Category: Postgraduate

Seminar Proposals: February 27, 2015

Pre-conference Workshop (Thursday) and Post-conference Workshops (Sunday) Proposals:

February 27, 2015

Panel, Roundtable, and Poster/Digital Exhibit Proposals: April 17, 2015

“Modernism and Revolution,” the theme of the 2015 MSA annual conference to be held in Boston, invokes characterizations of modernism as a revolutionary movement across the arts, as a revolt against tradition, and as a renovation of literature, performance, visual arts, and culture more generally. But it also asks that we call into question the myth of modernism’s revolutionary nature, its habitual representation as a movement inherently or spontaneously insurrectionary.We encourage attention to aesthetic modernism’s relationship to political uprisings and wars, and to the revolutions in technology that drove munitions factories and automobile engines. Papers might attend to the cultural revolutions tied to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and other identity categories. Or they could examine the technologies transforming people’s experiences of everyday life in ways less violent but equally profound: the turning of film or audio tape reels, innovations in astronomy or transportation, the circular energies of the vortex. The theme also invites considerations of repetition, stasis, or other potentially anti-revolutionary modes.

The conference organizers for “Modernism and Revolution” invite proposals for seminars and pre/post-conference workshops (due Feb. 27), panels, roundtables, poster sessions, multimedia/digital exhibitions (due April 17). We encourage proposals relevant to the conference theme but welcome panel, seminar, and roundtable proposals on all topics related to modernism. The primary criterion for selection will be the quality of the proposal, not its relevance to the conference theme. We ask that proposals provide complete panels and roundtables. Individualsseeking to create or to participate in a panel or roundtable are encouraged to visit the MSA CFP page or the MSA Facebook for guidelines to develop and opportunities to promote a panel or roundtable. All proposals must include requests for AV provisions.

Participation: Because we wish to involve as many people as possible as active participants, the MSA limits multiple appearances on the program. Thus, you may participate once, but only once, in each of the following categories:

• Seminar, either as leader or as participant • Panel or roundtable, as participant (you may also chair a different panel or roundtable) • “What Are You Reading?” session You may lead a seminar, present a paper on a panel, and participate in a “What Are You Reading” session, but you may not present two papers. MSA rules do not allow panel or roundtable organizers to chair their own session if they are also speaking in the session. The session chair must be someone who is otherwise not participating in the session. Panel organizers are encouraged to identify a moderator and include this information with their proposals; the MSA Program Committee can also ask another conference attendee to serve as a moderator. Participation in a pre-conference workshop or in a digital exhibition does not constrain other forms of participation.

All those who attend the MSA conference must be members of the organization with dues paid for 2015-16 (MSA membership runs from July 1 until June 30 each year.) For information on MSA, please check the website. Participants are expected to present in person.

CALL FOR SEMINAR PROPOSALS

Deadline: February 27, 2015

Seminars are among the most unique features of the MSA conference. Participants write brief “position papers” (5-7 pages) that are circulated and read prior to the conference. Because their size is limited to 15 participants, seminars generate lively exchange and often facilitate future collaborations. The format also allows a larger number of conference attendees to seek financial support from their institutions as they educate themselves and their colleagues on subjects of mutual interest. Seminars are two hours in length. Because seminars led solely by graduate students are not likely to be accepted, we encourage interested graduate students to invite a faculty member to lead the seminar with them. Please note that this is the call for seminar leaders. Sign-up for seminar participants will take place on a first-come, first-served basis coinciding with registration for the conference. Seminar Topics: There are no limits on topics, but past experience has shown that the more clearly defined the topic and the more guidance provided by the leader, the more productive the discussion. “Clearly defined” should not be confused with “narrow,” as extremely narrow seminar topics tend to exclude many potential participants. To scan past seminar topics, go to the Conference Archiveshttp://msa.press.jhu.edu/conferences/archive.html on the MSA website, click the link to a prior conference, and then click on “Conference Schedule” or “Conference Program.” You’ll find seminars listed along with panels and other events. Topics related to the conference theme are especially welcome and might include, for example, modernism and historical revolutions, modernism and technological revolutions, or modernism and antirevolutionary. Submit proposals by February 27, 2015 by completing the following online form: MSA 17 Seminar Proposal Form.

