Literature

In its largest sense, comparative literature promotes the study of intercultural relations that cross national boundaries, multicultural relations within a particular society, and the interactions between literature and other forms of human activity, including the arts, the sciences, philosophy, and cultural artifacts of all kinds.

The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) seeks to promote excellence in literary criticism and scholarship, and works to ensure that literature thrives in both scholarly and creative environments. We encourage the reading and writing of literature, criticism, and scholarship, as well as wide-ranging discussions among those committed to the reading and study of literary works.

Founded in 1948, ASJA (the American Society of Journalists and Authors) is the nation’s largest professional organization of independent nonfiction writers.

The Bibliographical Society of America is a membership organization that has fostered the study of books and other textual artifacts since 1904.

Since 1938, the College English Association has been a vibrant, growing professional organization of scholar-teachers who regard teaching college students, undergraduate and graduate, as the proper focus of the profession.

The Dictionary Society of North America was formed in 1975 to bring together people interested in dictionary making, study, collection, and use. Our more than 400 members who live in 40 countries around the world include people working on dictionaries, academics who engage in research and writing about dictionaries, dictionary collectors, librarians, booksellers, translators, linguists, publishers, writers, collectors, journalists, and people with an avocational interest in dictionaries.

The Medieval Academy of America is the largest organization in the United States promoting excellence in the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the quarterly journal Speculum, and awards prizes, grants, and fellowships. The Medieval Academy supports research, publication, and teaching in medieval art, archaeology, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, social and economic institutions, and all other aspects of the Middle Ages.

Founded in 1883, the Modern Language Association of America provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy. MLA members host an annual convention and other meetings, work with related organizations, and sustain one of the finest publishing programs in the humanities. For more than a century, members have worked to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature.

Providing a forum for the discussion of the Victorian period, with annual conferences in locations across the US and Canada.

When you join NCTE, you’ll be joining the best minds in English, language arts, and writing studies. You’ll find a professional home for the many stages of your teaching career.

"PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible." (from website)

The Poetry Society of America places poetry at the crossroads of American life. The PSA transforms public spaces into sites for imaginative encounters with poems, engages diverse and often underserved communities, amplifies the voices of poets around issues of common concern, and honors their aesthetic contributions to our lives.

RSA welcomes scholars, teachers, and students of rhetoric in all of its manifestations. RSA's purpose is to support and advance the work of people who study rhetoric in a variety of disciplinary contexts.

The Renaissance Society of America is the largest international organization devoted to the critical study of the world from 1300–1700 and its importance today. The RSA fosters initiatives that feature innovative, multidisciplinary research and pedagogical approaches together with well-established methodologies. It sponsors digital and print publications to disseminate knowledge, organizes in-person and virtual events to bring together diverse communities of inquiry and practice, and promotes the works of its members in the field of Renaissance studies.

The idea of SHARP was generated in 1991, a year when popular excitement about the future of the book was encouraging scholars to look back at its past. Although questions that we now consider book historical had been active in the study of literature and history for some time, there was no interdisciplinary meeting place, no online discussion forum or website, no newsletter and no journal—that is until Jonathan Rose and Simon Eliot proposed the idea of a new international society for studying the history of authorship, reception, and publishing.