Attention and distraction (Cambridge)

The Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge is pleased to announce its annual graduate conference on literature before 1750, to be held on Friday, April 20, 2018. Proposals are invited from MA students, PhD students, and recent graduates for papers on the theme of “Attention and Distraction.”

For pre-modern readers, what did it mean to “attend” (or fail to attend) to a text? What roles do boredom and distraction have to play in the reading process? How do we attend to pre-modern literature in our moment of supposedly short attention spans? Topics might include the attention economy, readerly distraction and boredom, prayer and concentration, popular entertainment and divertissement, and "information overload" before and after the advent of print.

Proposals are due Wednesday, January 31, 2018. They should include a title, brief abstract (200 words), and a short biography including your university and department affiliation. Speakers will present for 15 minutes, with time for questions at the end.

Please direct proposals and questions to attentionanddistraction@gmail.com.

For more information, please visit our website at https://pre1750.wordpress.com/.