Host Institution: McGill University Convention Staff Executive Director: Elizabeth Abele SUNY Nassau Community College Executive Assistant: Johanna Rossi Wagner Rutgers University Chair Coordinator: Kristin LeVeness SUNY Nassau Community College Media Coordinator: Jennifer Harris Mount Allison University Local Liaison: Kelly MacPhail Université de Montréal Registration Kathryn Radford McGill University Graduate Fellows Program Editor: Elizabeth Foley O’Connor Fordham University Webmasters: Michael Cadwallader University of North Carolina Zachary Hutchins University of North Carolina Media Assistant: Clare Callahan Duke University Special Events Assistant: Lauren Rosenblum SUNY Stony Brook Editorial Assistant: Christy Wenger Lehigh University Awards Assistant: Jill Blackstone Boston University 3 Publications Assistant: Anna Strowe University of Massachusetts Travel Grant Assistant: Deena Levy Rutgers University Research Assistant: Marie Blackman University of Massachusetts Exhibitor Assistant: Pat Nugent Brooklyn College - CUNY Printing: Thomas Conigliaro Printing Supervisor SUNY Nassau Community College Design: Michael O’Connor conchobar.org Upcoming NeMLA Conventions 2011 April 6-10 New Brunswick, New Jersey Host: Rutgers University 2012 March 15-18 Rochester, New York Host: St. John Fisher College 2013 March 21-24 Boston, Massachusetts 4 Letter from the President Dear NeMLA Members: Bienvenue à Montréal! As a multilingual, multicultural conference, it is most appropriate that Montréal should be the location of not only our largest conference but also our conference with the broadest distribution of the modern languages. Set in two architecturally remarkable hotels, above the city’s underground network and Metro, we hope you will be able to experience some of the varied richness of our host city. In addition to Montréal specific sessions during the convention, we have also set up local events to assist you in exploring this rich and varied city, including architectural walking tours and guidebooks by local authority Nancy Dunton. The campus of our host institution, McGill University, is also a close walk away, with beautiful buildings and cultural resources for you. On Saturday afternoon, there will be a reading of Montréal writers, co-sponsored by our journal MLS. Professor Alan Liu’s keynote address, “From Reading to Social Computing”, and his research interests on information culture, cultural studies, technol- ogy, and new media will be complemented throughout the conference by presentations within NeMLA’s newly combined area “Cultural Studies & Film.” Among the highlights of this convention is a preview exhibit “Graph- ic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women.” This complements the Cultural Studies and Film Area’s speaker Mariko Tamaki and sessions on graphic novels. Not only is NeMLA committed to developing the Cultural Studies & Film and World Literatures (non-European) sessions, but NeMLA is asking for members’ discussion about the further development of the organization: the American/British area invites Anglophone scholars for a reception/meeting to discuss the organization of sessions on English lan- guage literatures; and the Diversity Committee is looking at strategies to assure that our membership reflects the profession. Your input is invited. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are delighted that you are here with us. Enjoy—and we hope to see you in New Brunswick, New Jersey for NeMLA 2011. Regards, Barbara Mabee Elizabeth Abele President, NeMLA Executive Director, NeMLA Oakland University SUNY Nassau Community College 5 Board of Directors (2009-10) President Spanish Languages and Barbara Mabee Literatures Director Oakland University Monica Leoni University of Waterloo Past President Rita Bode Italian Languages and Trent University Literatures Director Daniela Bisello Antonucci First Vice President Princeton University Simona Wright The College of New Jersey Cultural Studies and Film Director Jennifer Harris Second Vice President Mount Allison University William Waddell St. John Fisher College Graduate Caucus Representative Grace Wetzel American/British University of South Carolina Literatures Director Andrew Schopp Women’s Caucus Representative SUNY Nassau Community College Sophie Lavin SUNY Stony Brook American/British Literatures Director CAITY Caucus Representative Cecilia Feilla Elizabeth Anderman Marymount Manhattan College University of Colorado-Boulder Comparative Languages and LGBTQ Caucus Representative Literatures Director Paolo Pucci Elaine Savory University of Vermont New School University Editor of Modern Language Studies French Languages and Laurence Roth Literatures Director Susquehenna University Natalie Edwards Wagner College German Languages and Literatures Director Birgit Tautz Bowdoin College 6 Thursday, April 8 All events are at the Hilton Bonaventure unless otherwise specified. 