MSU selected to host International Conference on Narrative in 2020
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥旂哿κ悠 joins a prestigious list of U.S., Canadian and European universities selected to host the annual International Conference on Narrative.
MSU鈥檚 opportunity as conference host comes in 2020 when more than 450 attendees will gather March 5-8 in New Orleans, Louisiana, for literary dialogue from a variety of perspectives.
Dan Punday, professor and head of MSU鈥檚 English department, serves as president of the International Society for the Study of Narrative, which presents the annual event. The conference also will be sponsored by the University of New Orleans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 especially exciting to have 幺力视频 host a conference in the humanities since we鈥檙e known largely for our research reputation in engineering and the sciences,鈥 Punday said. 鈥淲ith an attendance of around 500 people, this conference should prompt hundreds of academics from around the world to associate 幺力视频 more with cutting edge humanities research.鈥
Conference sessions will include discussions on a diverse range of narrative topics, including novels, epic poetry, film, the graphic arts and more.
Hosting the narrative event puts MSU in 鈥渧ery elite company,鈥 Punday said. Past host universities have included Dartmouth, Emory, Georgetown and Rice. MSU also joins the ranks of other major land-grant institutions that have hosted, including the universities of California at Berkeley, Florida, Kentucky, Wisconsin at Madison, along with Ohio State University, Michigan State University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 particularly important to bring the conference back to the U.S. South as a way to recruit faculty into the society,鈥 Punday said, noting the conference provides an opportunity to reach out even more to historically black colleges and universities in the New Orleans area.听
Kelly Marsh, co-organizer of the conference and MSU professor of English, said the international aspect of the conference makes the event 鈥渁n enriching experience for all who attend, but also multiplies the impact of the ideas generated and presented there.鈥澛
The 2018 conference was held in Montreal, Canada. This year鈥檚 event takes place in Pamplona, Spain.听
The International Society for the Study of Narrative is a nonprofit association of scholars dedicated to the investigation of narrative, its elements, techniques and forms; its relations to other modes of discourse; and its power and influence in cultures past and present. For more, visit .
MSU鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.听Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English may be found at聽 or .听 聽
MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.听