05/13/2026
Call for Papers: Lauren Berlant 3CT Graduate Student Conference
In Case of Emergency: Catastrophe, Climate, and Capitalism
November 5–7, 2026
Keynote speakers: Gökçe Günel and Jason W. Moore
Crisis discourse often privileges spectacular catastrophe while obscuring the slow, uneven, and racialized forms of ecological violence embedded in everyday life. With the sirens blaring, it is easy to lose sight of the material impacts of the ideology of crisis across time and space. We can also miss the ways in which the permanent emergency warps our cultural production and social relations, concealing the most pressing contradictions of capitalism today. How might we map the cartography of crisis? In doing so, might we open space for alternative ways of thinking and living within and against crisis? How do we hold crisis at bay long enough to bring about a “real state of emergency,” as Benjamin says is our task?
We invite proposals from graduate students in the humanities and social sciences, as well as artists, writers, and other practitioners. Our goal is to create space for imagination and speculation with people of varied backgrounds, interests, and praxes. We welcome interdisciplinary scholarship and cultural criticism attentive to the cultural, aesthetic, historical, and political dimensions of crisis.
To apply, submit an abstract (max. 300 words) and a CV by Tuesday, June 30, at 11:59pm CT. View the full Call for Papers and submit a paper proposal at https://ccct.uchicago.edu/news/call-for-papers-2026-lauren-berlant-3ct-graduate-student-conference/
This conference is organized by Aditi Kini, Tadhg Larabee, Ernest Lee, and Yolian Ogbu in collaboration with the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory, and with support from the Committee on Environment, Geography, and Urbanization.