CALL FOR PRE-CONFERENCE (Thursday) and POST-CONFERENCE (Sunday)

WORKSHOP PROPOSALS

Deadline: February 27, 2015

Pre-conference workshops are held on the Thursday that the conference begins and post-conference workshops are held on Sunday afternoon. They focus on topics related to professional life, such as publishing, teaching, the job market, mid-career challenges and opportunities, research and the liberal arts college, and alternative/non-academic jobs. Pre-conference workshops are likely to be focused on professional concerns for faculty, while post-conference workshops will probably be more relevant to graduate students. Popular workshops in previous years have been on topics including, “What Do Presses Want from a First Book?,” “Digital Approaches to Modernism,” and “Critical Writing.” Workshops should be participatory in format and can be either 90 or 120 minutes in length. They may be entirely led by one person or may include a panel of experts. Please note that this call is for workshop leaders, who should be prepared to arrive at the conference venue early or stay late. Registration for workshops will occur at the same time as conference registration. Submit proposals by February 27, 2015 by completing the following online form: MSA17 Pre/Post-Conference Workshop Proposal Form

CALL FOR PANEL PROPOSALS

Deadline: April 17, 2015

Successful proposals will introduce topics that promise to expand research and debate on a topic, and will present a clear rationale for the papers’ collective goal. Panel proposals that engage recent contentious research, exciting new approaches, or theoretical interventions into the field are encouraged. Topics are not limited to the theme “Modernism and Revolution.” Please bear in mind these guidelines: We encourage interdisciplinary panels and strongly discourage panels on single authors. In order to allow for discussion, preference will be given to panels with three participants, though panels of four will be considered. Panels composed entirely of participants from a single department at a single institution are not likely to be accepted. Graduate students are welcome as panelists, but panels composed entirely of graduate students are less likely to be accepted than panels that include postdoctoral presenters together with graduate students. Submit proposals by completing the following online form by April 17, 2015: MSA 17 Panel Proposal Form.

CALL FOR ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS

Deadline: April 17, 2015

All topics will be considered for roundtables, but we encourage proposals that develop the theme of the conference. Unlike panels, which generally feature a sequence of 15-20 minute talks followed by discussion, roundtables gather a group of participants around a shared concern in order to generate discussion among the participants and with the audience. To this end, instead of delivering full-length papers, participants are asked to deliver short position statements in response to questions distributed in advance by the organizer or to take turns responding to prompts from the moderator. The bulk of the session should be devoted to discussion. No paper titles are listed in the program, only the names of participants. Please bear in mind these guidelines: Roundtables may feature as many as 6 speakers. We particularly welcome roundtables featuring participants from multiple disciplines, and we discourage roundtables on single authors. Roundtables composed entirely of participants from a single department at a single institution are not likely to be accepted. Graduate students are welcome as speakers, but roundtables composed entirely of graduate students are less likely to be accepted than those that include postdoctoral presenters together with graduate students. Submit proposals by completing the following online form by April 17, 2015: MSA 17 Roundtable Proposal Form

CALL FOR POSTER SESSIONS AND DIGITAL EXHIBITS

Deadline: April 17, 2015

Reflecting the growing role of the digital humanities in modernist studies and the proliferation of work that does not lend itself to presentation in the form of a scholarly paper, we invite proposals that provide a short overview (including web links) of 1) the nature, design, and purpose of a digital project; 2) how the project advances modernist studies; and 3) how the presenters would want to exhibit and explain the project at the conference. Be sure to list all participants and institutions involved in the project, and specify who among these would attend the conference. Submit proposals by completing the following online form by April 17, 2015: Poster Session and Digital Exhibit Form.

