11th Inter-University Student Conference and Cultural Competition: Fairy Tales and Folktales

Name: 11th Inter-University Student Conference and Cultural Competition: Fairy Tales and Folktales
Start: 2025-10-23T09:00:00+06:00
End: 2025-10-24T17:00:00+06:00
Location: 688 Beribadh Road, Mohammadpur, 1207 Dhaka, Bangladesh

Schedule

Thu, 23 Oct, 2025 at 09:00 am to Fri, 24 Oct, 2025 at 05:00 pm

UTC+06:00

Location

688 Beribadh Road, Mohammadpur, 1207 Dhaka, Bangladesh | Dhaka, DA

🔶 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞: 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐍/𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 🔶
This year marks the 150th and 166th death anniversaries of Hans Christian Andersen, the critically acclaimed Danish writer, and the Grimm Brothers, the well-loved German authors, respectively, whose fairy tales have transcended borders, generations and genres. A writer of poetry, travelogues, novels, plays, and short stories, Andersen is best remembered for his tales, such as “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and “The Snow Queen.” Andersen’s legacy goes beyond childhood whimsy, as has been observed by de Mylius: “There is sorrow, misery, and even tragedy in his tales, and even the more comforting endings often have a sinister background” (170). The Grimm Brothers, authors of childhood classics like “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Rumpelstiltskin,” wrote and collected fairy tales and folktales from all over Europe, paving the way for the modern day study of folklore. Many of these stories have captured public imagination through Disney adaptations with a twist on the formulaic “happily ever after.”
In remembrance of Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers, thus, the Department of English and Humanities dedicates the 11th Inter-University Student Conference and Cultural Competition to the theme “Fairy Tales and Folklore: Happily N/Ever After.”
The event, however, expects to go beyond the tales of Andersen and the Grimm Brothers to explore the ubiquitous presence of fairy tales and folklore in every culture. The emerging digital landscape has redefined our engagement with oral traditions. The once mythic world is merged with modernity. And the moral world of traditional fairy tales are now imbued with socio-political realities and agenda-ridden ideologies.
Keeping the fairy tales and folklore of different cultures in mind, students in the 𝐁𝐀 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 are invited to expand upon and explore the theme in terms of literature, language, linguistics, cultural studies, communication studies, translation studies, and digital humanities.
The conference comprises two segments with prizes for the top two performers in each category.
👉 Academic paper presentations
👉 Cultural presentations
Papers and cultural presentations are invited on, but not limited to, the following areas in relation to folklore and/or fairy tales:
• Sociolinguistics of Storytelling
• Narrative Discourse Analysis
• Language and Identity in Folklore
• Translanguaging in Fairy Tale Retellings
• Intercultural Pragmatics
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Computational Folkloristics
• Fairy Tales and Folklore in Materials Development
• Language Variation in Adaptations
• Translation and Transcreation of Fairy Tales
• Gendered Discourse in Fairy Tales
• Communication Skill Building
• Ethnography and Ethnolinguistics
• Religion
• Ecocriticism
• Fairy Tales and Folklore in Modern Life
• History and Folklore
• Gender and Identity
• Diaspora
• Oral and Written Traditions
• Intertextuality, Translations, and Adaptations
• Power and Politics
• Race and Class
• Fear, Violence, and Trauma in Fairy Tales
• Memes and Modern Myth-Making
• Morality and Ethics
• Heroes and Villains
• Transgressions and Transformations
• Technology and Fairy Tales
• Fairy Tales in Gaming and Digital Media
• New Media
• Digital Storytelling and Folklore
• AI-Generated Folktales
• Memes and Fairy Tales
• Reshaping Narratives
‼️𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒‼️
Abstract Submission
Expression of Interest for Cultural Competition
𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
Full Paper Submission
Team Member Names for Cultural Competition
𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
Registration
𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
(𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺)
‼️𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐒‼️
Presenters: Tk. 500 /presenter
Cultural Teams: Tk. 500/participant (max. Tk. 5000/team)
(Payment by Bkash or in person)
‼️𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐎:‼️
[email protected]
‼️𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒‼️
𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
• Department heads or representative faculty members will select ONE paper for presentation from their institution ULAB will NOT shortlist or select any submitted abstracts. Respective universities’ selections are final.
• Papers may be co-authored by a maximum of two students, in which case prizes will be shared by the co-authors.
• Judging Criteria: content, organization, presentations skills, relevance to theme
• Language of presentation: English
• Time limit: 10 minutes (8 mins for presentation + 2 mins for Q/A)
• All papers will be checked for plagiarism and AI usage. The percentage of similarity and usage will be noted on the judges’ evaluation forms.
• Papers will be judged by an independent panel of judges, and the best two papers will each receive a monetary prize, a crest, and a certificate.
• All presenters will receive certificates of participation.
𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
• Representations may include but are not limited to skits, readings, adaptations, visual interpretations, and documentaries.
• Judging Criteria: relevance to theme, content, quality, process (including time management), and impact
• Language of presentation: English
• Number of team members: maximum 10, inclusive of supporting members
• Time limit: 12 minutes
• Props: Minimum
• The Cultural Competition will be judged by an independent panel of judges, and the best two teams will each be awarded a monetary prize, a crest, and a certificate.
• Each participant will receive a certificate of participation.