Current CFP:

IUP Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative

Call for Presentations

2026 Summer Lecture Series: 

“Dead or Alive: Myths of Life & the Afterlife”

The IUP Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative invites 250-300 word abstracts for presentations on our 2026 Summer Lecture Series Theme – “Dead or Alive: Myths of Life & the Afterlife.” The summer lecture series will be held via Zoom. The Summer Lecture Series will begin Friday, June 12th (4-5pm EST) and will occur virtually, roughly every two weeks through the summer.

In “Dead or Alive,” Adam Phillips poses questions about what we sacrifice to feel alive, how we recognize that feeling, and whether it can be sustained, prompting reflection on the tension between habits that deaden us and experiences that make us feel vividly alive. Myth operates within this same tension: it both enlivens and constrains, offering shared forms and rituals that create meaning and community while also risking conformity and the suppression of individuality. As a cultural force, myth can function as a “habitual tactic” that dulls us even as it transmits values, raising the question of when storytelling’s vitality turns into restrictive generalization.  Ultimately, myths about life and death help us to navigate our common fate with our individual path towards it, especially in acts of reading and writing, where we may feel either most animated or most diminished.

Please send 250-300 word abstracts for approximately 30 minute presentations that respond in some way to the lecture series theme and the questions it generates. Send to Dr. Sean McDaniel, Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative Director, at mcdaniel@iup.edu and/or the Associate Director, Kristin Mlay-Kuhns, at dckfc@iup.edu by Friday, May 15th. Responses to submissions will be sent not later than Friday, May 29th. 

The Dessy-Roffman Myth Collaborative is a dynamic, cross-disciplinary resource dedicated to the study of myth in its many forms—literary, visual, musical, and performative. We foster dialogue across languages, cultures, and historical periods, supporting innovative research, teaching, and creative projects.

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