Tolkien Studies Area, PCA/ACA
2023 Updates
The purpose of this post is to provide information on the 2023 Conference and plans for the future of the Tolkien Studies Area.
The 2023 conference ended Saturday, April 8. Five presenters (paper presenters) were in San Antonio, Texas, for the event. By scheduling two paper sessions, two roundables, and two other meetings/events, we had six events. All but the business meeting (and really, that's typical) were well attended, and the presentations and discussions filled the available time.
There were two papers on Tolkien that were presented in the "Philosophy and Culture" area: unfortunately, they were scheduled opposite Tolkien sessions or PCA sessions I had to attend, but the area chair and I are already discussing the potential for an "Ethics and Tolkien" co-sponsored session that could be the start of an anthology in the Ethics and Culture series he oversees for McFarland books. Keep an eye out for that themed CFP next year!
To see an updated list of all the papers and roundtables that have been given the past ten years, check out this post on my Substack:
The 2024 annual conference will be March 27 - 30, 2024, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. I hope to see those of you who can attend f2f conferences there! In honor of Bilbo, I should note that 2024 will be the 11th anniversary of the Tolkien Studies area (a number of special significance!).
I will be looking for people who have attended at any time in the past to come talk about their experiences and what they would like to see happening in the future.
Speaking of the future and numbers of special significance: I will no longer be serving as the area chair after 2025 (the thirteenth anniversary of the area, and the year I turn 70).
I have mentioned this possibility before, but I need to make the deadline very clear. One of the reasons I am chairing a PCA committee to explore the possibility of a completely virtual conference (in addition to the f2f, not instead of) is my own personal investment in having that option.
But the question is whether the Tolkien Studies area for the f2f conference will be able to survive when I step down! I would like to find people interested in serving as the Tolkien Studies Area Chair (either alone, or with a co-chair, which is possible) well before that deadline.
The PCA's "Information for Area Chairs" can be found on their website.
I am happy to answer questions and discuss this further (via personal email or Zoom).