2026 AGLSP Annual Conference
Thursday, July 16 - Saturday, July 18
This year’s conference will be held at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, the new home of the national AGLSP office. Join fellow interdisciplinary and liberal studies students, alumni, and program directors for three days of lively discussions and fascinating scholarship!
We invite current GLS students and alumni to present their research. Learn more about the Call for Presentations and submit your abstract here. The deadline to submit is April 30.
AGLSP STORY SLAM!
Current GLS students or alumni will compete with short 4-5 minute presentations
in our 9th annual creative writing Story Slam at the conference Welcome Reception.
Interested storytellers, submit your proposal here.
Agenda Overview:
July 16 Pre-Conference
9a - 4:30p Director’s Workshop
PLEASE NOTE: The Pre-Conference Workshop is open to Directors, Administrators and Faculty only.
6p - 8p Welcome Reception and Story Slam
July 17 Conference Day 1
9a - 5p Presentation Sessions
July 18 Conference Day 2
9:30a - noon Presentation Sessions
July 16
Pre-Conference Director’s Workshop:
9:00a Welcome & Special Remarks celebrating AGLSP’s new home at Southern Methodist University
10:00a - 11:00a Session I: Expanding Programming Within Your Curriculum — Leveraging Existing Resources for Strategic Growth
11:00a - 11:30a Break: Coffee and Connect
11:30a - 12:30p Session II: Marketing and Recruitment in the Digital Age — Strategic Outreach on a Limited Budget
12:30p - 1:30p Lunch
1:30p - 2:30p Session III: Alumni Relations: Relationships, Community, and Exponential Potential
2:30p - 3:00p Break: Coffee and Connect
3:00p - 4:30p Session IV: Table Talks: What Matters Most for your Program
4:30p Workshop Closing Remarks
Welcome Reception for All Attendees
6:00p-8:00p Welcome celebration, faculty and student writing awards, followed by Story Slam
July 17 Conference Presentations
9:00a - 10:30 a Session I
Panel I Artifacts and Archives: What's Visible, What Remains, What Can be Inferred?
Exploding a document: a departure point for deeper knowledge - Roberto Argentina, Rice University (Alum)
Don't Tap the Glass: Digital Paratourism and the Exhibitionary Logics of Black Digital Life - Brittany Rayson Stubblefield-Engram, Southern Methodist University (Current Student)
The Journey of Three Moorish Girls: Tres Morillas M'Enamoran en Jaén - Michael Capps, Southern Methodist University (Alum)
Panel 2 Identity Formation and the Making of Knowledge: Through Collective, Individual, and Intimate Spaces
Reconstitution of Ancestral Identity in Contemporary Poetry - Jorge Luis Berríos, SUNY Empire State (Current Student)
The Bed as Universe: Frida Kahlo and Our Intimate Spaces - Carlos Rovelo, Southern Methodist University (Current Student)
10:45 - 12:15 Session II
Panel 1 The Shifting Sands of Labor and Agency: Hidden, Deferred, Fantasized
Robotic / Erotic / Electric: Machine Vision and the Libidinal Circuits of Visual Culture - William "Memo" Nericcio, San Diego State University (Faculty)
Married and Alone: The Lives and Labour of Women Married to Royal Navy Officers in the Long-nineteenth century - Lisa R. Wojahn, University of Exeter (Current PhD student at University of Exeter, MLS and DLS Alum of Rice)
The Turing Test for Civilization: Human Purpose and the Work We Should Not Automate - Utsav Gupta, Stanford University (Current Student)
Panel 2 Illusions, Fraud, and Aspirations of Transcendence: Considering Spirituality, Art, and AI Through Interdisciplinary Lenses
Piety, Plague, and Peculation: An Analysis of Fraud in Renaissance Confraternities - Matt Adams, Rice University (Current Student)
The ephemeral flower, the eternal poem - Paulina Vieitez, Rice University (Current Student)
Channeling Beyond Boundaries: Hilma af Klint, Artificial Intelligence, and the Human Impulse Toward Transcendent Knowledge - Erin Prather Stafford, Southern Methodist University (Current DLS Student)
1:15 - 2:45 Session III
Panel 1 Mediated Perspectives: Intelligence, Surveillance, and Narrative Power
Different Kinds of Minds: Ontological and Epistemic Issues Related to AI - Michael Edward Carter, University of Memphis and Northwest Mississippi College (Current DLS Student, Faculty)
Humiliation's New Endeavor: Voyeurism in The Digital Age - Natalie Gonzalez, San Diego State University (Current Student)
Gentrification Narratives in Contemporary Literary Texts - Don J. Rath, Johns Hopkins University (Current Student)
Panel 2 Exploring the Dynamics of Knowing and Pedagogical Approaches to Thinking Critically
The Taxonomy and Dynamics of Knowing - David Griffin Knight, University of Oklahoma (Alum)
