NIU Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language & Media

08/03/2021

Congratulations to
Rachel Kurasz & Heavyn Lester, our new MCLLM coordinators!

03/31/2021

Meg Perret is a PhD candidate at Harvard in History of Science and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies. Her dissertation, "The Future is Species-Queer: Race, Gender & Sexuality in the Sciences of the Biodiversity Crisis," examines the rhetoric, metaphor, and images that scientists use to conceptualize and depict their research on endangered species. She is a board member with Our Climate Voices, an intersectional climate justice activist project, and a researcher with the Harvard GenderSci Lab, an interdisciplinary collaboration between feminist scholars and scientists. She graduated with highest honors from UC Berkeley as a triple major in Integrative Biology; Gender and Women’s Studies; and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Join us at MCLLM this April 2-3 to view Meg's presentation, "'Nature Divided, Scientists United': Imagining Multispecies Futures in the US-Mexico Borderlands." All are welcome!

http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration

03/29/2021

Farzaneh Ebrahimzadeh Holasu, currently a senior master student of English Literature at Urmia University in Iran, is interested in travel literature exploring Western representations of the Middle East, specifically Iran, from the 19th century beginning with the imperialistic/orientalist ideologies up to the recent years. Much of her recent research has focused on exoticism, orientalism, postcolonialism, cosmopolitanism and interdisciplinary approaches to travel writing studies. She concentrates on Persians, their culture, literature, socio-historical studies, women studies, and the impact of gender on intercultural encounters in travel writing.

To see Farzaneh's presentation "Cosmopolitan Inclusivity and Consuming the Difference in Jill Worrall’s Two Wings of a Nightingale: Persian Soul, Islamic Heart," join us at MCLLM 2021 this Friday and Saturday (April 2-3). All are welcome: http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration.

03/28/2021

Ichrak Issaoui is a Ph.D. researcher in American literature at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne. She received her MA with high honors from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities Kairouan and works as a substitute teacher at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne. She has a special interest in the trauma field, and will be sharing her presentation "Unmasking the Past, Writing to Remember" at the 2021 MCLLM this April 2-3. Join us! All are welcome: http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration

03/25/2021

Marietta Kosma, a first-year PhD student in English at the University of Oxford at Lady Margaret Hall, will be sharing her paper “Voicing the Unutterable: Disrupting the Narrative of Abuse through Performing the Act of Ge***al Mutilation in Austin Clarke’s The Polished Hoe" at the 2021 MCLLM (April 2-3).

Marietta's research focuses on the identity construction of black female bodies in transnational neo-slave narratives of the twentieth century. Her research interests lie in twentieth-century American literature and gender studies. She holds a Master in English from JSU and a BA in English from EUC. She has presented a number of papers in conferences and is a contributing writer in Cherwell. She is a peer reviewer for “International Review of Literary Studies” and a book reviewer for “H-Atlantic”.

To learn more about Marietta's work, you can connect with her on twitter via , and join us for her presentation at the 2021 MCLLM: http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration.

03/12/2021

This is the trailer to the documentary film Nandan will be presenting at our conference on April 2-3.

03/12/2021

Today's featured presenter is Dr. Daniele Nunziata, who will be sharing his paper "Cypriot Literature as a Third Space: Narratives between Three Continental Forms" at our conference, April 2-3.

Dr. Daniele Nunziata is a Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Oxford, specialising in postcolonial writing. He is the author of Colonial and Postcolonial Cyprus: Transportal Literatures of Empire, Nationalism, and Sectarianism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). His other research has been published in PMLA, the Journal of Postcolonial Writing, and the Studies in World Literature book series. He is a recurring contributor to Writers Make Worlds and Great Writers Inspire.

Register for our conference to hear and discuss Dr. Nunziata's entire paper (http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration), and connect with him via Twitter: .

03/10/2021

Today's featured presenter is Nandan, who will be sharing his documentary film "Dreaming of Words: The Story of an Unknown Lexicographer" (trailer in comments). Njattyela Sreedharan, a fourth standard drop-out, compiles a dictionary connecting four Dravidian languages. Travelling across four states and doing intensive research, he spent twenty five years making the multilingual dictionary. This unique dictionary offers a comparative study of Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. 'Dreaming of Words' traces Sreedharan's life, work, love for languages and the struggles to get the dictionary published. The film also explores the linguistic and cultural diversity in India.

Nandan is a writer and director from India. He was born in Kerala into a family prominent in the field of arts and literature. It was during his college days that he watched Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' and decided to be a filmmaker. He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering and worked in Bengaluru though his interest was always in the fine arts. Then he moved to Mumbai to follow his passion in filmmaking. There he started his career by working in advertising films. Since then he has worked as an assistant director in several major feature films and many advertising films for various reputed brands. He is known for directing 'Breath' and 'Dreaming of Words'.
https://www.facebook.com/Dreaming-of-Words-105622587675672
https://twitter.com/words_dreaming
https://www.instagram.com/dreamingofwordsfilm/

03/09/2021

Today's featured presenter is Nadine Valcin. Her presentation at the 2021 MCLLM will be "Oh Canada! Our Home and Haunted Land: a Meditation on Space, the Past and the Future."

Nadine Valcin is an award-winning filmmaker and media artist based in Toronto. She is currently an MFA candidate in the Digital Futures program at OCAD University and holds a professional degree in architecture from McGill University.

Nadine is the 2020-21 Archive/Counter Archive artist-in-residence at Library and Archives Canada while also developing an interactive documentary about the future of cities for the National Film Board of Canada. She is the recipient of numerous Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council grants as well as several prizes including the OCAD University Presidential scholarship, two Chalmers Arts Fellowships and a Drama Prize from the National Screen Institute. She has a growing interest in exploring immersive storytelling and the interaction of physical and virtual space through projection mapping, augmented and virtual reality.

You can learn more by visiting: Twitter: , IG: , and by registering at http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration to view and discuss her full presentation.

03/02/2021

We currently have presenters lined up from 8 different countries and 11 different US states! University affiliations include Harvard, Oxford, Brown, and Columbia! In addition to PhD and MA students, we have MFAs, English Instructors, Professors, a Department Chair and a Writing Center Director! It's not too late to join the fun! Presentations will be pre-recorded and you will be able to view and participate at your leisure: http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration

02/09/2021

Registration to attend this spring's MCLLM is now open! Here's the link: http://go.niu.edu/MCLLM21Registration. Our lineup of presenters is truly international in scope this year and the topics (exploring the provocative theme of "Third Space") are sure to offer much food for thought no matter your area of focus. The event will take place ONLINE April 2-3. Regular Registration $50, NIU Faculty $45, Student $35. Dividends from participation? Priceless.

If you experience problems, or for registration questions or changes, please E-mail [email protected] for assistance.

12/04/2020

Best wishes as you wrap up your first semester. After all is settled, don't forget to submit a proposal for MCLLM 2021. We have extended the deadline to January 15th! 🥳