Since 1975, Contemporary French Civilization (CFC) has published cutting-edge research in the interdisciplinary field of French civilization and cultural studies; the journal has also expanded its scope to Francophone studies over the past decades. In 2022, we launched the companion journal, CFC Intersections related to publishing interdisciplinary scholarship on intersectionality and the broader related notion of intersections in French and Francophone Studies. In 2025, Contemporary French Civilization (CFC) turns 50 and we are pleased to launch a call for papers for the anniversary conference that will assess and position both the field and the journal(s) for the next 50.

As always, we invite conference papers in a variety of intersecting fields that examine contemporary socio cultural topics in the French-speaking world. We encourage paper and session proposals on French-speaking topics in: anthropology and sociology, communication, cultural and literary studies, decolonial studies, food studies, history, international studies, memory studies, philosophy, psychology, postcolonial studies, religious studies, sports studies, translation studies, women, gender, and sexuality studies, and art, including music, dance, hip hop, film and media studies, and photography.
Possible themes that are of particular interest could include:

• The state of the field of contemporary French and Francophone cultural studies
• Unexplored avenues of research in traditional literary, cinema, or cultural studies
• New areas or avenues of research not commonly explored in Global French and Francophone Studies
• Transdisciplinary French and Francophone Studies
• New methodologies or transdisciplinary methodologies for the discipline or specific areas of interest (literature or visual art, linguistics, history, sociology)
• Interdisciplinary publishing today
• The changing landscape of academia and the place of contemporary French and Francophone cultural studies
• French and Francophone studies and STEM
• French and Francophone studies and the environment, business, healthcare, the climate crisis and migration, social work and social justice, public policy and practice, technology, well-being and belonging
• The work of interdisciplinary French and Francophone cultural studies to enhance and inform the work of other disciplines, to educate administrators, and to attract students. This could include how to help them understand the relevance of our fields in helping us all tackle:
  -Real-world concerns and societal challenges of the 21st century
  -(Social) Media narratives and storytelling of the 21st century
  -(Virtual) (Hyper) realities and perspectives of the 21st century

How to submit

Paper proposals (250 words maximum, in French or English, along with a brief biobibliography) and proposals for complete panels (strongly encouraged) should be sent by email to conference organizers Dr. Denis M. Provencher and Dr. Daniel N. Maroun at ContemporaryFrenchCivilization@gmail.com before April 15, 2025. For complete panels, please submit contact information and bio-bibliography for all participants

Our Plenary Speakers

Mame-Fatou Niang, Carnegie Mellon University
Camille Robcis, Columbia University

September 26-27, 2025
North Carolina State University
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Raleigh, North Carolina
Organizers: Daniel N. Maroun (Illinois) and Denis M. Provencher (NC State)

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