ELMIRA 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies

The Second Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop: “From Seminar Paper to Academic Article”

 

Additional CFPs directly related to Elmira 2026 below.

Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies

 

Conference Theme: Irreverence, Rebellion, and Resilience

“The first gospel of all monarchies should be Rebellion; the second should be Rebellion; and the third and all gospels and the only gospel in any monarchy should be Rebellion against the Church and State.” (Mark Twain’s Notebook, 1891)

Established in 1989, the quadrennial International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies is the oldest and largest gathering of scholars interested in the field of Mark Twain Studies. The host of the event is the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies (CMTS). The 3-day conference will be held from Thursday, July 30 to Saturday, August 1 on the Elmira College campus in Elmira, New York. The conference will consist of traditional paper sessions, a keynote address, a number of special presentations, and comradery with old and new acquaintances.  The conference will culminate in an evening picnic at Quarry Farm, one of the most important structures in the life of Mark Twain and for American Literature.

Call for Proposals for Participation in Traditional 3-Person Paper Panel

 We encourage you to connect your proposal to the theme of “irreverence, rebellion, and resilience.” However, we invite proposals on any aspect of Mark Twain’s works, life, circle, and legacy.

 A developed proposal for 20-minute paper presentation (700 words maximum) should be emailed as a Word document to Joseph Lemak at jl****@****ra.edu by Friday, February 20. Include an email containing your contact information (name, mailing address, email, address, etc.) in the body of the email. Proposals will be reviewed by members of the conference planning committee.

Modern day image created by Angelina Addison ’28.  Original illustration comes from “St. Mark, the American Lion” by William H. Walker on the original cover of the August 15, 1901 Life Magazine.

Notes

 

  • In the spirit of growth and transparency, CMTS is experimenting with the 2026 quadrennial’s planning process. CMTS has already begun reaching out to sister organizations and asking them to independently organize one 3-person paper panel and/or one roundtable.  CMTS has also asked the organizers of the past four Quarry Farm symposia (Abolition Studies; Science Fiction, Technology, and Invention; Gilded Age Humor; and Energy Studies) to organize one 3-person paper panel.  As a result, papers from the CFP will make up 60% of all paper presentations.
  • A participant can only present one paper at the event, but may participate in as many roundtables as organized by the conference planning committee and/or sister organizations.
Important Dates and Deadlines

 

  • Proposal submission deadline – Friday, February 20, 2026
  • Decisions deadline – Friday, March 20, 2026
  • Conference online registration opens for participants with an accepted proposal and/or a conference planning responsibility – Monday, March 30
  • Conference online registration opens to the general public – Monday, April 13
  • Conference online registration deadline – Friday, July 17, 2026
  • Elmira 2026 Conference – Thursday, July 30 to Saturday, August 1, 2026

Pricing (Tentative)

Full Conference Registration – $375 (Full registration incudes all breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and special receptions.)

Daily Conference Rate – $145 per day

Lodging in Meier Hall on the Elmira College Campus – $75 per night

Conference attendees will benefit by an option to stay in Elmira College’s Meier Hall, an air-conditioned dormitory, conveniently located immediatly adjacent to all conference event spaces.  Meier Hall is organized into singles and doubles.  Selection of specific room types will be based on a “first come, first serve” basis.

The Second Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop: “From Seminar Paper to Academic Article”

 

The Center for Mark Twain Studies is happy to announce their second Graduate Student Workshop: “From Seminar Paper to Academic Article.” This in-person workshop will provide an intensive writing experience for students to transform a seminar or conference paper into an article ready to submit for publication. Although all approaches are welcome—and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged – the paper must give substantial attention to Twain.

Ph.D. candidates are invited to apply for the five-day workshop which is scheduled to take place immediately following Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies. After the conclusion of the conference, students will work with two senior, well-established American literature scholars, Sandra Gustafson and Shirley Samuels, and with each other, affording ample time for writing and access to the Mark Twain archive and library at Quarry Farm. Successful applicants will have their Elmira 2026 conference registration waived, be housed for free in Elmira College dormitories during the conference and workshop, and be provided with food throughout the conference, then breakfasts and lunches for the duration of the workshop.  The workshop will take place both on the Elmira College campus and at Quarry Farm in Elmira, NY. Participants will receive a $200 stipend and $500 towards travel expenses.

Workshop participants are strongly encouraged to attend Elmira 2026 and deliver a paper. Preference will be given to those applicants who intend to present at Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies.

Applications are due by Friday, February 20, 2026. Applicants should provide a cover letter giving their name and institution, their program and their current progress within it (i.e., second year Ph.D., ABD, etc.), their dissertation project where determined, and a letter of recommendation. Please also provide a proposal (700 words maximum) of the paper to be presented at Elmira 2026 and then transformed in the workshop.

 Applications should be submitted simultaneously to Shirley Samuels (sh*************@*****ll.edu) and Joseph Lemak (jl****@****ra.edu.). Applicants will be informed of their acceptance by March 20, 2026.

