Borders: Literary, Cultural and Political Dialogues

Conference Highlights

Borders 2026 Call for Papers – Hellenic Association for the Study of English


“La persévérance” (2006) © Gilbert Garcin – Gallery Camera Obscura
TheDepartment of English Language & Literatureof the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and theHellenic Association for the Study of English(HASE) are inviting proposals for individual papers and panels to be presented at the international interdisciplinary conference – “Borders: Literary, Cultural and Political Dialogues” – taking place in Athens, Greece, 18-21 May 2026.
It is a fact that the world has been increasingly subject to border reinforcement since the major events of the 20th century, such as the two world wars and the dissolution of colonial governance across various territories as well as of the Soviet Union. The continuous bolstering of the US-Mexico border wall since President Bush’s post-9/11 Secure Fence Act in 2006, Brexit and the redefinition of Europe’s borders, Covid-19 and the reappearance of invisible borders, the Syrian refugee crisis, the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, and most recently, Trump’s annexation threats at Greenland, Canada and Panama are only a few of the historical, political and social realities which influenced the physical (re)construction and (re)arrangement of borders as well as helped to shape the way borders areperceived,thoughtandimagined.
This has resulted in an abundance of critical work within Border Studies and the generation of a plurality of terms and concepts, offering valuable ontological, epistemological and methodological categories for the study of borders in an attempt to move from the view of borders as lines in the sand which separate territories towards approaches which entail an acknowledgement of the border’s complexity, processual dimension and methodological potentiality in political discourses (Critical Border Studies). Simultaneously, a wealth of artistic and literary work which variously engages the topic of borders is joining these critical discussions, acknowledging not only the aesthetic dimension of the border but also the crosscurrents between borders and culture more generally (Cultural Border Studies).
The present vicissitudes of a world confronted with instability, fear, violence and injustice urgently call for reflection on the histories, conceptualizations, theorizations and representations of borders and border politics. In response to this, the Department of English Language and Literature (NKUA) and HASE are inviting contributions from relevant academic disciplines (Literary Studies; Arts; Cultural Studies; Philosophy; Geopolitics; History; Law; Sociology; Anthropology) as well as from artists, practitioners and activists. Through this conference, we seek to offer a space for experimental and innovative approaches to borders as well as for a critical dialogue which will unravel the complexity and multifariousness of borders across time and space.