Ecologies, Creativities, and Materials

“water has a syntax / a middle voice”  

                                                     - Rita Wong, “Pacific Flow,” Undercurrent

Currents and flows possess material histories and possibilities as they gain expression and traction through figurative language and other signifying forms. River currents. Electrical currents. Air currents with wildfire smoke. Ocean currents. Shipping channels. Ports of call. Finance flows. Pipeline flows. Speculative markets. Speculative fictions. Historical undercurrents. Climate thresholds in current affairs. Toxic flows through watersheds. Narrative streams. Poetic circuits. We invite submissions that explore the environmental humanities, literature, creative writing, and the environmental arts from any perspective. Submissions that engage with these priority areas are encouraged:

• Watersheds
• Blue Humanities 
• Globalization Studies 
• Settler-Colonial Studies 
• Disability Studies
• Anti-Racism and Decolonization Activism and Pedagogy
• Energy Studies
• Critical Animal and Plant Studies
• Diaspora and Migration Studies
• Urban Studies
• Media Studies

• Register Now

Stage 1: Deadline December 1st (NEW extended deadline)

• Please submit open calls for participants for panels, roundtables, workshops, or reading groups on proposed conference topics to the discussion boards at the conference website. Anyone may post a topic suggestion/open call by December 1st (NEW extended deadline).
• We have created four discussion boards: one for scholarship, one for pedagogy, one for creative writing and arts, and one for professional concerns (including anti-racism, equity, accessibility, graduate students, public humanities, etc.).
• An open call is strongly encouraged for anyone wishing to submit a fully formed panel for conference acceptance. 
• The discussion boards will allow posts and conversation to develop on the topic so that participants may shape a panel through collaboration. Proposals for those panels should be formally submitted to topic organizers directly, not to the discussion board (see Stage 2). 
• The topic organizer(s) will select the most relevant proposals and participants, and let everyone who proposed to their topic know whether or not they have been selected. Organizers may propose two-part or three-part panels if they attract a high level of interest. Organizers are strongly encouraged to include graduate students along with established academics on the same panel.
• Participants may present in up to two panels (of any format or type).
• For any unconventional approaches or book launches, please email conference@alecc.ca. 

• Discussions

Stage 2: Deadline December 10th

• Panel participants submit their proposals individually to the conference website by December 10th.
• Panel organizers should submit their panel abstract and list of participants by email to conference@alecc.ca by December 10th.
• Individual submissions will also be accepted at this time. These can be in any of the four categories (scholarship, creative writing and arts, pedagogy, and professional concerns).
• Submissions in English or French will be accepted. 
• Proposals should indicate clearly the nature of the session and all requests for audio-visual equipment and any other specific needs (e.g., space, moveable chairs, outdoor location, etc.). 
• We ask that panel organizers attempt to include a diversity of participants.
• ALECC conference committee members will peer review panels and organize the program. They will send acceptance notifications by February 15th.

• Submissions

For more information about the Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada / Association pour la littérature, l'environnement et la culture au Canada, please visit our website at https://alecc.ca/. All presenters must be paid members of the organization or an affiliate by the date of the conference.

Should it not be possible to hold the conference in person due to the public health situation, it will be cancelled.

General queries for the organizing committee may be sent to conference@alecc.ca.

• Joanne Leow, University of Saskatchewan
• Jennifer Schell, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
• Cheryl Lousley, Lakehead University Orillia 
• Kaitlin Blanchard, McMaster University
• Jenna Hunnef, University of Saskatchewan
• Rachel W Jekanowski, Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Rina Garcia Chua, University of British Columbia Okanagan
• Lisa Szabo-Jones, John Abbott College

 

Graduate Research Assistants

• Mabiana Camargo
• Alyson Cook
• Cara Schwartz
• Sheheryar Sheikh
• Megan Solberg