CFP and Opportunities

Organized by the Czech and Slovak Association for American Studies and the Department of English and American Studies at Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic

Renewal, Revival, and Renaissance

May 22-23, 2026

Deadline: Please send your abstract (500 words) and bio (200 words) to colloquium.olomouc@upol.cz by December 1st, 2026.

The idea of “Renewal, Revival, and Renaissance” touches not only on recently reopened conversations on civil rights in movements such as Black Lives Matters, but also on the current fascination with remakes of sometimes even problematic intellectual property such as the Lovecraftian universe or the digital amalgamation of existing images and literatures into AI art. New scholarship on these phenomena can be seen in, for example Victorian literature scholar Jamil Mustafa’s book The Blaxploitation Horror Film: Adaptation, Appropriation and the Gothic (University of Wales Press, 2023) which sheds new light on how this film genre revived Gothic fiction. Historian Susan Stryker has mapped developments in transgener history from early movements to its most recent renaissance in Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution (2017). Even the concept of rebooting and renewing has seen its own revivals with, for example, literary theorist Julie Sanders redefining debates about adapation in the last decade since her book Adaptation and Appropriation (first published in 2005). Even long-past works stand to be reread, as argued by Chris Murray and Kevin Corstorphine in their study “Co(s)mic Horror” (2013), which show how mediums such as comics and graphic novels can reread, re-examine, and renew older source materials.
This colloquium welcomes scholars at all levels, from the professorial desk to graduate students, in the fields of American literature, culture, history, and philology in general to contribute their original research. There is also a place for those working with New Media, digital cultures, and the frontiers of intermediatlity, who will find a home in the discussion of how our current era recycles or reifies the past. The aim of this colloquium is also to generate deeper reflection on how how renewal and revival happen in the modern world, especially with issues like migration, racial justice, and technology.
Possible topics can include, but are not limited to:

● The Harlem Renaissance revisited
● Rebooting American classics
● Social media posts as renewal of creative writing
● Medial Migrations of H. P. Lovecraft and his Followers (or of fantastic literature in general)
● Revival of Marginalized Voices in American Culture
● Cultural Changes in Post-COVID America
● The Role of Technology in Modern American Art and Literature
● Trans-mediality as a venue of revival
● Revival - A Good or A Bad Word?
● Recreating Historical Events Through Digital Media
● Simulating Prehistory/History in a Contemporary Context
● Recycling in culture and the culture of recycling
● Reclaiming “the old”

The organizing committee also welcomes other interpretations and proposals on the theme. Proposals for panels, individual papers, or posters are invited. This colloquium will take place in person at Palacky University, Olomouc, and offers both traditional conference sessions as well as networking, mentoring, and socializing opportunities. This colloquium will offer special activities specifically for the benefit of graduate students and PhD candidates. We are not able to offer hybrid or virtual hosting options at this time.

Please send your abstract (maximum 500 words, short bibliography, 4-7 keywords), a short bio (maximum 200 words).

For panel proposals, in addition to the above for each paper, please include a shortdescription (maximum 200 words) of the panel theme and identify one author to be the main correspondent.
Please send all materials to: colloquium.olomouc@upol.cz by December 1st, 2025.

NOTA BENE: This colloquium will follow up on a one-week BIP Erasmus+ Workshop on academic writing (traditional texts, multimodal composition, and public science communication), with partners Comenius University, Bratislava, and the University of Graz. The workshop will be held from May 18-22, 2026, culminating in the opportunity to give a conference presentation or poster at the colloquium, and registered workshop participants will receive 3 ECT credits. You can see the 2023 version of the workshop by going to the https://www.historyincomics.org/conferences-and-workshops/ website. If you are a student interested in participating in the workshop through Erasmus+, please email elizabethallyn.woock@upol.cz for more information.