NEPCA Panels 2010

The following represent the proposed panels for this October's NEPCA conference in Boston. Abstracts and biographies will be posted once the program is official.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Legend Area 2010

(Revised 6/13/10)

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Legend I: Children’s Culture

Presider: Michael A. Torregrossa (The Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages)

1. “War, Veterans, Disabilities, and How to Train Your Dragon”

Will Eggers (University of Connecticut)

2. “The Book’s the Thing: Books as Artifacts of Power in Children’s Fantasy”

Amie A. Doughty (SUNY Oneonta)

3. “From Muggles to Merlins: The Representation of Mentor Figures in The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Ewoks (1985-86)”

Michael A. Torregrossa (The Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages)

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Legend II: Monstrous Medievalisms (Sponsored by The Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages)

Presider: John P. Sexton (Bridgewater State College)

1. “An Unsung Hero: The Arthurian Legacy in the Gabriel Knight Game Series”

Angela Tenga (Florida Institute of Technology)

2. “Staking them Out: Shakespeare’s Vampires”

Danielle Rosvally (Rutgers University)

3. “The Impaling of Vlad: Dracula, Literary Tourism, and National Identity”

Tony Giffone (Farmingdale State College/SUNY)

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Legend III: Race and Gender

Presider: Macey M. Freudensprung (The University of Texas at San Antonio):

1. “The Lilith Character: Critically Analyzing Women’s Roles within African-American Speculative Fiction According to the Portrayal of Lilith within Jewish, Greek, and Afro-Diasporic Folklore and Mysticism”

Macey M. Freudensprung (The University of Texas at San Antonio)

2. “Vampire as Tragic Mulatto: Angel and Spike in the Whedonverse”
Wendy Wagner (Johnson & Wales University)

3. “Nyota Uhura: Feminist Star of Freedom”

Mayan A. Jarnagin (The University of Texas at San Antonio)

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Legend IV: SF TV

Presider: Wendy Wagner (Johnson & Wales University)

1. “From Dunne to Desmond: Disembodied Time Travel in Tolkien, Stapledon, and Lost”

Kristine Larsen (Central Connecticut State University)

2. “Watching Death in Torchwood: The Impact on Characters and Fans”

Marla Harris (Independent Scholar)

3. “Battlestar Galactica and the Cults of Seriality”

Jordan Lavender-Smith (CUNY Graduate Center)