Date: Thursday, 29 October 2015

Location: Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Organizers: Dr. Dennis Kersten and Dr. Usha Wilbers

Proposals deadline: May 15, 2015

The early twenty-first century has seen the resurfacing of Modernism in English literature. Authors like Will Self and Tom McCarthy have actively discussed how they deal with the legacy of Modernism in their work. The reception of a number of contemporary British novels, among which Nicola Barker’s Darkmans (2007), McCarthy’s C (2010) and Zadie Smith’s NW(2012), also suggests a resurrection of the label “Modernism” in the critical appraisal of literature. Reviewers use the label, as well as related terms such as “avant-garde”, “experimental”, “Futurist,” and “Joycean,” to categorise and evaluate these works. However, the phenomenon is still uncharted, lacking a clear definition and raising complex issues, as is also shown by the works of scholars like David James and Marjorie Perloff. Are novels by, for instance, Barker, McCarthy and Smith instances of what might be termed “retro-Modernism”, as imitative of canonised early-twentieth-century avant-garde fiction? Are they “neo-Modernist” texts, reinventing Modernism as we thought we knew it? Or does the use of “Modernist” terms signal the advent of “Metamodernism”, a relatively new, but ever-expanding field of research?

This expert meeting seeks to explore the revival of Modernism in contemporary English fiction and poetry. Our aim is to connect scholars working on this topic in order to (further) define the origins, development and implications of this trend. We are predominantly interested in how the contemporary literary field—authors, publishers, critics, academics—deals with the label “Modernism”; not necessarily in close readings of Modernist texts or the after lives of the canonical Modernist authors of the early-twentieth century. A selection of the papers presented during the expert meeting will be prepared for publication.

We welcome proposals for 15 to 20 minute presentations about the above themes.

Please send a 250 word proposal by May 15 to the organizers: Dennis Kersten:d.kersten@let.ru.nl / Usha Wilbers: u.wilbers@let.ru.nl

September 17-19, 2015

To commemorate the sesquicentennial anniversary of Lehigh University, the Department of English will host a conference that celebrates the life, works, and legacies of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s own Hilda Doolittle. We invite proposals for individual papers or panels that explore a wide range of approaches to the conference’s theme, “H.D. and Feminist Poetics.” In addition to proposals that examine the emergence, evolution, and nature of a feminist poetics in H.D.’s works, we also welcome papers or panels that address feminist poetics more broadly, whether by focusing on the poetry of H.D.’s contemporaries or by considering the legacies of H.D.’s feminist and poetic influence.

Topics may include (but are not limited to) feminist poetics and:

• Gender and sexuality
• Modernism/Imagism
• Queer poetics
• Religion/mysticism/spirituality
• Psychoanalysis
• War/violence
• Literary salons/print culture/female literary communities

The conference will also feature an “H.D. and Biography” roundtable that showcases new and emerging biographical projects focusing on H.D. herself or on individuals who were significant in her life. We welcome proposals to participate in this roundtable discussion. Additionally, we invite proposals for fully formed roundtable sessions on other topics as well.

Submission Details:

For individual papers, please send a 250-word proposal and a brief scholarly biography.

For panels of three or four, please send – in one document – a proposed panel title and a 250-word abstract for each paper, along with a brief scholarly biography for each presenter.

For the biography roundtable, please send a 250-word description of the biographical project along with a brief scholarly biography. To propose a roundtable session on another topic, please send – in one document – a 500-word description of the roundtable along with a brief scholarly biography for each participant.

Send proposals to Jenny Hyest at jehc@lehigh.edu. For the e-mail subject line, please use: “H.D. Conference Proposal.”

Deadline for proposals is April 15, 2015.

The 10th Biennial Symbiosis 2015 Conference:
Transatlantic Literary & Cultural Relations
A Symbiosis and Essex University event
Venue: Essex University, Colchester, UK
Dates: Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th July, 2015
Keynote Speakers:
Richard Gray (Essex University); Peter Hulme (Essex); Jahan Ramazani (Virginia)
Guest speaker: t.b.a.

The headline conference theme is trauma, conflict, and reconciliations, although proposals on any topic relevant to any area of Transatlantic Studies are welcome. The event organizers invite submission of:

200 – 300 word abstracts for proposed 20-minute conference presentations
Panel presentations comprising 3 presenters (please submit three 200 word abstracts & brief overall rationale)
Please send by email to both: philip.tew@brunel.ac.uk / t.m.l.scott@reading.ac.uk

EXTENDED SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday 22nd March 2015
The editors of Symbiosis, the Conference Directors, and Essex University’s Department of English invite proposals for panels and individual papers of twenty minute length, which engage a wide variety of transatlantic and/or transnational topics in the literatures and cultural histories of the Atlantic world. The conference is certainly not limited to any local concerns, although papers that treat issues related to the headline theme of conflict, trauma, and reconciliations in its transatlantic dimensions or a matter of cultural exchange and interrelationships are especially welcome, as are those examining the first fifteen years of transatlantic literary and cultural responses to the twenty-first century. Additionally as ever submissions are actively encouraged from all scholars and students of literary and cultural history and representation from every period from the earliest settlement right through to the present.

