que chocan, movimientos que se funden y otros que se alejan el uno del otro. Muchos estudios se han realizado sobre algunos autores y movimientos y poca consideración y atención en otros casos y escritores. Antonella Calarota <acalarot@kean.edu>.
Genre, Invention, and Modernity in Nineteenth Century Spain: The complex interdisciplinary, hybrid nature of nineteenth-century cultural, social, and political modernization in Spain is revealed in literature, art, and science. Taking specific shape in fiction, the press, poetry, scientific treatises and discoveries that overlap with the realm of the imagination, what can such productions reveal about underlying ideologies or about the contemporary hegemonies that came to be? Send 300-word abstract in English, Spanish, or Catalan to Paula Sprague at Paula.A.Sprague@dartmouth.edu.
Globalizing the Spanish Stage: Dramatizing the Non-Hispanic in Spanish Peninsular Theatre: The discourse of globalization is replete with metaphors of global proximity, of a so-called shrinking world. The notion of a shrinking world is a phenomenological or a metaphorical concept achieved through theme, content, and context. This session seeks papers on late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Spanish Peninsular theatre that illustrate how contemporary Spanish playwrights have appropriated non-Hispanic themes, topai, subject matter, or ideas about dramaturgy to globalize/internationalize the Spanish stage. Please send 200-250 word abstracts to John P. Gabriele at jgabriele@wooster.edu. Deadline for abstracts is September 10, 2009.
Historia y televisión en España: Esta mesa se propone explorar el papel que han jugado y juegan las series de televisión españolas (telefilmes) en la representación de la historia reciente—ya sea el de agente historiador, garante de historia o forjador de mitologías simbólicas—y los medios discursivos a través de los cuales desempeñan estas funciones. Please submit a 300 word abstract to Teresa Herrera-De La Muela <therrera@allegheny.edu>.
Ideology and Popular Culture in the Spanish Avant-Garde: We invite papers that explore the responses of the Spanish avant-garde to the development of mass culture in Spain in the 1920s and 1930s. How do the proletarianization of the working classes and the rise of the culture industry intersect to inform the aesthetic vision of these artists? What role does ideology-or the defiance thereof-play in this complex interaction between artistic expression and popular culture? Please submit an abstract (250 word maximum) to Jason Parker <jason.t.parker@vanderbilt.edu>) and Leslie Harkema <jhark@bu.edu>.
Immigration Stories: This panel welcomes papers exploring latino immigration in the United States as portrayed in fiction, non-fiction, feature films, short films or documentaries. Works that question assumptions about immigration and that may bring a new understanding of the immigrant experience are especially of interest. Possible topics could include: identity, race, education, family, globalization, human rights, technology, social movements, poverty, children, language, work, nostalgia, and success. All theoretical perspectives will be considered. Send 250-word abstract to Lauren Shaw <lshaw@elmira.edu>.
The Internet as a Contestatory Medium in Latin America: Can the Internet serve the interests of contestatory groups in the margins of power and of global political changes? Can indigenous groups make their voices be heard beyond their local context via the Internet? The web site of the Mayan Zapatista Movement, the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation in Guatemala, as well as many other contestatory spaces in cyberspace attest to the potential of the Internet to effectively question the very project of the global era—both at the cultural and the political levels. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts about contestatory uses of the Internet to Hilda Chacón at hchacon6@naz.edu.
La narrativa de la dictadura en Latinoamerica: This panel will explore representations of dictatorships in 19th and 20th century Latin American literature. Papers may examine the connection between literature, culture, history and politics within a specific geographical context or from a comparative, cross-cultural perspective. Please send 250 word abstract in Spanish or English to Adriana Rosman-Askot <arosman@tcnj.edu>.
La novela gráfica: formas alternativas de narrar: En los últimos años investigadores del mundo académico internacional se han ineresado en el estudio de comics y novelas gráficas como exponentes del imaginario ideológico que interioriza la memoria colectiva de las sociedades en las que surjen. Este panel está guiado al estudio de novelas gráficas como medios alternativos de narraciones literarias y documentales. Invitamos la participación de ponencias que integren el analisis de la interrelación entre imágen y texto escrito en novelas gráficas españolas es hispanoamericanas. Carlos Badessich <Cbadessich@stthomas.edu>.