12:00 - 6:00PM Registration 1:30 - 2:30PM Leon Edel Returns to McGill This tour of McGill’s holdings and lecture exploring the papers of Henry James biographer and McGill graduate Leon Edel will be held in Rare Books and Special Collections at the McGill University Library. 2:15 - 4:15PM Track 1: Seminars 4:30 - 6:00PM Track 2 sessions 6:00-6:20PM Graduate Caucus Informational Meeting Registration Area Women’s Caucus Meet and Greet Hilton Lobby 6:30PM Reading and Welcoming Reception, Gail Scott Wine and cheese served CafCon, Marriott Montreal Champlain 8:15 PM Graduate Caucus Welcome Dinner Carlos & Pepes, 1420 Rue Peel Friday, April 9 8:00AM - 5:00PM Registration 8:00AM - 5:00PM Book Exhibit “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women,” co-curated by Michael Kaminer and Sarah Lightman, University of Glasgow; exhibit text written by Ranen Omer-Sherman, University of Miami Fontaine B 8:00 - 9:00AM Continental breakfast served Fontaine B 8:30 - 9:45 AM Track 3 sessions 10:00 - 11:30AM Track 4 sessions 7 11:45AM - 1:15PM Track 5 sessions 1:00 - 2:00PM Afternoon snack Fontaine B 1:30PM - 2:45PM Track 6 sessions 3:00PM - 4:30PM Track 7 sessions 4:45PM - 6:15PM Track 8 sessions CAITY Business Meeting and Reception Le Portage Diversity Committee Forum St. Laurent 6:15PM-6:45PM Women’s Caucus Business Meeting Lasalle 6:45PM Keynote Address “From Reading to Social Computing” Alan Liu, UC Santa Barbara Sponsored by McGill University Westmount 7:45PM - 9:00PM Keynote Reception Hors d’oeuvres buffet Le Portage 8:00PM LGBTQ Business Meeting and Reception Irish Embassy Pub Saturday, April 10 8:00AM - 5:00PM Registration 8:00AM - 5:00PM Book Exhibit “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women,” co-curated by Michael Kaminer and Sarah Lightman, University of Glasgow; exhibit text written by Ranen Omer-Sherman, University of Miami Fontaine B 8 8:00 - 9:00AM Continental breakfast Fontaine B 8:30 - 10:00AM Track 9 sessions 10:15 - 11:30AM Track 10 sessions 11:30AM - 12:00PM Afternoon snack Fontaine B 11:45AM - 1:15PM Track 11 sessions and special events Spanish Language Area Special Event Fontaine C “Teatro contemporáneo español visto desde EE.UU.: José Ramón Fernández” Sponsored by the Ministerio de Cultura d’España Chair: Enrique Ruiz-Fornells, University of Alabama Panelists: John Gabriele, The College of Wooster Linda Materna, Rider University Response: José Ramón Fernández Popular Culture Area Special Event Lasalle “Queer Content in Context” Mariko Tamaki Co-Sponsored by the LGBTQ Caucus Post-Colonial Theory Featured Speaker Verdun “The Incredible Disappearing Slave: Slavery and Visibility in Nineteenth-century Jamaican Landscapes“ Charmaine Nelson, McGill University 1:30PM – 3:00PM Track 12 sessions 3:15 PM - 4:45PM Track 13 sessions 5:00 PM - 6:15PM Track 14 sessions 4:30PM - 6:30PM Montreal Writers Reading Irish Embassy Pub Appetizers served 9 6:30PM - 7:45PM Track 15: Section events and receptions German Language Area Event and Reception Cote-St. Luc Reading from Fremdschläfer and other recent works Verena Stefan Speaker sponsored by the Swiss Consulate Italian Language Area Business Meeting St. Lambert Reception to follow at the Montreal Italian Cultural Institute Women’s Caucus Speaker and Reception Mont-Royal “America Is Also a Québec Novel” Madeleine Monette Reception and Business Meeting for Anglophone Literatures Verdun Sponsored by American / British Literatures Area Members will discuss the status and organization of Anglophone literatures at NeMLA 7:30PM Popular Culture Screening Verdun Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun Co-Sponsored by American Literatures Area and the Diversity Committee 8:00PM Graduate Caucus Reception McLean’s Pub, 1210 Rue Peel French Language Area Sponsored Event Theatre L’Espace Go: Les Saisons (Acteva Reservations Required) 4890, boulevard Saint-Laurent Meet in the Theatre bar for a hosted glass of wine Spanish Language Area Sponsored Event La Otra Orilla (Flamenco) (Acteva Reservations Required) La Place des Artes, 175, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest 10 Sunday, April 11 8:00 - 10:30AM Registration and Coffee 8:30 - 10:30AM Track 16 sessions 10:45AM - 12:15PM Track 17 sessions 12:30PM - 1:30PM Closing Brunch and Membership Meeting Le Portage 11 SUBJECT INDEX TO SESSIONS American Literatures The Adoption Memoir 3.08 African American Autobiography & the Archives: Teaching Students to Be Scholars 7.21 ‘Ah Got De Law in My Mouth’: Black Women Writing Justice 5.20 The American Aesthetic of Marilynne Robinson 4.10 American Collaborations 11.16 American Drama as Political Discourse 12.25 CAITY Reception and Business Meeting 8.24 Capital in Crisis 14.23 The Changing