"I swear I think there is nothing but immortality! / That the exquisite scheme is for it, and the nebulous float is for it, / and the cohering is for it! / And all preparation is for it—and identity is for it—and life and / materials are altogether for it!” declares Walt Whitman in his magnum      opus Leaves of Grass thus stressing the eternal desire for unending existence. Throughout the history of humankind, one of the most  powerful aspirations has been to achieve immortality. The Departments of American Culture and Literature and English Language  and Literature proudly presents its 9th International Undergraduate  Symposium (IUS) entitled “Immortality” in literature and culture. The main goal of IUS is not only to bring together the         undergraduate students to provide them a platform where they can submit their works but also to offer an early academic participation via this unique experience. The 9th IUS will mainly focus on the different approaches towards the subject of immortality in literature, language, history, popular culture and fine arts. Possible topics include, but are  not limited to:
-Immortality in Literature
-Ecocriticism/Nature and Immortality
-Immortality in Visual Arts
-Poetics of Immortality
-Immortality in Popular Culture

-Ethics, Moral Values and Immortality

-Mythology, Religion and Immortality

-Gender and Immortality

-Race, Ethnicity and Immortality
-Language and Immortality
-History, Politics and Immortality
-Immortality and Body