The epistemics of English Studies has evolved rapidly in the last few decades, shaped by social and cultural changes, and by advances in technology. As such, English finds itself in reasonably good health and seems to optimistically renew its call for a move toward a wider range of fields in literary criticism, linguistics, and cultural studies (Ostergaard, Ludwig, Nugent 2009). Moreover, since the furthering of canonical literature and classical literary analysis, which epitomised historical interpretation and authorial intent in the past, the focus has gradually shifted towards a broader understanding of culture, fostered by a new cross-disciplinary conversation between the “centre” and the “periphery” where the newly conceived English Studies may revolve. Likewise, present trends in academic qualitative and quantitative research have incorporated ever-evolving digital tools and technologies to rethink information literacy as a set of integrated abilities fit to find, evaluate, organise, use, and deliver information in a constructive manner within various contexts, including that of education and communication (de la Torre, Monje, Vidal 2023; Harmeyer, Baskin 2018).

 

This leads to new frameworks in Linguistics, Literature, and Cultural Studies, as well as in Translation Studies research paradigms, “generating traffic across increasingly unstable disciplinary borders” (Knežević 2016: 153). In particular, they intersect with social, cultural, educational, and environmental issues, and address concerns about ethics and social justice, with regard to the environment, ethnicity, gender identity, education, diaspora, migration, identity navigation, inclusivity, multimodality, etc. However, the new overviews of  English Studies are both challenging and problematic as there is still little consensus on how to define the aims, approaches, and objects of study of the discipline. The flood of PhDs in Western Europe and North America, the explosion of creative writing programmes throughout the Anglophone world, together with the careful attention to some critical and pedagogical implications of English as a complex lens through which the world can be interpreted, have been echoed by the “recent decades which have witnessed seismic shifts on the global terrain of higher education and English has not escaped the disruption and turmoil” (English 2012: xi).

 

In light of these considerations, this conference aims to offer, though in a tentative and non-exhaustive manner, a positive forum for a productive collective reflection on possible future(s) for the discipline.

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References:

• English, James F. The Global Future of English Studies. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

• Harmeyer, Dave, and Janice J Baskin. Implementing the Information Literacy Framework: A Practical Guide for Librarians. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018.

• Jordano, María, et al. Digital Technologies in English Studies and Research. Editorial UNED, 21 Sept. 2023.

• Knežević, Borislav. “English Studies and Liberal Education Today.” English Studies from Archives to Prospects: Literature and Cultural Studies, edited by Stipe, Grgas et al., Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, pp. 152–162.

• Ostergaard, Lori, et al. Transforming English Studies: New Voices in an Emerging Genre. West Lafayette, Ind., Parlor Press, 2009.

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