Call for Papers – “We Hold These Truths”? 250 Years Later 🗓

Call for Papers – “We Hold These Truths”? 250 Years Later 🗓

Call for Papers, Conferences, News

Call for Papers

We Hold These Truths’? 250 Years Later

Student Conference (June 19-20, 2026)

 

We are pleased to announce the upcoming student conference “‘We Hold These Truths’? 250 Years Later,“ hosted by graduate students of the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies.

  • Dates: The conference will take place on June 19 and 20, 2026.
  • Theme: The conference seeks to discuss possible tensions between democratic ideals and political realities, past and present, in light of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
  • Scope: We welcome contributions from across the humanities and social sciences, and from any field engaged with questions of democracy, culture, and power.
  • Submission Deadline: Please submit abstracts (300 words) to conference organizer Paulina Schlosser (pschloss@students.uni-mainz.de) by February 28, 2026.

Please find the complete Call for Papers below or download it here for further details about the event.

May 22-24 – Conference: Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature 🗓

May 22-24 – Conference: Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature 🗓

Conferences, News

Conference

Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature 

May 22-24, 2025

Fakultätssaal, Philosophicum I (Jakob-Welder-Weg 18)

Organized by Berenike Jakob, Carolin Jesussek, and Franziska Rauh 
 
We are delighted to invite you to the conference “Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature” from May 22-24 at Mainz University. 
 
The conference focuses on the motif of metamorphosis in contemporary literature, with a particular focus on posthumanism, ecocriticism, and (queer) feminism. In addition to paper sessions, the program features a reading and craft talk by Anelise Chen, author and Assistant Professor of Fiction at the Columbia University School of the Arts. On Friday, May 23rd at 6:30 p.m., she will read from her forthcoming hybrid memoir, Clam Down.

Those interested are welcome to attend the conference and the reading. The full program can be found on the conference website.

 
The conference is a collaborative project between the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies and English Literature and Culture at the Department of English and Linguistics, as well as General and Comparative Literature at the Gutenberg Institute for World Literature and Written Media. It is organized by doctoral candidates from the three participating departments: Franziska Rauh (General and Comparative Literature), Berenike Jakob (English Literature and Culture), and Carolin Jesussek (American Studies).
 
You can contact the organizers at metamorphoses@uni-mainz.de.

You can download the poster for the event here.

 
Jan 16-17 – Student Conference: Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture 🗓

Jan 16-17 – Student Conference: Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture 🗓

Conferences, News

Student Conference

Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture

Jan 16-17, 2025

Fakultätssaal (room 01-185), Philosophicum (Jakob-Welder-Weg 18)

Organized by Jill Reuter, Ayishat Aluko, and Samira Schwarz at the Obama Institute

We are delighted to welcome you to Mainz in January for the “Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture” student conference, organized by M.A. students Jill Reuter, Ayishat Aluko, and Samira Schwarz. Eight students in all phases of their studies will discuss various papers regarding disabilities and ableism. Please find the program below and here. We look forward to expanding the discussion on disabilities and ableism and invite students and researchers from all fields to join.

This conference is organized by Ayishat Aluko, Jill Reuter, and Samira Schwarz, who are all M.A. students of American Studies at JGU’s Obama Institute. The conference is funded by the Gutenberg Lehrkolleg and the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies.

For further details, please take a closer look at the conference program.

For further information or questions, please contact Ayishat Aluko (she/her).

Call for Papers – Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature 🗓

Call for Papers – Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature 🗓

Call for Papers, Conferences, News

Call for Papers

Metamorphoses in Contemporary Literature

May 22-25, 2025, JGU Mainz


The conference’s focus is on contemporary tales of metamorphosis. We are especially interested in human to non-human transformations from (queer)feminist, ecocritical, posthuman, and new materialist perspectives to explore the functions that metamorphoses fulfill in literary texts as well as the literary techniques applied in telling stories of transformation.
This conference seeks to open up discussions about literary metamorphoses and to highlight academic work that is dedicated to contemporary literary studies, comparative literature, rewritings of classical myths, and topics of human/non-human transformation. We aim to provide a platform for early career researchers in particular.
In addition to our panels, we are also delighted to welcome Anelise Chen, author of the upcoming hybrid memoir Clam Down (June 2025, Penguin House) and assistant professor of fiction and director of undergraduate studies in creative writing at the Columbia University School of the Arts, for both a reading from her forthcoming novel and as host of our PhD networking event in form of a creative writing workshop on May 22nd.

For further details, please take a closer look at the Call for Papers.

Proposals of no more than 300 words should be submitted along with a short biography to the conference organizers Berenike Jakob, Carolin Jesussek, and Franziska Rauh (metamorphoses@uni-mainz.de) by January 31st. If you are a PhD student interested in joining us for the writing workshop with Anelise Chen (May 22nd), please indicate so when submitting your abstract.

Call for Papers – Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture 🗓

Call for Papers – Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture 🗓

Call for Papers, Conferences, News

Call for Papers

Being (In)Visible: Representations of Disability and Ableism in Popular Culture

Student Conference (Jan 16-17, 2025)

This conference will be organized by Ayishat Aluko, Jill Reuter, and Samira Schwarz, who are all M.A. students of American Studies at JGU’s Obama Institute. The conference is funded by the Gutenberg Lehrkolleg and the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies. The organizers invite contributions from Master’s students, early stage PhD students and advanced Bachelor’s students of all fields related to disability studies.

For further details, please take a closer look at the Call for Papers.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted along with a 100-word biography to disabilities.studentconference@gmail.com by 15 September 2024. Selected participants can expect to be notified by the end of September 2024.

For further information or questions please contact Ayishat Aluko (she/her).

June 19-22 – Conference: The Indian Citizenship Act at 100: Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Futures 🗓

June 19-22 – Conference: The Indian Citizenship Act at 100: Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Futures 🗓

Conferences, Events, News

The Indian Citizenship Act at 100:
Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Futures

Conference

June 19-22, 2024
University of Bordeaux-Montaigne, France

Together with the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne, the Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the Obama Institute is hosting an international conference on the centenary of the Indian Citizenship Act in Bordeaux, France.

Current and former members of the Obama Institute will chair panels and present papers amongst a large group of internationally renowned Indigenous Studies scholars. Check out and download the complete program here or visit the conference web page here.

If you would like to find out more about the event or specific conference content, please contact Prof. Dr. Oliver Scheiding or Frank Newton.