Call for Proposals: American Comparative Literature Association

[Boris Wolfson]

Dear Colleagues,

Please consider taking part in this conference.  Slavists who have taken 
part in ACLA events in the past report that the unique format fosters 
meaningful and productive intellectual exchanges, and the current 
leadership of the Association welcomes submissions - either seminars or 
individual papers - on topics involving Slavic material.

Sincerely,

BW

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The Program Committee of the American Comparative Literature Association 
is now accepting seminar proposals and abstract submissions for the 
Association's 2009 Annual Meeting, hosted by Harvard University from March 
26 to March 29. The theme for the meeting, "Global Languages, Local 
Cultures," invites a range of exciting possibilities and the setting in 
Cambridge will be elegant and gracious.

The ACLA's annual conferences have a distinctive structure in which most papers 
are grouped into twelve-person seminars that meet two hours per day for the 
three days of the conference to foster extended discussion. Some eight-person 
(or smaller) seminars meet just the first two days of the conference. This 
structure allows each participant to be a full member of one seminar and to 
sample other seminars during the remaining time blocks. There are two 
deadlines, one for seminars and the other for individual abstracts. The 
submissions page is now live and both seminar proposals and individual 
abstracts are being accepted.  As the seminar proposals come in the program 
committee will review them, and those approved will appear on the webpage. 
Seminar proposers need not have a complete roster of potential seminar 
participants in mind when making a submission, but should design topics which 
will suit the three-day structure of the conference.  Scholars submitting 
abstracts may wish to wait until a number of seminar descriptions on-line have 
been posted. About 140 seminars are accepteed each year and about 1,200 
scholars take part in the conference, so there is a very wide range of 
opportunities.  Some seminars focus on an area, linguistic and/or cultural, 
while other concentrate on a thematic or theoretical question, etc.

When submitting their abstracts, members are invited either to designate a 
particular seminar, if there is one that seems apt, or to submit an abstract to 
the general pool.  The program committee will direct abstracts submitted to the 
general pool to appropriate seminar organizers and will also form new seminars 
based on the submissions received.  Even if members have been invited to 
participate in a particular seminar, they should submit an abstract on-line so 
as to become part of our 2009 conference database. Submitting your abstract to 
the general pool in no way affects the likelihood of its acceptance, and the 
committee will make every effort to include as many abstracts as possible.

Previous conference programs that show this pattern are available at the ACLA 
website. The conference also includes plenary sessions, workshops and 
roundtable discussions, a business meeting, a banquet, and other events.

You will find the conference webpage and the links for submissions by clicking 
on any of the links on the ACLA's homepage at www.acla.org or by going directly 
to http://www.acla.org/acla2009/.

Deadline for Seminar Proposals: September 15, 2008
Deadline for Paper Proposals: November 1, 2008

The submission forms are automated; simply follow the posted instructions. You 
will receive a message to confirm receipt of your submission. Participants may 
only submit one paper proposal per year. Seminar proposers may submit only one 
seminar proposal per year.

Please do not hesitate to contact the ACLA directly if you have any questions 
or concerns. Conference registration will be available beginning November 1, 
2008. If you have questions concerning seminar/paper submissions, the 
conference program, or A/V Requests, please contact: conference at acla.org. With 
questions concerning ACLA Membership or 2009 conference registration please 
contact: info at acla.org. website on the Annual Meeting page, 
<http://www.acla.org/annualmeeting.html>

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