CFP: North American Sartre Society Annual Meeting

The North American Sartre Society

30th Annual Meeting – Call for Papers
September 26-27, 2025
University of La Verne, California
Submission Deadline: May 15, 2025

Conference Theme:

Frantz Fanon at 100: Decolonization, Existentialism, and Liberation

Keynote Speaker:

Professor Lewis Gordon

The North American Sartre Society (NASS) invites proposals for our 30th annual meeting, to be held September 26-27, 2025, at the University of La Verne, California.

We welcome submissions on any aspect of Sartre studies, understood broadly to include work from other existentialist (and adjacent) thinkers, from any disciplinary perspective.

Submissions on topics related to the conference theme, “Frantz Fanon at 100: Decolonization, Existentialism, and Liberation,” will receive special consideration.

Additionally, we are hosting and seeking proposals for:

• A special panel dedicated to the work of Lewis Gordon,
• Memorial panels honoring Tom Flynn and Joe Catalano.

Submission Guidelines:

• Deadline: May 15, 2025
• Abstracts: 300-500 words
• Presentation Length: 25 minutes
• Languages: English or French
• Submission Types: Individual papers and panel proposals
• Email submissions & inquiries to:
   Kiki Berk, NASS President – [email protected]

Graduate students are especially encouraged to submit. A limited number of stipends are available for graduate students and underemployed scholars attending in person—please indicate in your proposal if you wish to be considered.

NASS strives to build an inclusive, supportive, welcoming environment at the conference where we can share and discuss ideas, catch up with one another, meet new people, support each other’s work, and further Sartrean scholarship. In person attendance is imperative for this sense of community and comradery to be built and sustained. Thus, we strongly encourage in-person attendance at the conference if possible. We simultaneously realize that travel may be difficult or impossible for some who wish to participate and thus reserve a limited number of virtual presentation slots. The limited number of virtual presentations will depend on overall submissions numbers and the society’s ability to create a well-rounded conference. If you wish to be considered for a virtual presentation, please indicate as such in your proposal.

All proposals will be reviewed by the program committee. We look forward to your submissions!