Deadline: Dec. 15, 2026
Contact: Michele Navakas, University of San Diego
Email: mnavakas@sandiego.edu

This SEA-sponsored panel invites contributions from those working on any project that highlights the diverse prospects and possibilities of an early American Environmental Humanities (EH) now. Ideally the panel would represent a diverse range of topics, texts, theoretical models, and methodological approaches.
The panel builds on three earlier SEA-sponsored panels at ASLE (at UMD in 2025, Portland in 2023, and UC Davis in 2019, where Lauren LaFauci chaired the original panel, “Before the Anthropocene? Placing Early America in Environmental Humanities”). The current panel seeks to bring yet more new voices into an ongoing conversation about questions such as:

– How might sustained attention to the literature and culture of earlier periods deepen, expand, and enliven the still-emerging, interdisciplinary field of EH?

– While so much EH work focuses on more contemporary texts alongside contemporary problems, what might a vibrant early American EH look like?

Contributions from all academic ranks are welcome, including those from contingent faculty members, graduate students, independent scholars, and traditional faculty members.

The panel format will depend upon interest and the collective wishes of selected participants, and may be either a more traditional panel or a roundtable with shorter presentations.

Send abstracts of 300 words or less in .doc or .docx format to Michele Navakas (mnavakas@sandiego.edu) by 15 December 2026. Please include the following with your submission:

· a title for your presentation,
· your full name as you would wish it to appear on the program,
· your e-mail address,
· your phone number, and
· your institutional affiliation and rank (if applicable).

Selected panelists need not be members of SEA to present at the SEA-sponsored panel at ASLE; however, they must be members of ASLE in order to register for and present at the conference. For more information about ASLE membership, please visit www.asle.org.

Please direct any questions about submissions to Michele Navakas (mnavakas@sandiego.edu).

Posted on October 16, 2026