CFP: GEO Conference 23-24 at the University of Maryland

GEO Conference 2023-24 Call for Papers: Displacement

The University of Maryland’s Graduate English Organization invites proposals relating to the theme

of “Displacement” for our 17th annual conference, to be held hybrid/in-person on March 8th, 2024.

Displacement can refer to the forced migration and movements of peoples across the globe over

centuries. From slavery to the internal displacement of peoples and the contemporary refugee crisis,

the term allows us to connect the literary with the cultural and the political in myriad ways.

More broadly, displacement speaks to the physical and metaphorical movements, transfers, and

undulations that undergird human existence. It is both a frictional and harmonic phenomenon that

interrogates the ideas of space, place, and (dis)possession.

Displacement also allows us to engage productively with contemporary challenges facing the

humanities. It can help us think creatively about the public role of the humanities, the literary value of

language and writing in the time of AI, the circulation of literature in translation, and the increased

access to global circuits of traditional and non-traditional media.

This interdisciplinary conference welcomes papers engaging and critiquing questing, (dis)placement,

the hero’s journey, stories of migration, pilgrimage, finding or uncovering, fluidity, the idea of

“home,” and travel of any kind. This conference seeks to promote inclusive scholarship, and

encourages submissions related to literary and media studies, as well as other burgeoning fields of

study, such as game theory, digital humanities, and cultural studies. Creative submissions are

encouraged, especially those that explore concepts of searching, yearning, and growth.

Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted to englgeo@umd.edu by December 22nd, 2023.

Potential presentation topics can focus on a wide range of issues including (but not limited to):

● Gender and sexuality

● Genre literature/film

● Displacement in pop culture

● (Im)migration and asylum-seeking

● Travel and adventure narratives

● Video games

● Tabletop RPG narratives

● Narrative theory

● Uncovering or recovering

● Temporal or spatial movement

● Socioeconomic disparities (housing, health, food)

View the CFP on its homepage here.