CALL FOR PAPERS
35th Annual Meeting
International Society for Contemporary Legend Research
Tuesday, June 6 – Saturday June 10, 2017
Lafayette, Louisiana
The International Society for Contemporary Legend Research is pleased to announce that the 35th Perspectives on Contemporary Legend Conference will be held June 6 to 10, 2017 in Lafayette, Louisiana. As usual, the meeting will be organized as a series of seminars at which the majority of attendees will present papers. Concurrent sessions will be avoided so that all attendees can hear all papers. Proposals for special panels, discussion sessions, and other related events are encouraged. Paper presentations will include both 15-minute papers (with an additional 5 minutes for discussion) and 30-minute papers (with an additional 10 minutes of discussion).
Proposals for papers on all aspects of legend research are sought, as are those on any legend-like tradition that circulates actively at present or has circulated at an earlier historical period. Proposals should specify whether the abstract is for a 15 minute paper or a 30 minute paper.
To submit a proposal, please forward a title and abstract (250-300 words) by 1 February 2017 to conference organizers Carolyn Ware and John Laudun:
Carolyn Ware, Department of English, 260 Allen Hall, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 or cware1@lsu.edu.
John Laudun, Department of English, H.H Griffin Hall, Room 221, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504 or laudun@louisiana.edu.
About the Host City
Lafayette is the fourth-largest city in Louisiana with a population of about 120,000 people, and is often known as the “heart of Cajun and Creole country.” Renowned for its cuisine and folk cultural entertainments, it is also home to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which has long focused on the documentation and study of the region’s many folk cultures — in addition to the Cajuns, the region also has deep roots in African American, German, and Italian folk cultures. The city is a regional hub for oil and petroleum industry as well as the gateway to the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest wetland and swamp in the United States.
The conference plans at least one day, probably the Saturday, for an excursion. Details on the excursion, hotels, and other pertinent matters will be provided in further announcements and on ISCLR’s website: http://contemporarylegend.org.
Getting to Lafayette
The closest airport is the Lafayette Regional Airport, located 2 miles (4 km) southeast of Lafayette. Although the Lafayette Regional Airport does not offer international flights, it does have service to three hubs: Atlanta (ATL), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), and Houston International airport (IAH). The airport’s main carriers are American, Delta, and United Airlines. Downtown Lafayette is a short taxicab trip away.
The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, about 50 miles east of Lafayette, is a somewhat larger public airport with carriers Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Like the Lafayette Regional Airport, it does not offer international flights, but has service to Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Houston International airport. There is no rail service from Baton Rouge to Lafayette, so a rental car is the most practical way to get from Baton Rouge to Lafayette.
Louisiana’s largest airport is the Louis Armstrong International Airport in Jefferson Parish, bordering New Orleans. Its carriers include Air Canada, Delta, American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, AreoMexico, and Jet Blue. This airport is located about 135 miles southeast of Lafayette, and although it is a straight drive on I-10 to Lafayette (estimated drive time of two and a half hours), a car rental would probably be necessary as there is no commuter rail service or frequent bus service between the cities.
Perspectives on Contemporary Legend
Perspectives on Contemporary Legend, the Meeting of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, is held annually, historically alternating between North America in odd-numbered years and Europe in even. It is a small, convivial conference of scholars working on this dynamic field of inquiry. Watch this space for the first circular for our 2015 meeting, being held in San Antonio, Texas, May 26-30.
Upcoming meetings
- 2018: Brussels, Belgium
- 2019 Memphis, Tennessee, USA
- 2020 Tarragona, Spain
Past meetings
- 2016: Tallinn, Estonia
- 2015, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- 2014, Prague, Czech Republic
- 2013, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
- 2012, Göttingen, Germany
- 2011, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
- 2010, Amsterdam, Holland
- 2009, Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada
- 2008, Dublin, Ireland
- 2007, Logan, Utah, USA
- 2006, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2005, Athens, Georgia, USA
- 2004, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK
- 2003, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada
- 2002, Sheffield, UK
- 2001, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- 2000, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
