CFP: SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900: Living Discourse Initiative
SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 invites proposals for each of the three features of its new Living Discourse Initiative. In keeping with the journal's mission to publish readable, high caliber, and field-leading thinking, the Living Discourse Initiative seeks scholars actively working on pressing social, political, and groundbreaking issues germane to English literature 1500-1900.
Call for Proposals: The Living Discourse Initiative
The Living Discourse Initiative seeks to capture a sense of conversational presence and to reimagine both the composition and contributions of a scholarly journal. This multifaceted project brings public intellectuals and academic experts into conversation in real time to engage in good faith debate and critical discourse about the work of and questions generated by studying literature. The Initiative scales out in three new features: The Interview, The Exchange, and The Roundtable.
THE INTERVIEW will introduce professionals with educational training in the humanities and careers outside or adjacent to the professoriate. For example, museum curators, directors of literary libraries, theaters, and archives, restoration specialists, rare book and manuscript sellers, or designers and developers would be welcome participants. Our hope is that such interviews will be a source of inspiration and information especially to early career and NTT scholars interested in professional goals beyond academia. We welcome nominations, self and otherwise, of candidates for this interview series.
THE EXCHANGE features two senior scholars, whose work overlaps in compelling ways, in an extended, informal exchange of ideas about their own scholarship, timely concerns, and the study of literature broadly. The conversation could occur as a series of exchanged emails or Zoom conversation transcripts. We envision a collegial format akin to the letters exchanged in Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's Rehearsals for Living: two sharp minds, sparking and riffing off one another serendipitously and capturing fortuitous moments. We welcome proposals from pairs of literary critics, public intellectuals, and activists interested in participating in such an exchange.
THE ROUNDTABLE includes 4-6 brief position papers (approx. 1,000-1,500 words) focused on pressing issues in the fields of literary criticism relevant to SEL. Each essay will be exchanged, read, and responded to by all participants in The Roundtable; original position papers and responses will then be published together in SEL. This format aims to capture the excitement of a vigorous conference Q&A or seminar debate. We seek roundtable proposals that make theoretical, analytical, and/or activist interventions in enduring or emergent subjects of literary interest.
Proposals of 300-500 words for The Interview, The Exchange, and The Roundtable should include a one-page CV for each participant. Nominations for The Interview should include potential interviewee's current professional role and the relevance of their work to the study of English literature writ large. Topics for The Exchange and The Roundtable will ideally address pressing political, cultural, methodological, or conceptual issues and questions confronting one or more of the fields within SEL's remit. SEL especially encourages transhistorical, transnational, and transdisciplinary proposals. Queries and proposals for The Interview, The Exchange, or The Roundtable will be accepted on a rolling basis and may be directed to the editor at [email protected].