CFP Star Wars 50 Years: Pasts, Presents, and Futures (11/1/2026; Leicester, UK 5/21-22/2027)

Here's the information on yet another conference set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars in 1977. 

Star Wars 50 Years: Pasts, Presents, and Futures

deadline for submissions:
November 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:
University of Leicester

contact email:
sw-conf-50@leicester.ac.uk

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/106328

Conference Call for Papers

The Star Wars 50 Years academic conference will be held by the University of Leicester and the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space at Space Park Leicester on 21-22 May 2027 in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the original release of the film on 25 May 1977 in the U.S. We are now inviting proposals for conference presentations.

Conference Organisers:

Xiyuan Gao, PhD Candidate - Conference Director
Dr David Christopher - Conference Co-Director
Dr James Aitcheson - Leverhulme Centre Partner
Dr Tara Smith - Leverhulme Centre Partner
Helen Bruce, PhD Candidate - Director, Festival of Media Stories



Overview

Star Wars: A New Hope was first released in the United States on 25 May 1977, inaugurating a screen franchise whose cultural, industrial, and imaginative afterlives now span half a century. The Star Wars 50 Years Conference will mark the anniversary by bringing together scholars, researchers, practitioners, archivists, and fans at the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space in Leicester contiguous with The National Space Centre.

The Centre hosts numerous Star Wars-themed public events throughout the year, and we will be excited to follow their developing programme with an eye to connecting their events and screenings to the conference.

Leicester and Leicestershire occupy a distinctive place in the history of Star Wars in the UK. Leicestershire was home to Palitoy, the toy company that held the coveted manufacturing contract in the UK during the original trilogy era.

Palitoy’s Star Wars figures, vehicles, packaging, and playsets remain central to British collecting cultures and to the material memory of the franchise, linking Leicestershire to the commercial and affective history of Star Wars childhoods, fandom, and merchandising. Indeed, Matt Holt’s upcoming documentary In a Landfill Far, Far Away (Spoon Jar Films) seeks to discover the so-called ‘lost toys’ from the Palitoy factory putatively buried somewhere in Leicestershire which is sure to create a scholarly buzz: 'Filmmaker unearths legend of buried Star Wars toys'.

Leicestershire’s connection to the franchise is also embodied in personnel history. The late Jeremy Bulloch, born in Market Harborough, was the first actor to perform Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, helping to create one of the most enduring and enigmatic figures in Star Wars. His association with Boba Fett further situates Leicestershire within the lived and performed history of Star Wars, extending the county’s relevance beyond merchandising and into questions of screen performance, character embodiment, cult stardom, and fan memory. Gareth Edwards, director of Rogue One also calls Nuneaton home.

More broadly, the franchise has launched or fostered the careers of myriad British performers from Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing though to John Boyega, Felicity Jones, and Daisy Ridley. And so much of Lucas’s production efforts were located at various studios and locations across the UK including locations in Leicestershire.

Star Wars 50 Years invites contributors to reflect on the franchise’s pasts, presents, and futures, especially with regard to the participation of UK production inputs or international franchise phenomena, but not necessarily limited by this parameter as such. The conference welcomes papers on Star Wars across film, television, animation, games, publishing, merchandising, fan communities, transmedia storytelling, race, gender, class, politics, technology, nostalgia, and global reception, etc.

By gathering in Leicester, the conference asks not only what Star Wars has meant over the past fifty years, but also how particular places, objects, performances, institutions, and communities have shaped the franchise’s meanings across the UK and beyond.



Topics of Interest

We welcome papers on, but not limited to, the following research topics:

• Star Wars histories, legacies, and cultural memory.
• Directors, writers, producers, showrunners, designers, performers, and other creative workers across the franchise.
• Star Wars and transmedia storytelling across film, television, animation, novels, comics, games, audio, toys, and digital platforms.
• Expanded universes, canon, continuity, retconning, and the relationship between Legends and Disney-era canon.
• Star Wars television and Disney+ distribution.
• Star Wars animation (The Clone Wars, Rebels, and more recent animated projects).
• Star Wars games, interactive storytelling, virtual worlds, and player agency.
• Ethnicity, class, disability, age, and embodiment in Star Wars.
• Feminism, female characters, creators, audiences, and female-led fan practices.
• Masculinity, fatherhood, family, lineage, inheritance, and dynastic storytelling.
• Queer readings, slash fandom, transformative works, and alternative affective attachments.
• Stardom, performance, voice acting, physical performance, puppetry, motion capture, and creature performance.
• Practical effects, digital effects, CGI, sound design, editing, and the aesthetics of technological change.
• John Williams, musical themes, soundscapes, voice, and sonic memory.
• Merchandising, toys, collecting, licensing, branding, and commercial culture.
• Museums, exhibitions, archives, private collections, fan collections, and the preservation of Star Wars objects.
• Global Star Wars: international reception, translation, dubbing, subtitling, censorship, distribution, and localisation.
• Fandom, fanfiction, fan art, cosplay, fan films, podcasts, conventions, online communities, and platform cultures.
• Fan controversy, anti-fandom, canon disputes, toxicity, moderation, inclusion, and community governance.
• Nostalgia, childhood, memory, intergenerational spectatorship, collecting, and affect.
• Science, space travel, astronomy, robotics, artificial intelligence, and the relationship between Star Wars and public science imagination.
• Theme parks, immersive experiences, live events, exhibitions, tourism, and commercialised fan participation.
• Archives, lost materials, production histories, oral histories, memory work, and fan-led preservation.
• The future of Star Wars: franchise fatigue, renewal, legacy, and new audiences.

