CFP: Georgetown University's English Graduate Student Conference on "The Humanities & the Age of COVID"

Georgetown University's English Graduate Student Association is looking for presentation proposals for   their spring conference, upcoming at the end of April. The theme this year is The Humanities & The Age of COVID: ‘Disruption, Hesitation, Silence.’ In the light of the current pandemic climate, the conference will be held entirely asynchronously and virtually, so presenters will submit a video of themselves presenting their work. The requirements for submission are below, and the deadline for submission is Friday, March 26. 

Georgetown University

English Graduate Student Association (Online & Asynchronous) Conference

The Humanities & The Age of COVID: ‘Disruption, Hesitation, Silence’ 

April 30, 2021

“I am attracted to ellipsis, to the unsaid, to suggestion, to eloquent, deliberate silence,” writes Louise Glück in her essay “Disruption, Hesitation, Silence.” A poem, she argues, represents a dual creation: a reader must acknowledge what is present on the page and intuit, thereby bringing to life, what is not said. The unsaid is profound and mysterious; standing apart from what is definite, it cannot be said to have any end.

The notion of an ending in the era of COVID-19 is fluid. Time is now expressed as a curve to be flattened—whether time is perceived as progressing or regressing is entirely dependent where one is in space. The pandemic has thrown into relief that which was always endemic in our society: pervasive, structural racism that undergirds dramatic economic inequality; the widespread and destructive effects of free market capitalism; an urgent, existential, and overdue reckoning with climate change.

The unsaid asks the reader to assemble “another time, a world in which they were whole,” writes Glück. Likewise, this conference will consider the tumult of this revolutionary era in all its complexity as a productive exercise of dual creation. How should we look at this present moment to bring forth new concepts, new perspectives, and new conversations in the humanities? How useful is looking to the past in this effort of creation? What roles and responsibilities do we in the humanities have to address and respond to these present, and perhaps endless, crises? How can we move beyond a landscape of upheaval, restriction, and fear, into one of peace, accessibility, and compassion?

We invite participants to submit papers that consider these questions through multivalent and interdisciplinary approaches. Topics may include but are not limited to: 

• 21st Century Medical Humanities 
• Pandemic, Disease, Vaccination
• Global Health
• Quarantine Literature 
• Socialization & Mental Health
• “The Vulnerable Body”- Notions of Vulnerability
• Political Discourse & Disruption 
• Media Studies & [Mis]information 
• Post-Covid Ecologies
• Remote Teaching & Learning 
• Adaptation in Arts & Humanities 
• The Future of Academia 
• Pandemic’s Effect on Literary Consumption 
• Border Crossings
• Criminal Justice and Covid-19 
• Changes to Fashion Industry

To apply, please submit paper abstracts (1 page double-spaced) suitable for a 12-15 minute presentation to egsa@georgetown.edu. Also, please attach an updated CV or resume. Submissions and CVs should be in PDF format with name and affiliation in the body of the email.

This conference will convene remotely and asynchronously, to be considerate of those submitting from different time zones. All submissions are due on or before Fri. March 26, 2021.