With a lifetime of passion for studying other cultures, followed by a Ph.D. in Spanish and now nearly a decade of research, conference papers, and publications about Antarctica, I am most excited to bring Antarctica to North Amercia, via the Modern Language Association.

The Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences of Antarctica have always been…[Read more]

MLA 2024, Philadelphia

Special Session: Language and the City: An Ecolinguistic View of Philadelphia Spanish

We take our language for granted: its existence, its social, its cultural and its aesthetic values. Yet, no language is immortal as change is inexorable. In biodiversity, we fight to protect endangered species, mourn the extinction of…[Read more]

Putting the Bowtie on Funk : The Sound of Philadelphia

Guaranteed session for MLA 2024 sponsored by Forum MS Sound, in collaboration with Forum African American Literature, Language, and Culture

Philly Soul, with its roots in the Black performance traditions of gospel, funk, and rhythm & blues, transformed popular music in the 1970s. How have…[Read more]

[This session is organized by the HEP Teaching as a Profession Forum]

Teaching Beyond University

In its effort to recognize other spaces for postgraduate careers beyond 4-year institutions, the Teaching as a Profession Forum is inviting submissions for a virtual roundtable focused on teaching beyond a traditional university department. We are…[Read more]

[This session is organized by the HEP Teaching as a Profession Forum]

Ungrading as Liberatory Practice 

As a pedagogical practice, ungrading decenters grade-based assessment and focuses instead on student learning. It is based on the philosophical premise that grades are not an accurate assessment of learning, and institutionalized grading…[Read more]

2024 marks the centennial of the Surrealist Manifesto. Roundtable participants will examine the conceptual, verbal, and formal tools and strategies at stake in this preeminent artistic and critical stance in 20th-century French studies. They will explore the evolving ways in which surrealism still manifests in today’s cultural and literary imagina…[Read more]

Dear Colleagues,

I’d like to call your attention to three CFPs for the 2024 MLA convention that may interest you.

• The Range of Contingency: Models and Strategies for Success: As the nature of contingency evolves with non-tenure track faculty assuming increased responsibilities within the academy, what models or strategies can help to a…

[Read more]

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share a CFP for an upcoming MLA panel sponsored by the Executive Committee of the LSL Forum on Global English. This forum has a guaranteed panel for the next MLA Convention, which will be January 4–7, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 250-word abstracts are due by March 15 and we will respond before April 1. <…[Read more]

An op-ed article I co-wrote with Latinx Studies colleagues David J. Vázquez and Magdalena L. Barrera was just published in Salon. Check it out!

“What the New York Times gets wrong about the “American Dirt” controversy: Who gets to wield the power of representation might be important to columnist Pamela Paul, but it’s a…[Read more]

Dear Colleagues,

I’m doing a study of how the words “Russian” and “Russia” are used in English-language history textbooks. I would be extremely grateful if you could send me (at this address john.pendergast@westpoint.edu ) the titles, publisher, and year (if possible) of history textbooks used in your Russian courses and in Russian History c…[Read more]

Languages are primary sites of emotional and ideological development. This
guaranteed sponsored roundtable invites topics on how our feelings for
languages play out in aesthetics, cultures, rhetorics, writings, etc.
Perspectives of graduate students and early career scholars especially
encouraged. Please submit a 250-word abstract and brief bio to…[Read more]

Languages are primary sites of emotional and ideological development. This guaranteed sponsored roundtable invites topics on how our feelings for languages play out in aesthetics, cultures, rhetorics, writings, etc. Perspectives of graduate students and early career scholars especially encouraged. Please submit a 250-word abstract and brief bio to…[Read more]

Dear Colleagues,

It’s that time of year, when MLA forums collect nominations (including self-nominations) for future Executive Committee members. If you would be interested in being on the LSL Global English forum’s Executive Committee from January 2024-January 2029, or if you know someone who could be a good fit, please email me with any…[Read more]