The Southern Humanities Conference offers an opportunity for scholars, artists, writers, musicians, performers, and humanists of all kinds to share their knowledge, research, work, and experiences in an interdisciplinary, welcoming, and engaging intellectual space.

For 2025 our conference theme will be “Real, Artificial, and Superficial.”  Human relationships in the twenty-first century are often marked by moments of genuine honesty and vulnerability as people seek ‘real’ connection as opposed to something ‘superficial.’  This desire to parse things real, artificial, and superficial—and to see the interstices between them—are central to experiences in the humanities, and perhaps, to the human experience.  In addition, researchers of all types seek to recover or expose reality in the world and submit it to a critical and evaluative process.  Yet, many recognize that subjective research can only reveal reality in partial, fragmentary, or illusory ways.  As Albert Einstein noted, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” 

Sorting through theoretical and practical discussions of the real and the artificial is central to many of the assumptions that undergird contemporary research and critical theory in the postmodern world.  And yet, the interplay between reality, the artificial and the superficial can be exceptionally productive for the creativity of writers, artists, dancers, and musicians.  Furthermore, one of the most important recent technological developments is artificial intelligence, where generative engines have raised questions about the nature of information and communication, as well as about how educators and researchers might engage with the artificial.  In fact, what are the boundaries between the artificial and the real?  How intelligent is the artificial?  And how superficial or real is artificial intelligence?  Jean Baudrilliard, whose key ideas included “simulation” and the “hyperreal” quipped, “The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.”  The alchemy between real, artificial, and superficial will serve as the prompt for our collective conversation and offers us a platform for appraising the world around us.

The Southern Humanities Conference invites proposals for papers on any aspect of the theme “Real, Artificial, Superficial,” broadly conceived. Our conference themes are meant to be inspiring and prompt reflection, not limiting.  The topic is interdisciplinary and invites proposals from all areas of study, as well as creative pieces including but not limited to performance, music, art, and literature. Customary paper and full panel proposals are invited, as are ones for creative presentation formats like roundtables, workshops, and demonstrations.  Moreover, the Southern Humanities Conference welcomes proposals from teachers and professionals outside the academy, as well as from scholars in the early stages of their academic careers.  Please note that the name of our organization simply reflects its having been founded in the U.S. South; no presenter is expected to present anything “southern,” though southern topics are also welcomed. Conference attendees come from all over the United States, Canada, and overseas.