Latin American Women's Writing and the Fantastic: This panel will examine works by contemporary Latin American women writers in their application of the different modes that comprise the Fantastic. All theoretical approaches are welcome. Papers can be either in Spanish or English. Please submit 250-300 word abstracts to Verónica Saunero-Ward <vsauneroward@nmhu.edu>.
Latin American/Latino Cinema: Literary Adaptations and Representations of Identity: All aspects involved in the cinematic transformation of literary texts, focusing on identity markers in order to determine how films, through their exploration of culture, are able to construct/define individual and collective identity. Interdisciplinary, thematic and/or theoretical approaches. E-mail proposals to schmitt@rider.edu.
Literatura, cine y artes plásticas en el proceso de formación de la identidad nacional hispánica: ¿De qué manera intervienen los valores artísticos, literarios y culturales en el proceso de formación de la identidad nacional hispánica? Esta sesión explora el rol de la literatura, el cine y las artes plásticas como construcciones intelectuales y emocionales, complejos conjuntos de artificios discursivos que participan en el proceso de formación de la identidad nacional hispánica. Envíe su resumen de 250-500 palabras a Marta Manrique Gómez a la siguiente dirección electrónica martamanr@yahoo.com.
Luis de Góngora´s Legacy in Modern Hispanic Literature: This session is devoted to Góngora´s legacy from the Baroque era during which he lived and wrote to modern European, Latin American and Peninsular literature. Beyond lyric poetry, it encompasses the influence of "Gongorismo" in prose and drama as well. Salvatore Poeta <salvatore.poeta@villanova.edu>
Memory and Violence in Iberian Literatures and Cultures: How does literature define itself by reflecting violence? How do Iberian literatures represent violence? How do memory and violence relate to politics? How does the relationship between violence and politics conceptualize memory itself as a kind of symbolic power and influence the present construction and legitimization of politics? How do nationalist movements participate in the construction of memory and representations of violence? Is there an ethics of memory and of the representation of violence? Send 250-500 word abstracts to Alfredo J. Sosa-Velasco <ajsosav@unc.edu>.
Moving Writing: A frequent preoccupation in aesthetics has been to name one art form the measurement of all others. This obsession has tempted many to posit the cinema as the "top art" by which other arts, including the literary, should be discussed. Our panel intends to explore the repercussions of this debated idea in the field of Hispanic studies. Ramiro Armas Austria <ramiro.armasaustria@utoronto.ca>
Mujeres afro-descendientes en Latino América Seminar: This seminar presents the contributions to the cultural spheres by women of African descent in the Americas (the Caribbean, Central America, and South America). This is an interdisciplinary seminar with a focus on literary contributions. Presentation can be made in English or Spanish. Lucia Ortiz <lucia.ortiz@regiscollege.edu>
Narrativas de la memoria y la violencia política Seminar: Este panel busca trabajos relacionados con el rescate de la memoria de guerra y los conflictos internos a través de diversas manifestaciones culturales (la plástica, el cine, la literatura, etc.). La sesión pretende discutir las representaciones de la violencia dentro del contexto histórico y político, desde la Edad Media hasta el siglo XXI, de Latinoamérica y/o España. Dirigir preguntas o enviar un abstract (en español o en inglés) de 250-500 palabras (en formato MS Word ó Rich Text) a Lisette Balabarca <lbalabar@colby.edu>.
Performing Democracy: Cultural Representations in the Spanish Transition: This panel session will explore questions of performance, memory, and representation in the cultural practices dealing with the Spanish transition to democracy. This session welcomes contributions in fields such as fiction, historiography, memory, poetry, visual arts, performance, film and media studies. Send one-page abstract in Spanish or English to David Rodríguez-Solás <drodriguezsolas@gmail.com>.
Poesía y mujer: This panel will explore the image of women in the twentieth-century Latin American poetry. Its purpose is to create a dialogue about poets’ depictions of women that male and female poets have attempted in the complex Latin American societies. Comparative approaches in Spanish or English are suitable, as they would enlighten the changing image of the woman, but non-comparative studies would also be considered. The method of analysis is open. Send abstracts (200-300 words) to Dr. María Cristina Campos Fuentes, DeSales University mcf0@desales.edu.
