Permanent Section Calls for PapersPermanent Sections address a range of established topics of perennial concern to scholars in our discipline. Because the field is continuously evolving, the MMLA welcomes proposals to establish a new Permanent Section on an emerging topic. Inquiries may be sent to [email protected]. Each Permanent Section has a pre-selected, qualified Organizer/Chair who not only decides whether the panel will be tied to a version of the Convention's theme or have an open topic but also drafts its call for papers by the March 15 deadline. The Organizer then receives and vets individual paper proposals to build a full, three-paper panel, which may also include a paper of his/her own. All proposals accepted to a Permanent Section are automatically added to the MMLA's Convention program and do not require a second round of approval by the Program Committee. Individual proposals to a Permanent Section are due to the Organizer by his/her imposed deadline but no later than April 25 (please see the calls for papers below for more information). After soliciting, reviewing, and selecting individual proposals, all Permanent Section Organizers must submit the following materials to the MMLA by May 01:
For a helpful resource that breaks down the primary components of a strong abstract, visit Karen Kelsky's "How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract" page on her website, The Professor is In. Calls for PapersStay tuned for more information!
The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
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Archives are not neutral: they tell stories about who counts, whose experiences are remembered, and whose are erased. For centuries, racial hierarchies have shaped the preservation of knowledge, leaving silences where Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized voices should be. The Antiracism Permanent Section of the MMLA invites submissions that move beyond critique, asking how we can reimagine, rebuild, and transform the archive to reflect justice, equity, and shared humanity.
We are especially interested in work that explores:
This section seeks proposals that not only analyze inequities in archives but actively propose or model alternatives: new forms of documentation, preservation, storytelling, and cultural memory that resist erasure and center justice. Presentations may include research papers, creative projects, teaching innovations, or community-engaged initiatives that envision archives as sites of empowerment, repair, and possibility.
Submission Guidelines: Proposals should be 250–300 words. Include the author’s name and institutional affiliation (if any). Submit proposals to [email protected] by April 24, 2026.
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We welcome proposals that explore how representation is forged in connection with collective acts in contemporary film. How, for example, are cultures created by the gathering together of human subjects? What modes of collectivity, be they formal or informal, arise from culture or have arisen historically? How have directors represented the salient political and social challenges of our time through notions of collective response and collaboration? How does this impact the aesthetic of the film? We seek proposals that wrestle with these (or related) transhistorical questions. Proposals that explore innovative pedagogical methods when teaching contemporary films or documentaries are welcomed. In this session, we also seek to explore how teaching across disciplines can lead to new dialogues or teaching methods/instruction. How does film pedagogy intersect with the work of colleagues in other disciplines? How does it take shape and come to fruition in the classroom?
Topics could include, but are not limited to:
• Close analysis of film
• Film theory
• Film criticism
• Film history
• Modes of film studies
• Methods of film production
• World film studies
• Collaborative pedagogy and team-teaching
• Collaborations in the classroom (i.e. group assignments, collective grading, etc.)
• Cultures of collectivity
• Collective communities in film
• Language, translation, bilingualism
• History and duality
• Indigenous cultures
• Religious discourses
• Feminisms
• Border studies
• African American studies
• Afro-Latinx studies
• Queer studies
• Performance studies
• Postcolonial studies
• Cultural studies
Please send proposals of 250 words maximum by April 25, 2026 to Co-Chairs Dr. José M. Medrano [email protected] and Dr. Judit Palencia Gutierrez[email protected]. Participants are welcome to propose papers either in English or Spanish.
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The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
Stay tuned for more information!
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The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
Stay tuned for more information!
Stay tuned for more information!
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Stay tuned for more information!
The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
Stay tuned for more information!
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The Race, Gender, and Subalternity Permanent Section invites paper proposals for the 2026 Midwest Modern Language Association Conference, held November 12–14, 2026, at the Voco Chicago Downtown – Riverwalk in Chicago, Illinois.
This year’s conference theme, “After the Archive,” calls for critical engagement with what comes after, beyond, against, or in excess of the archive—particularly as it relates to race, gender, and subalternity. Archives have long been sites of power: shaping knowledge, legitimizing certain histories, and rendering others invisible, fragmented, or illegible. Yet for marginalized communities, the archive is often incomplete, violent, or inaccessible, demanding alternative modes of memory, narration, and resistance.
We welcome papers that interrogate how race, gender, sexuality, coloniality, and subalternity are shaped by archival absence, excess, refusal, remediation, or reinvention. How do scholars, artists, and communities work after the archive—when the archive fails, silences, or cannot contain lived experience? What new methodologies, ethics, and forms of knowledge emerge in its wake?
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
We encourage submissions from scholars across disciplines, including literature, cultural studies, history, rhetoric, gender and sexuality studies, ethnic studies, media studies, and related fields. Interdisciplinary, experimental, and community-engaged approaches are especially welcome. Please submit a 250–300 word abstract along with a brief bio by April 20, 2026. Additional details regarding submission procedures will follow in accordance with MMLA guidelines. Please submit your abstracts to Dr. Tamara D. Hill at [email protected].
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The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
Stay tuned for more information!
Stay tuned for more information!
The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
The MMLA is in search for a new chair for this permanent section! If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please email your CV and a statement of interest to [email protected].
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