Poet Donald Davie was the first Professor of English at the new University of Essex, moving to Stanford and Vanderbilt Universities; Robert Lowell taught there for two years in the 1970s. The campus is conveniently located on the outskirts of Colchester, a thriving town, once the roman capital of Britain, now forty miles from London, 46 minutes journey on the fast train to and from London Liverpool Street station. Colchester itself offers numerous attractive bars, restaurants and two large shopping centres; the campus is close to the riparian attractions of Wivenhoe, also full of pubs and eating places.

Accommodation can be booked on campus, in well-appointed rooms, minutes away from the conference centre and the Symbiosis event. The conference fee (tba) will include a two-year subscription to the Symbiosis journal, confeence lunches, teas and coffees; single accommodation (with continental breakfast) can be booked if specified, and double rooms at a higher fee. The conference dinner is additional, and delegates are responsible for their own evening and other supplementary meals. Activities will include a literary event at the VENUE TBA, which will incorporate a SOMETHING reading and a tour of a significant cultural site. A list of local hotels and guest houses, if preferred, can be provided.

Submit 200 – 300 word abstract with details of your academic affiliation and contact details in Microsoft Word attachments by Sunday 22nd March, 2015 to the Conference Directors, Prof. Philip Tew (Brunel) and Dr. Matthew Scott (Reading): Philip.tew@brunel.ac.uk / t.m.l.scott@reading.ac.uk. Add ‘Symbiosis 2015 Proposal’ to the subject line of your message, an essential detail since they will be sorted automatically using this search term.

Earlier inquiries are welcome; early acceptance may be possible if required for institutional or similar funding to facilitate attendance. Symbiosis cannot offer bursaries or fee waivers. Further details will be posted on the Essex University webpage, on the Symbiosis website and its Facebook page. See variously:

http://www.symbiosistransatlantic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Glasgow-United-Kingdom/Symbiosis-a-Journal-of-Anglo-American-Literary-Relations/313163095816).

Recent years have seen a proliferation of exciting and innovative collaborative work in the field of modernist studies. Such collaboration has made new kinds of projects possible, has fostered new communities across interdisciplinary and international lines, and has also brought new challenges. This two-day colloquium, to be held at Franklin University Switzerland in June 2015, engages with some of the key questions and concerns emerging from collaborative practices. We invite proposals for papers and workshops on any aspect of modernist collaboration from literary and interdisciplinary scholars, creative and performing artists, publishers, and librarians. We welcome papers that approach the theme of collaboration from various vantage points, including, but not limited to:

Lucy Cavendish College will host a conference on 13 September 2015 to explore and re-evaluate the writing of Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941).

Papers are invited on all aspects of von Armin’s life and work. Suggested topics include:

• Contexts: understanding von Arnim’s writing in the context of the fin de siècle, the New Woman, middlebrow, modernism, World War 1 and 2, and women’s writing.
• Literary relationships with other writers such as E. M. Forster, Hugh Walpole, Katherine Mansfield, H. G. Wells and Frank Swinnerton.
• Intertexts: tracing the influences of writers such as the Brontes and Jane Austen.
• Forms: gardening, diary and epistolary novels; music; adaptation for film, theatre.
• International perspective: the importance of Switzerland, France, Germany and the USA in her writing and career.

Von Arnim’s complex, intelligent and witty novels were critically acclaimed and immensely popular during her lifetime. However, until recently they have received little academic attention. This conference aims to shed fresh light on the contemporary contexts of von Arnim’s work and the literary hierarchies and values that have shaped her reputation.

Call for papers

Proposals of 400 words for 20-minute papers should be sent using the form at: http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/news-blog/latest-news/call-for-papers-re-evaluating-elizabeth-von-arnim.

The deadline for submisssion 20 February 2015.

Conference organisers: Erica Brown (Sheffield Hallam University), Dr Isobel Maddison (Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge University) and Jennifer Walker (Independent Scholar).