Critical Thinking Through Play - Breanna Johnson, University of Memphis (Current Student)
Motion as Method: Transformation Across Material, Space, and Meaning in Art and Pedagogy - Dr. Sophie Ying Chen, Southern Methodist University (Alum)
Panel 3 Haunted Systems: Persistent Bias in Justice, Policing, and Biological Governance
Knowledge in Motion: Ethical Decision‑Making and Human-Centered Justice in the Prosecutorial Process - Angel Monistere, Johns Hopkins University (Current Student)
Are Law Enforcement Officers Trained to Treat Minorities as Less Than Human? - Malcolm McGuire, Southern Methodist University (Current Student)
New Eugenics: Bioethics, Biology, and Biotechnology - John Varghese, Dallas College (Faculty)
3:00 - 4:30 Session IV
Panel 1 Limited Access, Inequality, and Systems that Reproduce Advantage or Disadvantage Over Time
Uncharted Waters: Navigating Barriers to First-Generation College Access - Rafael Serrillos Barboza, Rice University (Current Student)
Equal Exams, Unequal Opportunities: Educational Inequality in Access to Elite Universities in China - Yujing Yuan, Rice University (Current Student)
The Rise and Fall of Pahlavi Dynasty in Iran and Assad Dynasty in Syria - Rasheed Rankine, University of Memphis (Current Student)
Panel 2 Creativity, Biodiversity, and Cooperative Social Structures: New Ways Forward
New Zealand - A Microcosm of Humanity's Potential for Environmental Redemption - Linda K. Allison, Rice University (Alum)
Relational Ecologies: What Crows, as Social Corvids, Teach Us About Belonging and Loneliness - Barbara Goss, Southern Methodist University (Current Student)
I Sing the Body Eclectic: Bringing Creativity into Scholarship - Aurora J. Miller, Dartmouth College (Current Student)
Panel 3 Ways of Seeing and Constructing Meaning Across Art, Literature, and History
Manet, Monet, and the Birth of Modernism - Amanda Clare Beller, Lindenwood University (Current Student)
Time as Place: Temporality within the Battle for Britain, 1940-41 - Eugene Luning, Johns Hopkins MLA (alum) & University of London (current PhD student)
July 18 Conference Presentations
10:00a-12:00p Session I
Panel 1 Exploring Systems, Ethics, and Equity in Healthcare
What systemic gaps in preparedness contributed to the severe impact of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation, and how could they have been addressed? - Mark Freeland, San Diego State University (Current Student)
Beyond Paternalism: Ethical Nudging and the Design of the Health Horizon Conversation Tool in Patient-Centered Care - Aaron Michael Lamb, University of Memphis (Current Student)
Knowledge in Motion: Interdisciplinary Pathways from Knowledge to Care in Viral Hepatitis Elimination in Vietnam - Diem Vu Bich Dao, Southern Methodist University (Alum)
Through Their Hands, Hearts That Feel: Vicarious Trauma and the Psychological Impact of ASL Interpreting - Darlea Wilbeck, Southern Methodist University (Alum)
Registration Options and Fees
Includes conference materials and meals as indicated. All fees in USD.
For Directors, Administrators, and Faculty only:
Full Conference: $450* Registration includes Pre-conference Workshop and all conference events including Thursday breakfast, lunch and evening reception, Friday lunch and Saturday breakfast.
Pre-conference Workshop Only: $195* Registration includes Thursday breakfast, lunch and evening reception.
For all others:
Conference only: $275* Registration includes all conference events including Thursday evening reception, Friday lunch and Saturday breakfast.
Student/Alumni: $175* Registration Includes all conference events including Thursday evening reception, Friday lunch and Saturday breakfast. Honor Society Members receive a $25 discount when invoiced.
* Registration after June 25 will include an additional $50 late registration fee.
No refunds for cancelled conference registrations will be issued after June 15, 2026.
Register Today!
Travel
Airports: Love Field (LUV) in Dallas and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) are the airports nearby. LUV is closest.
Hotels: SMU is centrally located in Dallas with a variety of hotels nearby in a variety of price ranges. SMU has a list of hotels that offer a 10% discount. You can find that link here. Please note that the AGLSP conference is taking place just days after the World Cup Soccer games end. Dallas is a host city so some of the hotels on the SMU list do not show availability.
The following hotels from SMU’s list are within 3 miles of campus and have affordable daily rates:
Car Services: Uber, Lyft, and Rental Car services are readily available.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact info@aglsp.org.