Call for Special Sessions: PAMLA 2022 Conference

Apparently it tires my brain so much to come up with post ideas, that I'm resorting to publicizing conference CFPs on my blog...

Regardless, here is a call for Special Session Proposals for the 2022 Conference of PAMLA, the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association! The conference will take place at UCLA, November 11–13 (in person). 

Although PAMLA has General/Standing Sessions that occur every year (found at the bottom of the page at https://www.pamla.org/conference/2022-conference-theme/), the Special Sessions are proposed each year and often relate to the theme of that year's conference (in this case, "Geographies of the Fantastic and the Quotidian"). The proposer of the session (if accepted) then solicits, collects, and organizes papers for the session by taking on the role of Presiding Officer. 

If you or anyone you know (especially in the local area) might be interested in proposing a Special Session for PAMLA 2022, please read the information below. And if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know as well. 

The deadline to propose a Special Session is Tuesday, March 15. PAMLA is a small and friendly conference, perfect for developing new research ideas. If you are looking for opportunities to become involved with a professional organization, this is a great way to do so.

Read on for a special message from Craig Svonkin, the PAMLA Executive Director!

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Dear Friends of PAMLA, 

We are looking for more proposals for special sessions for this year's PAMLA conference, which is going to be held at the lovely UCLA Luskin Conference Center and Hotel, on Friday, November 11 through Sunday, November 13, 2022. If you have an idea for a special session to propose, or can help us to spread the word, that would be wonderful and much appreciated. 

Here's more about the special session proposal system that I was hoping you'd share with friends, faculty, and graduate students: 

We'd love more proposals for special sessions for the PAMLA conference in the fall, and people have until March 15 to propose special sessions. Here's a link to more information about how to propose, if anyone is interested: 

https://www.pamla.org/pamla-2022-call-for-special-sessions/ 

We'd love sessions dealing with people's areas of research. We do have standing sessions like 18th Century British Literature and American Literature 1865 to 1945, or African American Literature, etc. So, what we are usually interested in, ideally, are proposals a bit more specific, but not so narrow as to only be of the narrowest of interest. So, for example, we already have a standing session on Poetry and Poetics, but sessions like "Rethinking Language Poetry" or "Poetry of Politics and Protest" would be great ideas for special sessions. As the west coast affiliate of the MLA, PAMLA is, like the MLA, a big tent association--we are therefore open to all sorts of topics. Ideally, we like the sessions to be open to submissions instead of entirely pre-organized. 

The conference will be at the UCLA Luskin Center and Hotel on Friday through Sunday, November 11 to 13. If anyone has any questions, please do send them my way: director@pamla.org or 626-354-7526. 

All my best, and thanks for helping us to spread the word! 

Best, 

Craig