[Kristen Stern]

Share here info for Calls for Papers that would be pertinent to members of the group. This thread will be for deadlines and/or events occurring in the 2020-2021 academic year.

This can also be a space to connect with potential co-organizers, panelists, etc.

[Kristen Stern]

NeMLA 2021: 11-14 March 2021

Réseaux: Strengthening Connections in French and Francophone Studies in Times of Crisis

This roundtable builds on themes and discussion begun at the 2020 convention among early career scholars in French and Francophone Studies, taking into account the acute crisis brought about by the pandemic and its fallout. The same issues facing scholars in French and Francophone Studies remain: increasing precarity, job insecurity, downward pressures on enrollment, the need for diverse faculty and inclusive classrooms, and the need for connections to other scholars in our field(s) across campuses. These pressures have been exacerbated as the twin shocks of a global health threat and a drastic economic retraction play out in higher education. In keeping with the 2021 convention theme, “Tradition and Innovation: Changing Worlds through the Humanities,” this roundtable seeks participants who, in dealing with these changes on the ground—in their classrooms, departments, divisions, and research—are innovating to find more ways to be connected, compassionate teacher-scholars for our students, colleagues, and communities.

Possible lines of inquiry include: What aspects of this crisis are particularly hitting hard in French and Francophone Studies? What strategies have participants tried for recruiting and resisting cuts in French programs/departments? What has been successful, and where is more support needed? How can we leverage our expertise as humanities scholars more broadly in a time when we have been more isolated than ever, yet when solidarity is more needed than ever? What solutions for hurdles to equity and access can be found for online/remote learning specific to our field?

Chairs invite proposals for short (5 to 10 minutes) talks that address one or more of our central aims and will foster a collaborative discussion around current issues in our field. This may include topics related to research, pedagogy, professionalization, or the state of the discipline within the current crisis.

Please submit abstracts by 30 September 2020 via: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/18698

NeMLA is still considering the planned convention in Philadelphia or a virtual conference.

[Kristen Stern]

NeMLA 2021: 11-14 March 2021

Francophone African Literatures Outside the Book

This panel invites explorations of literary activity by/about francophone African authors outside the bindings of the printed page. As Rosenthal and Ruffel have observed (2010) with regard to contemporary literature in French broadly considered, literary activity in the contemporary era increasingly “se pratique et s’expose” outside the book. What manifestations of this are particular to francophone African writers? How do these events or objects interact with, or conversely stand apart from, their published works? Do (relatively) new platforms on the internet and social media mean that readers (or writers) are getting a different or better experience? That literature is being accessed or consumed in a more democratic way?

This panel takes up the theme for the 2021 convention by examining how the print medium in our field is changing and adapting in the face of innovations in technology and evolving needs and desires of the reading public. While moves online and to social media have already been happening for a while, it has now become de rigeur for institutions’ and individuals’ survival with the post-pandemic virtualization of culture.

While this panel takes as its point of departure more recent trends in contemporary literature, papers that ground these relatively new phenomena in earlier models and practices in francophone African literature are welcome. Abstracts are accepted for 10- to 15-minute papers in French or English.

Please submit abstracts by 30 September via: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/18573

NeMLA is still considering the planned convention in Philadelphia or a virtual conference.

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