MA Student Presents at NeMLA

Second-year VU English MA student Caitlin Salomon recently presented at the NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association), on a panel entitled "The Future is Fragile," which "examined how the concept of fragility shapes our world and society."

"My paper," said Salomon, "put Walter Miller’s (post)apocalyptic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz in conversation with Judith Butler’s theory of vulnerability. I suggested that though Butler’s framework is an exemplary theoretical model to follow, Miller’s novel shows that even when we admit—and have tangible proof of—our own fragility, our flawed humanity leads us to protect ourselves at others’ expense. His inclusion of a posthuman character at the novel’s conclusion intriguingly poses that humanity can only be invulnerable when it’s no longer entirely human."

Caitlin was kind enough to answer some additional questions about the conference for the YAWP.

What was your impression of the conference itself?

The conference was an ideal opportunity to learn from scholars from all backgrounds and career levels. The panels I attended featured presenters that ranged from other MA students to tenured professors—and all were equally passionate about their research and engaging with one another’s ideas. I think what makes NeMLA truly standout from other conferences I’ve been to is that you will find multiple panels that relate to your research interests and can spend nearly all of your time attending them! It’s a really good way to get a mini crash-course in the theoretical frameworks and texts popular within your specific field. It’s also well-suited for students interesting in networking with professors, publishers, and learning how to succeed in academia.

Were there other presentations that made a strong impression on you?

Truly, I think that every panel made an impression on me! I really enjoyed the presentations that engaged with media studies (video game theory, television series, etc.) because it made me think of ways to potentially extend my own research into these areas and not just limit myself to written texts. At the end of nearly every panel, I had a list of 3-4 new novels, poems, movies, or video games that related to environmental humanities, apocalypse, or other areas of interest to me.

Do you hope to continue your research on your presentation subject, and, if so, how?

I do want to keep looking into cycles of apocalypse and vulnerability studies. I think that environmental humanities intersects so readily with both of these concepts—climate change is certainly wreaking havoc and causing apocalyptic situations for so many across the globe. And most of the time, these populations are definitionally vulnerable – lacking the resources, knowledge, and opportunities to relocate, rebuild, and/or remain in light of these disasters. There’s also the problem of nuclear politics, too. While the novel doesn’t touch on the problem of nuclear waste, it’s a concern I’m particularly interested in examining since it doesn’t appear often in literature or film. How we visualize problems of climate change / global disaster honestly, but impactfully, is a problem I foresee writers, researchers, and communities increasingly engaging with both now and in the coming years.