The graduate students of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC) at the University of Maryland, College Park, invite submissions for our biennial graduate student hybrid conference, Cultivating Joy: Affect, Capacity, and Radical (Im)possibilities. In response to an unfortunate history of a “joy deficit” across academic studies (Shuster and Westbrook), and inspired by transnational movements of scholars, artists, and activists, this conference explores narratives, practices, and affective experiences of joy precisely where it is presumed impossible. We understand joy not through a single canon, but as a vibrant, multivocal framework for political, social, and academic transformation.

Grounded in relational ethics, joy marks “the experience of enhancement that occurs when bodies are brought closer to their capacities, through positive relations with others” (White et al.). We want to be attuned to this exact capacity, drawing on the emerging field of critical joy studies, with its focus on “joy’s disruption of economies of exploitation and dispossession” (Soares). As Carla Bergman and Nick Montgomery argue, confronting systemic violence demands a “joyful militancy” that brings together “fierceness and love, resistance and care, combativeness and nurturance.” Rather than prescribing a fixed ideal, we are interested in the processes through which people become more alive, capable, and powerful together. In this spirit, we invite participants to consider the role joy might play in their fields and professional lives, as well as how higher education might pursue a “move towards a pedagogy of joy” (White et al.).

We invite individual papers and panels from across literary and cultural studies, film and media studies, digital humanities, creative arts, linguistics, second language acquisition (SLA), translation studies, and related fields.

We welcome submissions that engage with, but are not limited to, the following lines of inquiry :

Political Transformation and Resistance

• How, when, and where does joy become a form of resistance, survival (survivance) or refusal in contexts of oppression, violence, or political crisis?

• What affective practices emerge when joy is positioned at the center of political transformation?

• How do these affective practices intersect with socioeconomic flows and normalized constructions of race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, and ecology?

Pedagogy, Worldmaking, and SLA

• How can a “pedagogy of joy” reframe language acquisition, classroom dynamics, and curriculum design?

• In what ways do multilingualism, translation, and linguistic identity open up generative possibilities for cultivating joy?

• How does centering joy in educational spaces transform student agency, identity, and perspectives on the future?

Form, Aesthetics, and Experimentation

• How can literature, art, performance, and digital media construct spaces to express, cultivate, share, or imagine joy?

• How can narrative, linguistic, and artistic mediums channel unconventional or subversive manifestations of joy?

• Beyond an abstract idea, how can joy operate as a strategic practice, an aesthetic form, or a way of being in the world?

• How does joy help us imagine alternative ways of living, relating, remembering, or building collective futures?

Ethics, Contexts, and Power

• Whose joy is visible and valued in academic and social spheres, and what power dynamics dictate these distinctions?

• How do historical, cultural, geographic, and social contexts influence how joy is experienced?

• How can researchers and practitioners occupying epistemological positions of power analyze joy ethically and non-extractively?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Individual Abstract Length: Abstracts should be 250-300 words for a 15–20 minute presentation, accompanied by a short author bio (50–100 words).

Panel Proposals: Panel submissions should represent a cohesive 75–90 minute session consisting of 3–4 papers.

• Panel title and a 150–200-word panel rationale explaining the session’s thematic cohesion and overarching contribution to the conference theme.

• Individual abstracts (250–300 words) and author bios (50–100 words) for all presenters.

• Designation of a Panel Chair and/or Respondent (optional; if left unassigned, the organizing committee will assign a chair).

Review Process: All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review by a selection committee of SLLC graduate faculty and peer reviewers.

• Individual Abstracts are evaluated on:

 Thematic Relevance: Engagement with critical joy, relational ethics, or the conference lines of inquiry.

 Argument & Clarity: A well-defined central thesis and accessible structure.

 Theoretical / Methodological Rigor: Appropriate grounding in critical, literary, linguistic, or cultural frameworks.

 Originality & Scope: Innovative perspective and suitability for a 15–20 minute presentation.

• Panel Proposals are evaluated on the strength of individual abstracts as well as session cohesion, inter-paper dialogue, and thematic integration.