Enfilade

From the Call for Papers:

Scholarship in a Time of Crisis
Special Issue of The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation

Essays due by 15 August 2020

Two important thinkers from the century we study significantly shaped their careers in response to advertisements, what we now call ‘Call for Papers’. In 1749, Jean-Jacques Rousseau responded to a question put forth by the Academy of Dijon, “Has the restoration of the sciences and arts contributed to the purification of morals?” And in 1784, Immanuel Kant replied to the question published in Berlinishe Monatsschrift, “What is Enlightenment?” Whether or not one agrees with their respective answers, both Rousseau and Kant addressed a climate of urgency and the pressing needs of their time. Given our own current challenges, we invite our contributors and readers to do the same. We therefore invite all interested parties to respond to one or more of the following questions: How are we as scholars of eighteenth-century studies uniquely positioned to respond to the current crises—those inspired by global pandemic, social isolation, systematic racism, and economic collapse? What literary frameworks do you feel we bring to an understanding of today’s headlines? And how have you experienced these challenges—and response to these challenges—within your own institution, teaching, or research?

We currently face a difficult future in higher education and in particular the humanities, but such adversity does not mean that we should stop doing what we’re doing. We at ECTI feel that the eighteenth century has a great deal to say to our present moment, and we want to hear your experiences and thoughts. We hope to receive a wide variety of responses, which will be published in our online supplemental issue of ECTI. We imagine the responses to be between 1,000 and 3,000 words. The format should follow the guidelines of the journal (i.e., Chicago Style), but we do not expect heavily footnoted pieces. Additionally, we anticipate a special print issue to emerge from this project. Please send in your responses to ecti@usc.edu by 15 August 2020. And feel free to email us if you have any further questions.