ASLE & AESS IN 2023: PORTLAND, OREGON

The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) and The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) are excited to announce that they will hold their next conference jointly in Portland, Oregon on July 9-12, 2023 at the Oregon Convention Center. The theme of the conference will be “Reclaiming the Commons.”  This event will offer opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, networking and professional development with a variety of sessions sponsored by both organizations.  The Call for Proposals is below, and registration will open in early 2023.  Other details can be found on the respective websites: aessconference.org and asle.org/conference/biennial-conference/.

In light of the increased biological and political vulnerabilities of our times, the environmental humanities seek to reassess what it means to care for the commons and how the commons are conceptualized—whether it be terrestrial, aquatic, atmospheric or sociocultural. We are faced with the challenge to renew the bonds of community and to inspire the affections of care that can move us beyond the insulation and fragmentation of the present. How might we restore attention to the commons? How can we take full advantage of a deeper self-examination and rekindling of affections for place that has been facilitated ironically by the pandemic? How might individual and planetary vulnerabilities transform into opportunities for collective strength? And in ongoing colonial settings, how can the commons be reconfigured as a decolonial project, that takes into account the widespread historical exclusion and dispossession of Indigenous groups and often unequal access to postcolonial commons?

VISIT ASLE SITE FOR FULL DETAILS

DATES AND DEADLINES

• All proposals for pre-formed panels, individual panel presentations or readings, or poster sessions must be submitted via Pheedloop by 11:59pm PST on January 3, 2023. Any proposal for presentations in pre-formed panels that are not accepted for the conference will automatically be considered as individual presentations.
• All proposals for collaborative work projects must be submitted via Pheedloop by 11:59 pm PST on October 24, 2022. All participants included in these proposals will be notified by no later than November 14, 2022 whether their proposal has been accepted or not.  Those whose proposals are not accepted will then be welcome to submit a proposal for another conference presentation format, if they wish, by the January 3, 2023
• If you submitted a proposal but then discover you can no longer attend the conference, please inform the organizer of your panel (if relevant) and ASLE of withdrawal by the end of the day on January 30, 2023 at the latest, if possible.
• We will evaluate all proposals carefully and notify people of whether their proposal has been accepted by the end of the day on February 27, 2023 at the latest.