As promised earlier, here is the CFP for the panel I will be moderating at the NeMLA 2020 Annual Conference in Boston. The conference will be held in early March.

You will find the posting under French and Comparative Literature, but it’s a broad and interdisciplinary topic, so if you are working on something related to this subject, please consider submitting. Here are the details.

Thinking Beyond Your Century: Shaping a Scholarly Project that Connects the Present to the Past

One question many scholars face is explaining how their work might prove relevant to modern times. This question grows greater the farther back one goes on the historical and literary timeline, even as contemporary culture makes broad popular use of themes and ideas that originated in previous centuries. This panel seeks contributions from scholars working in French and Francophone Studies or in comparative fields, who have sought ways to connect their work to the present era. Of particular interest are the literary, political, philosophical, or artistic phenomena that scholars may have discovered transposed into the present from their century of specialization. What themes or devices popularized by earlier generations have been activated once more in our modern imagination? What methods and strategies have researchers attempted, in order to connect these disparate phenomena together? What resistance have scholars encountered along the way, be it from within or beyond their field. And finally, with what audience (students, specialists within a specific field, the broader, non-specialist public) does one seek to share these observations?

The chair invites proposals for 15-20 minute talks that will illuminate the connections between the presenter’s chosen discipline and some aspect of present-day culture, with the aim of fostering a broader collaboration between different time periods and disciplines.

Click here to visit the NeMLA website. In order to successfully submit your abstract, you will need to login (or create an account and then login).

I expect we will have space for four fifteen-minute presentations. Again, innovative and interdisciplinary contributions are not only welcome, but encouraged. I look forward to reading your proposals!

[Update 24 May, 2019] I don’t currently have a link to the abstract submission feature on the NeMLA site. It should become available soon. I will be sure to post a link to it as soon as it becomes available.

Here’s the CFP link. There is a wonderful selection of French and Francophone panels this year. Happy submitting to everyone.