Discuss: Colloquia
The Colloquia are a required component of our program, ensuring that every participant will have the opportunity to present their work and actively engage with their fellow participants.
The Institute's Colloquia will provide the opportunity for our participants to present a paper within the general framework of one of seven World Literature topics:
- Sociology of World Literature
- World Literature and Production
- World Literature and Translation
- World Literature and Circulation
- World Literature and the Premodern
- Postcolonialism and World Literature
- World Cinema and World Literature
- Politics, Poetics and World Literature
Participants will be placed in an appropriate colloquium group based on their preference and on the work they will upload onto the application form in the section entitled "Writing sample". Please note that the writing sample must not necessarily be what you will present during the colloquium unless you choose so. However, the sample you upload must demonstrate a specific interest in the colloquium topic that you select as top preference.
Colloquia are groups led by one of our faculty participants. Between February 25, 2026 and March 15, 2026, IWL invites applications from our postdoctoral and faculty participants to act as colloquium group leader for the duration of our summer session. The group leader will be in charge of collecting the abstracts from the participants in the colloquium, organizing the weekly meetings, and sending the schedule to the group and to the IWL Executive Director no later than June 1, 2026. After the program ends, the group leader will write a report about the group's activity and send it to IWL to be posted online for the use of next year's participants no later than September 1, 2026. Colloquium group leaders will receive $250 for their work organizing and chairing the weekly meetings of the colloquia. Those interested are invited to send their CV and cover letter to iwl@fas.harvard.edu. The IWL Executive Committee will then select the group leaders by April 1.
If you wish to apply to be a group leader, check out our 2026 Colloquia Leaders Memo.