Post/Imperial Encounters between Spain and Portugal and East Asia Seminar: This seminar will examine Spain and Portugal's post/imperial encounters with East Asia as registered in writings in Spanish and Portuguese by peninsular and post/colonial authors from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Topics may include, but are not limited to: narratives of discovery, empire, decolonization, travel and exploration, migration and diaspora, slavery, aboriginal culture, revolution, colonialism and anti-colonial resistance. Please send 250 word abstracts in Spanish, Portuguese or English and a brief biographical statement to David George at dgeorge@bates.edu and Timothy Gaster at gaster@uchicago.edu.
Re(In)vision of Africa in Contemporary Spanish Texts: This panel invites papers that study the representation of Africa/ African immigrants in contemporary literary texts. Papers may focus on: Are these representations of idealized "buen salvaje" or are they more pejorative representations? Do narrators sympathize with the plight of the immigrants? Is there acceptance of their new country? Please send 200-300 word abstracts and brief biographical statements (via snail-mail or email) to Victoria Ketz <vketz@iona.edu>.
Screening Spanish American Revolutions: This panel examines cinematographic representations of revolutions in Latin America, with a focus on Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The screening of the revolution, a key topic in Spanish American cinema, has received far less critical attention in literature. What is its attraction for filmmakers? How is the experience of upheaval transmitted on the screen? What are the roles of men and women? How does film address its visual condition with respect to the radical events? Please send 300-word abstracts (English or Spanish) to Ilka Kressner <ikressner@albany.edu>.
Spanish Golden Age Drama in Performance: How do studies of performances and performance elements of Spanish Golden Age drama inform or revise a critical discourse that has been established and dominated by philological studies of written texts? This panel seeks analyses of performances or aspects of performance of Spanish Golden Age drama. Please send 250-500 word abstracts to christopher.gascon@cortland.edu.
Spanish Theater and the Contemporary Memory Boom: This panel will address the role of memory in contemporary Spanish theater. How are contemporary Spanish playwrights engaging with the current memory boom in Spain? When we speak of a collective experience like theater, does that necessarily entail an experience of collective memory? How does theater's potential immediacy as a lived performance problematize certain constructions of memory? Please send 250-500 word abstracts to Jerelyn Johnson <jjohnson@mail.fairfield.edu>.
Technology, Diaspora, Migrations and Internal Displacements in Narratives from the Portuguese-speaking Spaces: We invite proposals about narratives that challenge ethnohistorical beliefs and historical relationships in the Portuguese-speaking World, regardless of discipline or topic. All forms of technologically mediated exchanges, Diaspora, migration and internal displacement (cultural, literary, ethnographic, historical, linguistic, and others) will be considered. Please send 300-500 word abstracts and brief biographical statements (via snail-mail or email) to Luis Gonçalves <lmg2118@columbia.edu> 612 W 116th ST, New York, NY 10027.
A Transatlantic Comparison of Dictatorship and the Novel in the Spanish-Speaking World: This panel seeks papers that analyze novels written about and/or during the time of dictatorship in the Spanish-speaking world. What do these novels convey about the human experience of living under a repressive regime and what can be learned by this? What similarities and differences are there among the reactions and approaches to dictatorship in Latin America and Spain? A comparative/transatlantic approach is strongly encouraged. Please send one-page abstracts to Julia Riordan-Gonçalves at jriordan@monmouth.edu.
Un mundo al revés: la re-escritura de cuentos infantil: La (re)escritura de cuentos infantiles en la literatura ha permitido subvertir roles tradicionales. En ellos, el pirata es honrado, la bruja tiene alma y la princesa ha dejado de ser un ente pasivo, permitiendo de esta manera reivindicar a la mujer, redefinir su papel en la sociedad y su relación con el medio y los hombres. Adriana Spahr <spahra@macewan.ca>
Women Writing Spanish American Revolution(s): This panel endeavours to focus on those areas of the Americas which have experienced revolutionary movements since the 1950s. Women have lived a social shift from "traditional" roles, reflected in the writing of women authors which articulates a feminine penetration of both the literary and political spheres. This panel welcomes submissions by/about women writers from all geographic areas of the Americas. Abstracts of a maximum of 300 words and a brief biography should be sent to Sophie M. Lavoie (University of New Brunswick/CCLEH) at lavoie@unb.ca.

