More than twenty years ago, in response to tectonic shifts in the academic landscape, Speculum and Comparative Literary Studies almost simultaneously published special issues asking the same question: “What is Philology?” Since that watershed moment, scholars have continued to debate which methodologies deserve the title “Philology” (whether “old” or “new”). Meanwhile, these very methodologies have undergone significant theoretical and practical revisions. Bearing in mind that “Philology” lies at the historical, institutional, and intellectual core of Anglo-Saxon Studies, this conference seeks to consider not only “What is philology now?” but also “How and why does philology matter, particularly to emerging scholars?”

We invite proposals for papers that reflect on the idea of “Philology” at a theoretical, methodological, or institutional level, as well as papers that demonstrate philological practices, particularly from an interdisciplinary perspective, or that address the relationship between philology and contemporary critical concerns, such as historicism(s), aesthetics, cognitive studies, manuscript studies, textual criticism, intellectual history, and the digital humanities.

Please submit 250-word abstracts for 20-minute papers by September 26, 2011 and kindly include your academic affiliation, e-mail address, street address, phone number, and any audio-visual requirements. Abstracts may be sent to assc2012@gmail.com.