Delta Symposium XXIX: Talking About the Weather
Call for Presentations
The Department of English, Philosophy, and World Languages at Arkansas State University opens a call for papers and presentations for the twenty-ninth annual Delta Symposium April 3-6, 2024. The Delta Symposium features a wide variety of scholarship and creative work that focuses on the Delta’s history and culture. Individual and panel presentations on topics relevant to the history and culture of the Arkansas and Mississippi Deltas and surrounding regions are welcome. Although the event will be held in-person at the university, there will also be options for on-line presentations for those who cannot attend in person.
Special consideration will be given to proposals that specifically address this year's theme of “Talking About the Weather.” How do beliefs about the weather influence culture and history? How are those in a range of disciplines engaged with consequences of climate change? How is weather a presence in song lyrics and poetry?
This year’s theme also is connected to the 2024 Great American Eclipse which will occur in following week. The symposium will include presentations on weather and climate by researchers from a range of disciplines and professions. Presentations will include consideration of how weather is relevant to fiction and non-fiction writing within fields that include literature, history, music, architecture, arts, and other forms of expression. The theme will provide opportunities to connect with researchers, writers, and artists from fields as diverse as meteorology, climatology, and related disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
The coordinating committee is especially interested in proposals that explore how weather and climate are directly addressed in a range of fields that have contributed to past symposia. These areas have included literary criticism, cultural studies, history, anthropology, folklore, ethnomusicology, sociology, speech communication, arts and art history, and heritage studies. Although proposals that have direct connections to Arkansas and the Delta are especially welcome, more general proposals that address the theme within Southern history, culture, and heritage will be considered. The 2024 event will conclude on Saturday with the Arkansas Roots Music Festival through continued support from KASU 91.9 FM and A-State’s Heritage Sites
The deadline for entries is December 18, 2023. Each entry should consist of the following: presenter’s name and affiliation and a 150-word abstract of the presentation as well as a current Vita (2 pages max). Please include your address, phone number, e-mail address, and the technical needs for your presentation.
Delta Symposium Committee
c/o Dr. Gregory Hansen, Chair
Arkansas State University
Dept. of English, Philosophy and World Languages
P.O. Box 1890
State University, AR 72467
ghansen@AState.edu
Phone: (870) 972-3043
Fax: (870) 972-3045
Visit us on the web at AState.edu/delta-symposium
