Call for Papers
Dante Futures 2025: New Voices in the UK and Ireland
21-22 November 2025
University of Warwick
We are glad to announce that the annual doctoral and postdoctoral research conference ‘Dante Futures 2025: New Voices in the UK and Ireland’ will take place in person at the University of Warwick on 21-22 November 2025, with a keynote by Dr Julia Hartley (University of Glasgow).
‘Dante Futures 2025’ will be the fourth edition of the event, previously held at University College Cork (2022), the University of Leeds (2023), and the University of Cambridge (2024). The aim of the conference is to create a space for emerging researchers in Dante Studies in Ireland and the UK to present their work in progress, engage in discussion with peers, and receive valuable feedback from more experienced researchers. ‘Dante Futures’ also intends to foster collaboration between the major institutions engaged in Dante Studies at PhD and postdoctoral level across Ireland and the UK.
We welcome papers on Dante and the culture of his time broadly conceived, as well as contributions that analyse the reception of Dante’s life and work across the centuries. Papers that apply new methodological approaches to Dante’s work or examine Dante’s legacy outside Europe are particularly welcome.
PhD candidates currently working at, or otherwise affiliated with, Irish and UK research institutions, and those who have been awarded their PhD in 2024 or 2025 are welcome to submit paper proposals.
Postdoctoral fellows, PhD supervisors, and senior scholars who want to participate in discussion, offer feedback, and support emerging researchers are most welcome to attend. We kindly ask you to confirm your intention to participate by email (dantefutures@gmail.com).
The conference is sponsored by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Londra, the Society for Italian Studies (SIS), the Humanities Research Centre and the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Warwick.
Thanks to the generous contribution of the SIS EDI Fund, we are able to offer 3 travel bursaries of £100 each to unfunded, unwaged and/or non-academic participants to cover accommodation and/or travel expenses. This additional support will be allocated for papers which explicitly address historically neglected areas in the discipline of Italian Studies, for example, questions of race and sexuality. We also encourage you to apply to your university or department for any available funding.
Please send the following to dantefutures@gmail.com (deadline 30 July 2025):
1. Paper title and abstract (up to 300 words)
2. Brief bio, including pronouns
3. (If applicable) Expression of interest in applying for the SIS EDI bursary, with a brief justification
4. Any accessibility and dietary requirements
Please share widely with PhD students working in Dante Studies and adjacent fields. We hope to see many of you in November!
‘Dante Futures 2025’ Organising Committee: Gennaro Ambrosino, Aistė Kiltinavičiūtė, Enrica Leydi, Elisa Rosati, Chiara Valcelli