Theory

British: "Insular Identities and the Borders of Medieval Britain"; "The Margins of the Logos: Children in 19th Century English Literature"; "Our Present Time and Self-Made Misery: Anti-Industrialism and the Fantasy of Resistance"; "Psychoanalysis and Early Modern English Tragedy"

Canadian: "Ecocriticism and Canada"; "Literary Montreals Roundtable"

Comparative Literatures: "Displacement, Dispossession, and Uprootedness Seminar"; "Mysticism, Epiphany, and Enunciation Narratives"; "Poetry with Questions"; "Translation and Human Rights"; "Translation and Translingualism"

Film: "Film and Philosophy"; "Film: Poetics versus Theory"; "Lost Pasts/Broken Futures: Forgetting as Narrative Crisis in Film"

French: "Literature as the locus of questioning and evolution in French Caribbean writings"; "Secularization in Contemporary French and Québécois Literature and Film"

Gay/Lesbian/Queer: "Double Agencies: Parsing Dissent between LGBTQ Studies and Queer Theory"

German: "Architecture and Literature"

Italian: "Pier Vittorio Tondelli: 30 years after "Altri libertini" Roundtable"

Spanish: "Displaced: Psychoanalysis in Latin America"; "The Internet as a Contestatory Medium in Latin America"

Analytic Philosophy and the Novel: This panel participates in a growing fascination with the connections between the narrative conventions of the novel and the field of analytic philosophy. Subjects may include (but are not limited to) theories of reference, speech acts, intentionality, metaphor, translation, demonstratives, propositional attitudes, pragmatics, meaning and use. All novel genres, periods, and languages are welcome, as are relevant implications for the study of objects, plots, characters, and fictionality. Please send inquiries and 250-500 word abstracts to Jami Bartlett <j.bartlett@uci.edu>.
Art as Symptom? Yes!: How might conceiving of art as a "symptom" be approached in innovative ways? This panel welcomes papers on various forms of art (prose, poetry, film, etc.) that take up contemporary debates about what has been pejoratively dubbed a "hermeneutics of suspicion" inherent in psychoanalytic and Marxian models of interpretation. 250-word abstracts to Jason Berger <jason.berger@uconn.edu>.
Ecocriticism for the Americas: Global Discourses and Local Realities; New Directions: What new directions might the next phase of ecocriticism take? More consistently cross-disciplinary approaches, both for themselves and for the new views of canonical ecocritical texts they might generate? More deliberate inclusion of perspectives beyond that of the United States—South and Latin American ones, Canadian ones, those of indigenous cultures throughout the Americas? How can scholars help to bridge the gap between global narratives and local realities? Please submit 250-500 word abstracts to Pedro Moran-Palma at moranpalma@econet.org
The Ethical Turn to Literature: Building on concepts from Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, and Alain Badiou, this panel seeks presentations that explore the ethical dynamics of literary form. Papers might address accounts of literature as an event, an ethology of life, or an investigation of truth; the ethical dimensions of specific literary genres; and/or the distinction between literary texts that "represent" ethical problems and those that employ language and form to instantiate an ethical encounter in a literary event. Please send 250 word abstracts to Tyler Bradway <tyler.bradway@gmail.com>.
Exegeses on Psychiatry: This panel aims to extend the so far superficial exploration of the discourses of post-structuralism and anti-psychiatry as overlapping, living, on-going influences on contemporary intellectual life. Relevant questions include, but are not limited to: Do Foucault's lectures reveal his ethical stance as resistance to psychiatry? How is anti-psychiatry utilized to draw critiques of psychiatry and psychoanalysis in Deleuze and Guattari's Capitalism and Schizophrenia? How do Foucault's lectures change the post-structuralist legacy in relation to anti-psychiatry? Can post-structuralism be utilized to produce an "identity politics" of madness? Abstracts to bkaye1@binghamton.edu.
Illuminating the Everyday Imagination: This panel considers the imagination's literary significance in relation to its underestimated role in everyday cognitive life. Papers may combine analysis of specific texts with psychological, philosophical, or cognitive accounts of the imagination. How does literary representation reflect the everyday imagination at work? How do fictional characters and narrators model commonplace imaginative acts? Most important, how does literature engage our ordinary imaginative powers in such extraordinary ways? Send 300 to 500-word abstracts to Elaine Auyoung at auyoung@fas.harvard.edu.
