A reminder of the support for Graduate Students and Early Career Researchers

During the XXI Congress held at the University of Vienna in July 2016, the ICLA created the Committee for Early Career Development (ECARE) to widen the communication between the Association and early career researchers and graduate students working in the field of comparative literature. The Committee aims at increasing the support for the development of early career scholars and graduate students in the field, while also asking how these members of our community are developing the landscape of the discipline through new and innovative forms of comparative inquiry, and how this impacts the work of the Association. More broadly, as the demands for hiring, tenure, and promotion in comparative literature are shifting as a result of new academic landscapes in the arts and humanities, ECARE aims to address the complexities of labouring in our transforming field and the changing nature of its early career constituency across the globe.

In the 2022 Congress in Tbilisi, the ICLA/ECARE Committee inaugurated a unique programme thread focusing specifically on graduate students and early career researchers. These events aimed at supporting these members of the Association by increasing the visibility of their work and encompassed social and academic activities including a special welcome reception, meeting with key contacts in the field, and the inauguration of the NEXT GEN Seminar that saw the presentation of over 20 papers by graduate students and early career scholars across all conference days.

This time, we are delighted to host the ICLA/ECARE programme as part of the 2025 ICLA Congress in Seoul and we invite all graduate students and early career researchers to join the activities below:

• A special Welcome Reception for graduate students and early career researchers attending the Congress hosted by the ICLA Executive Council, the Officers of the ICLA, and the Congress Organising Committee from Dongguk University.

• ECARE Workshop led by established researchers in the field addressing pressing issues in the profession.

• The ECARE Committee Meeting during the Congress where graduate students and early career researchers can bring forward ideas for how the ICLA can further support graduate students and early career researchers within the discipline of comparative literature.

• NEXT GEN Seminars especially dedicated for papers presented by graduate students and early career researchers to give them an opportunity to present new ideas and new approaches in comparative literature based on their research.  
  • Papers can address any aspect of the Congress theme.  
  • Abstracts for this session can be submitted via the Abstract Submission Website, using the ‘ECARE/NEXT GEN’ option.
  • Acceptance notifications will be sent by the standard Congress deadline for acceptance notices. 
  • Graduate students and early career researchers can also participate of the Congress outside the scope of the NEXT GEN sessions. They can organise and submit a group session proposal, submit an abstract for another session, or submit an individual abstract for the ‘Group Sessions’ our ‘Individual Sessions’ listed in the Abstract Submission Website. 

To participate on the ECARE Programme, graduate students and early career researchers must be active members of the association. Note that postgraduate students can join the association free of charge. More information on membership is available at the Association website: https://www.ailc-icla.org/membership-information/ . 

We look forward to meeting you in Seoul!

Emanuelle Santos

Chair of the ECARE Committee