Important Dates and Deadlines

 

  • Proposal submission deadline – Friday, February 20, 2026
  • Decisions deadline – Friday, March 20, 2026
  • Elmira 2026 Conference – Thursday, July 30 to Saturday, August 1, 2026
  • Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop – Monday, August 3 to Friday, August 7, 2026
Workshop Faculty
Jillian Spivey Caddell 2021 Quarry Farm Fellow
SANDRA M. GUSTAFSON
Sandra M. Gustafson is William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English and concurrent Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. She is currently writing a one-volume Introduction to American Literature for Routledge. Her previous works include Peace in the US Republic of Letters, 1840-1900 (Oxford, 2023), Imagining Deliberative Democracy in the Early American Republic (Chicago, 2011), and Eloquence is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America (North Carolina, 2000). She is the editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. A (9th and 10th editions), as well as the co-editor of Reimagining the Republic: Race, Citizenship, and Nation in the Literary Work of Albion Tourgée (Fordham, 2022) and Cultural Narratives: Textuality and Performance in American Culture before 1900 (Notre Dame, 2010). 
Shirley Samuesl 2024 Quarry Farm Fellow
SHIRLEY SAMUELS
Shirley Samuels is the Picket Family Chair of the Literatures in English Department at Cornell University. She has recently published Haunted by the Civil War: Cultural Testimony in the Nineteenth Century United States (Princeton, 2025). Her books include Race and Vision in the Nineteenth-Century U.S. (Lexington Books, 2019), The Cambridge Companion to Abraham Lincoln (Cambridge, 2012), Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), Facing America: Iconography and the Civil War (Oxford, 2004); Companion to American Fiction, 1780-1865 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004); Romances of the Republic: Women, the Family, and Violence in the Literature of the Early American Nation (Oxford, 1996); and The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in 19th Century America (Oxford, 1992).

Mark Twain Circle at Elmira 2026

The Mark Twain Circle invites proposals (developed abstracts of 250-500 words plus a brief biography) for two panels of 20-minute papers on topics below.

(1) “Arrogance, Autocrats, and Corruption: Mark Twain Critiques the American Political Landscape.”

(2) “Beyond the Page: Adaptations, Sequels, and (Re)Visions of Mark Twain’s Writings,” with a focus on recent works.

The Circle also invites proposals for a roundtable (5-minute presentations or position statements followed by moderated conversation) on the following topic:

(3) “A Mark Twain Studies Wish List: Under-studied, Overlooked, and Persistent Critical and Biographical Questions in Mark Twain Scholarship.”

Early-career scholars and graduate students are encouraged to submit. All presenters must be current members of the Mark Twain Circle, which expects to have some funds to support participation by un(der)funded presenters.

Proposals are due February 15, 2026 to Circle president Judith Yaross Lee <le**@**io.edu>, who will forward them to the chair of each panel (TBD). Decisions will be communicated in time for proposals that cannot be accommodated in the Circle’s panels to be resubmitted to the Center for Mark Twain Studies in time for its general-submission deadline of February 20.

American Humor Studies Association at Elmira 2026

A Unique Opportunity for American Humor Scholars

As part of the 10th International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, the American Humor Studies Association (AHSA) invites proposals for either a panel or a roundtable discussion. The Elmira conference will expand its traditional focus on Mark Twain by including sister organizations such as AHSA. The conference theme is “Irreverence, Rebellion, and Resilience.”

Panel: COMIC LAUGHTER AS DISSENT

Laughter is dissent when power demands obedience.

AHSA invites humor scholars to participate in a panel dedicated to gathering, documenting, and analyzing examples of citizens, as well as professionals, using comic tactics to push back against forms of oppression in the public sphere. Together, these presentations will constitute a step towards creating a laughable chronicle of the times.

Recent events have elicited a myriad of spontaneous (and not-so spontaneous) expressions of dissent presented in comic formats, written and digitized and performed. AHSA envisions this panel as a first draft of documenting citizen responses along with professional ones. While we expect an emphasis on events in the last few years, all time frames are fair game. Similarly, while we expect digital examples such as memes and posts on social media to dominate, all forms in all formats are welcome.

 Abstracts of 250 to 300 words plus a brief biography are due February 13, 2026 to Todd Thompson: th******@*up.edu. All panelists must be members of AHSA before the conference opens. The Constance Rourke travel award is available for graduate students on a panel. The award varies between $100 – $300 (depending on AHSA funds and the number of applicants) to help defray the cost of attending conferences with AHSA-sponsored panels.

Roundtable: INTERROGATING “AMERICAN” HUMOR

The AHSA roundtable will feature an array of scholarly interpretations of what the “American” in “American Humor Studies” means to them in 2026. 

 Due to globalization and to newer transnational scholarly paradigms—including, but not limited to, transatlantic, transoceanic, hemispheric, and postcolonial approaches—the old national boundaries of academic subdisciplines in literary studies, performance studies, historiography, rhetoric, and even American studies have increasingly come into question and under challenge. So, what does “American” mean to you as a humor scholar?

 The AHSA recognizes that its members and the larger community of humor scholars have disparate and even competing notions of what “American” means to their own work and to their assumptions about humor studies as a field. This roundtable seeks to surface these too-often unspoken understandings so as to highlight the rich variety of approaches to studying “American” humor. 

 Accepted abstracts will be printed in the conference program and will form the basis for the roundtable conversation. The moderator will formulate questions, connections, and provocations to guide discussion.

 Abstracts of 300 words plus a brief biography are due February 13, 2026 to Todd Thompson: th******@*up.edu. All roundtable participants must be members of AHSA before the conference opens. The Constance Rourke travel award is available for graduate students. The award varies between $100 – $300 (depending on AHSA funds and the number of applicants) to help defray the cost of attending conferences with AHSA-sponsored events.