In his book Primitive Religion (1924), Austrian-born American anthropologist Robert Lowie commented: “Darwin’s Origin of Species had begun to stimulate historical thinking in other than biological lines, and the investigator of culture naturally sought to parallel the paleontologist’s and embryologist’s record by corresponding sequences in industrial arts, social organization, and belief.” Although, Lowie’s remarks addressed anthropological inquiry on both sides of the Atlantic, a similar phenomenon occurred outside of the scientific world. American and European thinkers and writers adapted Darwinian theories to matters not confined to the laboratory. These men and women imagined race, gender, and sexuality in new ways which framed what scholars term “the cultural politics of Darwinism.”

We invite interested scholars to submit essay proposals addressing the myriad ways in which Darwinian theories of evolution, sexual selection, the “missing link,” and survival of the fittest (to name a few) influenced American and European literature and culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We are especially interested in interdisciplinary work that addresses the transatlantic impact of Darwin's ideas.

The primary audience for Discoursing Darwin will be college-level educators and their students whose work and classes address the impact of Darwin on transatlantic thought, culture, literature, and science. This interdisciplinary volume will be appropriate for adoption in courses in American Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, the History of Science, History, Sexuality Studies, and Sociology. The successful publication will be accessible to both undergraduates and graduate students.

We envision the anthology to contain ten essays (each 20 to 25 pages in length including references) from numerous disciplinary perspectives that will attract as broad a scholarly readership as possible. Essays must address the intersections of race, gender, and/or sexuality in any of the following categories:

literature
film
marriage
politics and/or policy (domestic or foreign)
law
education
race relations
science and/or the social sciences

Interested potential participants should e-mail their 2-page CVs (highlighting publications and presentations) and abstracts (no more than 500 words) to jjones11@unlnotes.unl.edu by SUNDAY, APRIL 1st. Any questions about the project should also be sent to this address. The editors will review all proposals carefully and contact selected essayists no later than JUNE 1st.