Literary Studies and the Affective Turn Roundtable: This roundtable will address the significance of the recent explosion of work on affect in literary studies. What insights can we glean from historicizing this turn to affect? While proposals for studies of a single text or author will be considered, broader considerations of the relationship between contemporary theories of affect and literary studies are encouraged. Please submit a 250-300 word abstract for a 7-10 minute roundtable presentation and a brief biographical statement (preferably as a single pdf attachment) to Rachel Greenwald Smith at rgs@bu.edu.
Literature and Science: A Reciprocal Exchange?: From affect theory to eco-criticism, the humanities have in the last several years taken a much greater interest in the sciences. In this panel, I'd like us to consider the terms of this engagement. What are the points of convergence between literature and science? What does literary theory have to offer to the sciences? What accounts for this recent interest? This panel welcomes papers on any topic of relevance to the question of science and literature. Please submit a 250-word abstract to rebekah.c.sheldon@gmail.com.
Queer Ecocriticism and Literature Roundtable: This roundtable will examine the state of the academic field of queer ecocriticism and the modes of inquiry prompted by the blending of sexuality studies, queer theory, and ecocriticism. Queer ecology challenges the binary of natural/unnatural, which has sought to diminish both queerness and the more-than-human world. Papers may address sexuality, queer theory, and ecocriticism from interdisciplinary perspectives, the ecocritical queering of the "other," literary representations of the discontents of reproduction from the non-heteronormative perspective, and other queer ecocriticism topics. Please send abstracts to queereco@gmail.com.
Race and Narrative in Twentieth Century Literature: This panel seeks to explore the intersections between narrative studies and race in twentieth century literature. In what ways can ethnic studies and narrative studies assist one another in the understanding of complex narratives addressing racial identity? Please send abstracts and brief biographical statements to James J. Donahue at donahujj@potsdam.edu.
Re-Defining/Re-Mapping Queer Identities Roundtable: This roundtable will explore the notion of (non) representation of queer identities from the early 1990s to today in contemporary art. Moreover, we are interested in the recent strategies used in contemporary art practices in relation to social/cultural codes of representation. How do artists relate to different structures of space and how do economic, political, psychological realms of sexualities participate in the construction of new identities? Lastly, how do these identities interact outside and inside the dominant culture? Please send 300 word abstract in English or French to elia.eliev@etu.hesge.ch.
Seeking a Postmodern God: Representations of the Absent Center in Contemporary Writing: This panel will look at contemporary writing that grapples with the elusive concept of the numinous by deconstructing old ontological models of "god" and proposing new directions for discourse about the divine. We seek readings of exemplary literary texts, and are also open to papers that address this issue from a theoretical standpoint. Submit paper proposals via e-mail to Magdalena Maczynska <mmaczynska@mmm.edu> and Christopher Coffman <ccoffman@bu.edu>.
Speculative Systems: Literature and Finance: Is literature merely a means of escaping the troubles of the "real world" of getting and spending, or does literature possess the capacity to point beyond, before, or between the modes of speculation operative in systems of financial investment? This panel seeks to bring into dialogue issues such as: economic theory & literary form, temporality, secularity, structures of power, cultural capital, $urplus, Specters of Marx, the gothic, relationships between fiction and paper money, and consumer culture. Send 250-500 word abstracts to Sean Dempsey, Boston University, sadem@bu.edu.
Translation and Identity: Transforming the Personal toward the National and the Global Roundtable: This roundtable will explore translation as a transformative and creative process, and its expanded significance within a dynamic global reality. We will consider translation's role in the establishment of identity (one's own and that of the target culture/language), the enhancement of intercultural dialogue, and the promotion of mutual empathy through a variety of means-textual translation, communicative performance, in-service learning, study abroad experiences-and from a variety of perspectives-cultural and ethnic studies, linguistics, literature and gender studies. Abstracts to Kristine Doll <kdoll@salemstate.edu> and Miriam Margala <miriam@ling.rochester.edu>.
The Trouble with Health Society for Critical Exchange Session: This session will consider how notions of health are articulated, deployed, and maintained by literary and other texts, to include consideration of the question of health per se-as perhaps a product of Western metaphysics and aesthetics-as well as cultural and (bio)political implications. Abstracts for 20-minute papers are due 30 Sept. 2009 to Scott DeShong, spdes@conncoll.edu (preferred) or alternatively 742 Upper Maple St, Danielson CT 06239, USA.

