Haunted Futures Conference 2026

13 Jun Haunted Futures Conference 2026

University College Cork: 29th – 30th September 2026

Deadline for Submissions: August 24th, 2024

Email: hauntedfuturesconference@gmail.com
X:@HauntedFutures
Bluesky: @HauntedFutures

Proposals for presentations are now being invited for the fourth annual Haunted Futures Conference
to be held from the 29th to the 30th of September at University College Cork.

Supported by UCC’s Collective Social Futures, the conference proposes to explore hauntings as
potent staging grounds for radical social change, which in their dismantling of hegemonic capitalist,
imperialist relationships to time, provide a means of imagining new futures in the late-capitalist
Anthropocene, and empowering marginalised and exploited identities, both human and otherwise.
In addition to the above rubric, this year’s conference also proposes to explore ‘Spaces in Crisis’.
We welcome papers which consider the intersection between spaces and their histories both human
and non-human. This year’s conference will present “haunted” buildings, locations, and
environments and their relationship to crisis as a potent staging ground for radical imaginaries of
the future and vital points of contact with hard histories.

Proposed topics include, but are not limited to:

The intersection of space and spectrality; Marxism and crisis; Marxism and place; Climate change
and hauntology; Extinction; Urban ghosts; Space and marginalisation; Postcolonial spaces;
Liminality; Anachronistic spaces; Digital spaces; Ghosts and ecology; Ghosts and time; Queer
hauntings; Ghosts and race; Ghosts and gender; Ghosts and postcolonialism; Ghosts and the archive

Please note:
• The organisers are particularly interested in the work of postgraduate and early career researchers.
• There is no submission fee for this event.
• The organisers also encourage proposals for artistic or multimedia/practice based projects.
• While this is primarily an in-person event, submissions for several remote presentations will be considered.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
A 300 to 500 word proposal, in Doc. or DocX format should be sent to Ellen Scally and Rachel
Gough at hauntedfuturesconference@gmail.com by the 24th of August.
Subject heading: Author’s Surname – Haunted Futures Abstract

THE ORGANISERS
Dr Ellen Scally: Postdoctoral Researcher, University College Cork
Ellen Scally recently graduated with a PhD from the Department of Film & Screen Media at
University College Cork. She is a former graduate of the MA in Film & Screen Media at UCC. Her
PhD project concerned the history of amateur film and cine-culture in Ireland, and research interests
include Irish cinema history, amateur film practice, community cinema, and the audio-visual
archive. Her PhD project was awarded an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland
Postgraduate Scholarship and, in 2025, she was a fellow at the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies
in Bochum, Germany. She is a co-organiser of Haunted Futures, an annual interdisciplinary
conference at University College Cork.

Dr Rachel Gough: Postdoctoral Researcher, University College Cork
Rachel Gough is a postdoctoral researcher whose work considers environmental humanities, Irish
ecological cultures, and visualisation of extraction, extinction, and colonial afterlives. She is a
reviews editor for the journal Estudios Irlandeses and the Public Relations Officer for Women in
Research Ireland. She is based in the CPPU group at the Sustainability Institute, UCC where she is
working on the EPA-funded CLIMATUDE project. This project is focusing on developing an
understanding of Irish people’s attitudes, beliefs and values related to climate change. She also
lectures in the Department of Film and Screen Media. She is a multi-award winning short fiction
writer, her work has been widely published and has been adapted for radio by the BBC. She is a co-
organiser of Haunted Futures, an annual interdisciplinary conference at University College Cork.