CFP: Slavic Division sessions for next MLA Convention, 5-8 Jan 2012 (abstracts by March 18)

[Jessie Labov]

To SEELANGS:

Following are five proposals for sessions to be held at the next Modern
Language Association Convention in Seattle, WA, 5-8 January 2012.
The theme of this year’s MLA Convention is “Language, Learning, Teaching.”
http://www.mla.org/convention

These sessions are organized by the Slavic & East European Literatures
Division Executive Committee. 

*ALL ABSTRACTS DUE BY FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2011.*

PANEL: “Food Culture in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe”
Depictions of food in literature/film, gastronomic trends, nostalgic
nationalism in cuisine, popular attitudes and traditions, cookbooks and food
travel writing.  This panel is co-sponsored by AATSEEL; those interested
should send a brief abstract to <emilydjohnson at ou.edu> by March 18.

ROUNDTABLE: "Language, Literature, and ...? New Models for Foreign Language
Departments"
A roundtable on Slavic and other foreign language departments that are
addressing the changing demands of students, administrators, and the
profession itself. We welcome presenters who have had experience with
institutional restructuring and re-defining their home department. The goal
of the panel is to identify some models that have been successful in
negotiating and responding to disciplinary and/or financial challenges.
Abstracts to <labov.1 at osu.edu> by March 18.

PANEL: “Graphic Narratives Re-telling History”
We invite papers that explore how contemporary Slavic and/or European comics
are grappling with social and historical questions using the graphic
narrative form. While European comic art has a long tradition of treating
historical topics, there have been a number of recent graphic works that go
further and look to re-narrate, re-tell, and provide an alternative view of
historical events. Papers on Central/Southeastern European texts will be
given priority, though the panel is open to examples from across the
continent. Abstracts to <labov.1 at osu.edu> by March 18.

PANEL: “Europe Through a Wide Lens: Film and the Cold War”
This panel will reexamine Cold War film culture as a pan-European
phenomenon, acknowledging the importance of the East/West division in film
production and distribution, but moving beyond this division. Papers can be
comparative in nature, identifying pan-European aesthetic developments (e.g.
“new waves”) or industrial changes (e.g., film festivals and
co-productions); papers can also treat individual films or filmmakers, as
long as they are grounded in this larger context. Abstracts to
<labov.1 at osu.edu> by March 18.
 
PANEL: “Zizek from Mladina to Al Jazeera”
Seeking papers that integrate various stages of Slavoj Zizek's career, from
research assistant at U. Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy and
contributor to the Slovenian alternative youth magazine Mladina, to the most
global of all global philosophers reaching international audiences via
satellite television and streaming servers. While aiming to place him firmly
in the intellectual context of Ljubljana and the broader historical context
of East-Central Europe before and after 1989, we will also map his
navigation of various transnational circuits, initially to Paris, then to
the U.S., and most recently in his virtual incarnation as
philosopher/pundit-at-large. Abstracts to <labov.1 at osu.edu> by March 18. 

(Please note: ALL PARTICIPANTS of these sessions will be required to be
active members of the MLA by April 7, 2011.)

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