Women's Studies

British: "The Future of Women's Literature in Modernist Studies Roundtable"; "Religious Argumentation in Women's Writing of the Mid- to Late Eighteenth Century"; "Shakespeare's Cougars"; "Uncovering the Irish Woman in Early 20th Century Fiction"; "Women and the Politics of the Vernacular"

Comparative Literatures: "Communal Modernisms"; "Women, Utopia and the Fantastic in 20th and 21st-century narratives"

French: "Beauvoir Reloaded: Possibilities and Dangers of 'The Second Sex'"; "Elles réécrivent leur(s) H/histoire(s): le particulier et le collectif dans la littérature maghrébine"; "Her Story: Telling Stories of French and Francophone Women's Lives"; "Madness in Women's French and Francophone Fiction"

Gay/Lesbian/Queer: "Ghostly Women & Apparitional Lesbians"

German: "Female Authors and Images of Femininity"; "Verena Stefan: From 'Radical Feminist" in "Häutungen" to "Feminism as Humanism" in "Fremdschläfer""; "Withdrawals. Debating Masculinities in German Literature and Media"

Russian: "Russian Women Writers: New Views"

Spanish: "The Articulate Silence of Women Authors/Literary Subjects in Early Modern Spain"; "Latin American Women's Writing and the Fantastic"; "Mujeres afro-descendientes en Latino América Seminar"; "Women Writing Spanish American Revolution(s)"

Being and Thinking as an Academic Mother: Theory and Narrative: While previous books and panels have examined being a mother academic from narrative or "lived experience" and others explored mother academics' experiences from a theoretical perspective, this panel will incorporate both narrative and theory. The panel will explore how both research and narrative can inform contemporary understandings of academic motherhood and will strengthen the dialogue among academic motherhood, intellectual ideas, and narrative. Please submit 200-300 word abstracts to D. Lynn O'Brien Hallstein at lhallst@bu.edu.
Classic and Contemporary American Girl Lit Board-Sponsored: Over the past century, American fiction for girls has evolved in parallel with its culture. In life and literature, girls have been transfigured from elegant-mannered doyennes to chippy problem-solvers. This panel will examine how classic and contemporary texts offer a continuum of expanded roles for girls, from wives-in-training to adventurers, detectives and heroines. Abstracts should examine specific text(s) that demonstration the historical progression of female empowerment through reading. Sophie Lavin SUNY Stony Brook blavin@optonline.net.
Literary Hostesses: This panel will address the role of the hostess in literature as a means to consider the gendered roles-social, domestic, political, economic, and otherwise-of women. Topics may include the figure of the hostess in literary works, as well as the writer as hostess. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts about the hostess as a literary figure to Meghan Gilbert-Hickey at mgilbert-hickey@tamu.edu.
Literary Motherhood in the New World: This panel seeks submissions of 200-400 words which focus on the relationship between a mother and her children and/or the social role of the mother in the New World in both racialized and non-racialized contexts. Submissions from literary works which draw from the New World-North and South American mainland as well as the Caribbean-are welcomed as are works which draw from both the colonial and postcolonial periods. Please send submissions to Kate Caccavaio <caccavai@msu.edu>.
National Identities in Twentieth Century Women's Writing: This panel will examine the intersection between nation and gender in recent postcolonial and ethnic American women's writing. How do women writers negotiate national identities in their texts? How do women writers deal with issues of crossing nations or borderlands? How do issues of transnationality, diaspora, and/or globalization complicate models of national identity in these literatures? Please submit 250-350 word abstracts to Ann Marie Alfonso-Forero at amaforero@gmail.com.
Recasting the Role: Older Women in Memoir and Drama Seminar Women's Caucus Session: 'When did women "of a certain age" cease to be dowagers or harmless biddies? Conversely, have traditional roles of healers, "wise women," and mentors been preserved? This panel will address middle-aged to elderly women across cultures and examine our newer appreciation for their self-determination, evolving choices, and ways of growing as well as knowing. Papers should reflect the memoir's looking backward or the play's /screenplay's portrayal of mature "coming of age." Re-working of traditional mythological figures in contemporary drama can also be explored. 250-word proposals ellen.dolgin@dc.edu.
Traveling Alone: Women Migrating Across Cultures: The proposed panel will examine narratives that represent the experience of women who, traveling alone, leave their countries of origin for unknown new lives. Whether their decision comes from a desire to explore different places or whether their departure is imposed by oppressive cultures, these women have inspired artists, writers and filmmakers who have represented their pioneer spirit in works of art and fiction. This panel will examine the impact of gender on the representation of migrant women’s dreams as well as their experience in newly adopted countries. Papers will be accepted both in English and in French. Send 300 word abstracts to Jehanne-Marie Gavarini <jehannemarie_gavarini@uml.edu> by September 15, 2009.
Where Are We Now? The Evolution of Women's, Gender and Feminist Studies Roundtable: Ms. Magazine's 2009 "Guide to Women's Studies" cites 900 programs in the United States. This roundtable traces historical progressions and contemporary repositionings of Women's, Gender and Feminist Studies in the Academy, and examines the changing definitions, scholarship and issues impacting programs. Participants should incorporate research and selected themes that detail the evolution of Women's, Gender and Feminist Studies (2nd/3rd wave, Africana, feminist, gender, queer, spirituality, ecofeminist, sexuality, gender violence and gender disability, inclusivity issues and tolerance for divergent philosophies). 500-word abstracts/CV to Sophie Lavin <blavin@optonline.net>.

