One of MERLIT’s aims is to explore the role of literature in relation to social narratives – and to the world, or, in other words: literature’s ‘worldmaking’ aspects. Literature can arguably be a powerful vehicle in our attempts at understanding the world and our ‘dealings’ with it. The Ties That Bind Us series provides occasions to do so in interaction with thinkers, writers, artists and a general public on location in Brussels. With our involvement - as literary scholars - in the series, we hope to show that literature is not merely a passive ‘vessel’ but can be a shaping force, and that much can be learned from engaging with the literary.
Beyond the series, MERLIT’s researchers get involved in a number of outreach activities in collaboration with VUB’s public programme and cultural institutions in Brussels and beyond. They are also involved in the organisation of, and regularly present at, conferences and seminars at VUB and in other academic contexts. Please take a look at our upcoming and past events and engagements listed below:
Forthcoming MERLIT Activities
Practical info22/01/2026 - 18:00 - 22/01/2026 - 20:00MERLIT Researcher's guest lecture at Goethe University, Frankfurt - RESCHEDULED
Past MERLIT Activities
Practical info05/12/2025 - 09:00 - 05/12/2025 - 18:00MERLIT Researcher participates in the CLIC Day 2025: Journalism & Literature
Practical info21/10/2025 - 09:00 - 24/10/2025 - 14:00MERLIT-Associated Researcher participated in the 3rd International Congress of Afro-descendant Literary and Cultural Studies, 21-24 October 2025
Practical info08/10/2025 - 00:00 -Congratulations to Elizabeth Abena Osei on her recent publication
Practical info17/09/2025 - 09:00 - 19/09/2025 - 18:00MERLIT Researchers participated in international conference 'From Experiences to Storytelling of Postmigration...' @ UC Louvain, Belgium
Practical info27/08/2025 - 08:30 - 29/08/2025 - 17:00MERLIT-Associated Researcher participates in CHARM Doctoral Seasonal School in Ghent, August 2025
Practical info18/07/2025 - 00:00 -MERLIT Visiting Professor Suzanne Scafe publishes new book: 'Reading to Resist'
Practical info01/07/2025 - 08:00 - 05/07/2025 - 11:30MERLIT Researchers participate in ACLALS Conference 1-5 July 2025 @ the University of Nairobi, Kenya
Practical info19/06/2025 - 09:00 - 20/06/2025 - 17:30MERLIT Researchers participate in the 'Of Intermediality' Symposium June 2025
Practical info17/06/2025 - 17:30 - 17/06/2025 - 18:00Poetry Reading with Uhuru Phalafala
On 17 June at 17:30, Uhuru Phalafala read excerpts from her book 'Mine Mine Mine'.
Practical info29/05/2025 - 11:00 - 31/05/2025 - 14:30MERLIT-Associated Researcher participates in GAPS Conference 29-31 May 2025 @ the University of Bielefeld, Germany
- Practical info30/05/2025 - 10:30 - 30/05/2025 - 15:00
Game Workshop Day: Sankofa’s Cosmic Adansikro w/ Lisa Abena Osei
The MERLIT Research Team invites you to join a hands-on workshop featuring Sankofa’s Cosmic Adansikro;
Copyright © Navid Fayaz
Practical info06/05/2025 - 20:00 - 06/05/2025 - 22:00This was Caryl Phillips's reading of 'Another Man in the Street' at Passa Porta
Click here to see some pictures!
Practical info06/05/2025 - 20:00 - 06/05/2025 - 22:00MERLIT Outreach: A Reading of “Another Man in the Street” by Caryl Phillips as part of the 'Ties That Bind Us' series
Practical info03/03/2025 - 17:30 - 03/03/2025 - 20:00Ties That Bind Us Lecture Monday 3 March 2025 w/ Prof. Dr. Tim Ingold
On Monday 3 March 2025, Anthropologist, Prof. dr. Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen) will give a lecture on re-thinking the relationship between humanity and the natural/non-human world by way of a 'New Humanism'.
Practical info04/02/2025 - 12:00 - 04/02/2025 - 13:30WOLEC Lunch lecture Tuesday 4 February 2025 w/ Dr. Gibson Ncube
On 4 February 2025, Dr Gibson Ncube (Senior Lecturer in the Modern Foreign Languages department of Stellenbosch University, S.
Practical info13/12/2024 - 08:30 - 13/12/2024 - 17:00BAAHE Conference 2024
Practical info06/12/2024 - 09:00 - 06/12/2024 - 16:30MERLIT Researchers participate in the 14th CLIC Day: Multilingualism and Literature
Copyright © Sandro Most
Practical info05/12/2024 - 18:00 - 05/12/2024 - 20:00“That I should report on these things”: Reading and Discussion with German writer Esther Dischereit
Part of the series 'Ties that Bind Us'
Practical info12/11/2024 - 09:00 - 15/11/2024 - 17:00MERLIT Researchers participate in EUTOPIA Autumn School - Multilingualism in Brussels: 12-15 November 2024
The Autumn School, designed within the EUTOPIA Network, aims to equip students with intercultural and international skills. It is a Research Seminar focused on Multilingualism in Brussels, as well as other multilingual and multicultural contexts.
Practical info21/10/2024 - 20:00 - 21/10/2024 - 21:30A Kind of Home: A Radio Play Listening Event Commemorating James Baldwin's Centenary
Practical info28/11/2025 - 08:30 - 28/11/2025 - 17:15MERLIT Researchers participate in the VAL Symposium: 'Gender Anxieties?' - 28 November 2025
Practical info01/10/2024 - 16:00 - 04/10/2024 - 21:00MERLIT participates in Afroeurope@ns Conference: Twenty Years of Decolonising Knowledge
Practical info22/01/2026 - 18:00 - 22/01/2026 - 20:00MERLIT Researcher's guest lecture at Goethe University, Frankfurt - RESCHEDULED