Sunday, March 8, 2015

Following is a list of the calls for papers for the 2016 MLA Convention (Austin, TX, January 7-10) for panels sponsored by the Russian and Eurasian Forum, the Slavic and East European Forum, and the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL).  The deadline for submitting a proposal is March 15 for all panels.   Membership in MLA is not required to submit; however, confirmed participants must be MLA members by April 7, or request a waiver.

We look forward to hearing from you!

CFPs:

American Poetry and Eastern European Traditions
What of Eastern Europe remains in Anglo-American poetry by poets born in the former Soviet Bloc? Submissions welcome from poetry scholars, Slavists. CV and 200-word abstract by 15 March 2015; Benjamin Paloff (paloff@umich.edu).

Inventing Literary Language(s) in Eurasia
Explores literary languages and traditions generated within the Russian/
(post-)Soviet empire; their strategies of self-invention, their interactions with neighboring traditions and/or the state. 200-word abstracts by 15 March 2015; Rebecca Stanton (rjs19@columbia.edu) and Gabriella Safran (gsafran@stanford.edu).

Contemporary Art Activism
Explores Russia's recent explosion of politically engaged art; the intersection between art and activism. How (much) can art serve as political protest, social action? Comparative approaches welcome. 300-word abstracts by 15 March 2015; Julia Vaingurt (vaingurt@uic.edu).

Borders, Words, and People in Motion: Culture and Geopolitics
Investigations of cultural discourse in relation to the geopolitics of disputed borders and migration across Eurasia, past and present. 200-word abstracts by 15 March 2015; Jefferson J. A. Gatrall (gatrallj@mail.montclair.edu).

Crimea and Punishment
Crimea inspired expansionist ambitions in the Russians and the Turks. What unites the literary and the political effects of this place, in their various languages and genres? 300-word abstracts by 15 March 2015; Gabriella Safran (gsafran@stanford.edu) and Jonathan Stone (jon.stone@fandm.edu).

Slavic Forgeries and Mystifications
Is forgery an essential part of literature? Where would we be without mystifications? This panel offers interpretations and reflections on mystifications and forgeries in Slavic literatures. 250-word abstract by 15 March 2015; David Cooper (dlcoop@illinois.edu).

Socialist Childhoods
Growing up under socialism was both a personal and political experience. Recent memoirs convey the humanity and absurdity of a socialist childhood. 250-word abstract by 15 March 2015; Jonathan Stone (jon.stone@fandm.edu).

Watersheds and Futures: Navigating a 21st Century Danube
Danubian Studies as a productive response to the EU’s contemporary transnational project, the region’s cultural and political pasts, and Danubia’s possible futures. 250-word abstract by 15 March 2015; Jonathan Stone (jon.stone@fandm.edu) and Matthew Miller (mdmiller1@colgate.edu.).