World Literatures

Gender and Expression in Chinese Literature: This panel seeks papers examining the productive role of gender played in the multiple dimensions of Chinese literary life. It welcomes various approaches and perspectives in exploring the effect of gender on language and the effect of language on gender. Topics include but not limited to: representations of gendered experiences, the implication of the author’s gender status in the production and reception of texts, and the dynamic interactions between men and women in both hetero and homo-sexual communities. Send 250-300 word proposals to Xiaorong Li at xiaorongli@eastasian.ucsb.edu.
Non-Western Literatures in Translation: Keeping in mind the fact that less than 3% of all the books published in the United States in any given year are literary translations, and the fact that publishing at all levels is a business that both creates and responds to its market, this panel seeks to examine the issues confronting the translation of non-Western literatures, from classical to contemporary, into English. We welcome a variety of perspectives-the authors of texts that have been translated (or texts in search of a translation), translators, scholars, publishers-and would prefer to have papers addressing a range of time periods. Richard Newman <richard.newman@ncc.edu>
South Asia's Orients: This panel seeks papers that examine South Asian cultural encounters with the various parts of the East. Possible topics: South Asian travel accounts, memoirs, histories, and fictional narratives about the Orient.from the 19th century to the 21st century (e.g. V. Seth, Iyer, Ghosh, Rushdie and M. Alexander); S. Asian diasporas in East Asia and the Gulf; South Asians traveling in the far East; and role of race, caste, gender, and ethnicity. Papers examining works written in South Asian languages and Anglophone are welcome. Send 250-300 word proposals to Suha Kudsieh at suhakudsieh@trentu.ca.
Teaching Contemporary Fiction from the Middle East: This panel seeks papers on both practical and theoretical approaches to teaching contemporary fiction from the Middle East. Topics may include: translation/translatability, the novel as a genre, immigration as a trope, and representations of the divine. Interdisciplinary approaches using novels such as Alaa Al-Aswany's The Yacoubian Building and Orhan Pamuk's Snow to broaden the scope of literary analysis are especially welcome. Please send 250-word abstracts to Sally Gomaa <sally.gomaa@salve.edu>.
Teaching The Story of the Stone in the World Literature Classroom: The Story of the Stone (also known as Dream of the Red Chamber) is the most popular and most widely acclaimed work of traditional Chinese vernacular fiction. This panel will explore approaches to teaching this fascinating piece in the context of world literature for modern students in the West. Please send abstracts (about 250 words) to I-Hsien Wu at wui@newschool.edu.

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