Current Comparative Literature Conference
The 59th Annual Comparative World Literature Conference
Ecocriticism and Popular Culture: Cool Trends in a Warming Climate
Keynote: Kaniehtiio Horn
Submit an abstract (closes March 1, 2025)
Special thanks to our co-sponsors and artists
Venue: California State University, Long Beach
Dates: 23-25 April 2025
Modality: Hybrid, 23rd-24th in-person and 25th on Zoom
*note: All sessions will be available on Zoom regardless of modality.
Sustainability
We want to encourage conference participants to bring personal water bottles to refill at one of the many water stations around the conference venue.
Theme
Jaws made us terrified of the ocean. Star Trek made us dream of space exploration and a post-scarcity world. The shows we watch and the video games we play portray a variety of apocalypses while some deny the science of climate change. At the same time, social media encourages rampant consumerism even as #deinfluencing (a movement arguing against consumerism) trends on TikTok.
Popular culture—broadly conceived as the widely-accessible literature, films, television shows, video games, music, visual arts, and discourse on social media platforms that we spend so much time “consuming”—has long had a tricky relationship with the environment, sustainability, and climate change.
This conference will explore the relationship between pop culture and the environment. We welcome pessimistic and optimistic interpretations of the topic: thinking ecologically can open up possibilities of true social change, but ecocritical readings of texts may also reveal precisely how much change is needed. Given the prevalence of popular culture in our current cultural environment, this is a encompassing topic, and we encourage cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches.
Keynote
"Seed Keeping as Language Growing: Land, Language, and Indigenous Representation in Pop Culture"
A Talk with Kaniehtiio Horn
For this year's conference we would like to welcome Kaniehtiio Horn. She is a Mohawk Canadian actress, director, and activist most known for her roles as Tanis on Letterkenny and The Deer Lady on Reservation Dogs. She was a panelist on Canada Reads in 2020, where she defended indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson’s novel Son of a Trickster. Her directorial debut is the film Seeds (showing at the Toronto Film Festival 2024), a horror / comedy about protecting heirloom seeds. Horn’s work explores the intersection of Indigenous spaces and storytelling, focusing particularly on environmental issues. Her talk will be on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 2 pm in the Anatol Center: “Seed keeping as language growing: land, language, and indigenous representation in pop culture.”
For more information about Kaniehtiio Horn, please visit her IMDB, Instagram, or her podcast.
Special film screening! We will screen a showing of Horn's 2024 film Seeds on Wednesday night of the conference, in anticipation of her talk on Thursday. Popcorn provided!
Program
Attendee Information
Location
The Karl Anatol Center is located on the 1st floor of the Academic Services Building, in-between the Macintosh Humanities Building (MHB) and the University Library (LIB) on the south end of campus just off 7th Street.
- The Original Conference Room is located INSIDE the Academic Services Building (AS), room 119.
- The Patio Conference Center is located OUTSIDE the Academic Services Building (AS), room 121.
Accessibility
For students: To request disability-related accommodations, complete the Bob Murphy Access Center Event Request Form.
For faculty and staff: If you are needing a reasonable accommodation based on a disability or medical restriction to access this program, please contact Staff Human Resources (StaffHR-Accommodations@csulb.edu) for employees as soon as possible so we can assist you prior to the program.
Parking
We encourage sustainable forms of transportation. Help us reduce the carbon footprint of our event by choosing to bus, bike, walk, or carpool to campus. Learn more about sustainable transportation options at the CSULB Ride website.
Parking for campus events may be purchased via the ParkMobile app or the ParkMobile Events Module (up to 30 days prior to the event). Zone numbers are available on the app, the website or on signage posted in each lot.
Parking may also be purchased from a parking pay station located within each lot. Daily parking is valid in any parking lot or parking structure where Daily parking is sold.
Annual, academic year, and semester permits are already valid during campus events. No additional parking purchase is necessary for a campus event if you already have a valid student or employee permit.
For more information about where to park on campus please visit the Parking and Transportation website.
Lodging
Lodging information can be found on the CSULB Faculty Affairs website.