The conference is scheduled to be on-site and in-person. The submission of remote presentation proposals will be considered only under specific mitigating circumstances.



Submission Details

Individual Papers

The individual proposal shall include the following information, all in the same document:A title.
An abstract (maximum 300 words) for a 15-20-minute presentation.
Speaker’s short biography (maximum 150 words), including affiliation.
Speaker’s email address.

Pre-constituted Panels

The panel proposal shall include the following information, all in the same document:A panel title.
All individual abstracts (maximum 300 words each).
All speakers’ short biographies (maximum 150 words each), including their affiliation and email address.
If you wish to designate a panel chair, please indicate this in the panel proposal. Otherwise, the committee will assign one for you.

To submit, please email your proposal as an attachment (Word file preferred) to sw-conf-50@leicester.ac.uk by 1-November-2026. Please clearly state in the email subject either “Star Wars 50 Years individual proposal” or “Star Wars 50 Years panel proposal”.

Notification of accepted papers and panel proposals will be returned on or before 31st January 2027.



Conference Address

Space Park Leicester
Space City, 92 Corporation Rd, Leicester
Postcode: LE4 5SP



Contact

If you have any queries regarding the conference, please email conference director Xiyuan Gao (xg92@leicester.ac.uk) or co-director Dr David Christopher (dc435@leicester.ac.uk).

General enquiries: sw-conf-50@leicester.ac.uk

CFP “Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars (12/31/2026; PopCRN Online 5/4-5/2027)

“Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars 4-5 May 2027

deadline for submissions:
December 31, 2026

full name / name of organization:
PopCRN - The Popular Culture Research Network

contact email:
popcrn@une.edu.au

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/03/18/%E2%80%9Cfeel-the-force%E2%80%9D-the-first-50-years-of-star-wars-4-5-may-2027


“Feel the Force”: The first 50 years of Star Wars

A PopCRN Conference

Join us for a free virtual conference exploring the Star Wars universe and its enduring cultural impact to be held online from 4th-5th May 2027.

From a surprise blockbuster to a galactic empire of multimedia dominance, Star Wars has fundamentally reshaped popular culture, spawned generations of devoted fans, and continues to spark passionate debates about sequels, prequels, spinoffs, and what George Lucas really meant to say. Is Jar Jar Binks a Sith Lord? Are the Ewoks cute and cuddly? Which is the best trilogy? And what order should you watch them in? We want to hear all the academic debates from across the galaxy!

We welcome both individual papers, panels and round table discussions from researchers across the academic spectrum and encourage papers from academic padawans, postgraduate researchers and early career researchers. Selected papers will have the opportunity to be published in a planned book.

To whet your appetite, we have provided some topics below. We will also accept topics beyond this scope:

• "I find your lack of faith disturbing" – Fandom, canon wars, and the discourse around Disney's sequel trilogy.
• "These are not the droids you're looking for" – The role of robots, androids and AI in Star Wars narratives and our contemporary moment.
• "I am your father" – Paternity, family structures and generational trauma in the Skywalker saga.
• "Do or do not, there is no try" – Yoda, philosophy, and wisdom.
• "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" – Nostalgia, retrofuturism and the invention of the past.
• "The Force will be with you, always" – Spirituality, religion and mythology.
• "Laugh it up, fuzzball" – Comedy, camp and levity.
• "That's no moon" – Scale, technology and the sublime in science fiction cinema.
• "I love you." "I know." – Romantic narratives and toxic masculinity in space opera.
• "The garbage'll do!" – Consumption, waste and sustainability in Star Wars merchandising.
• "This is the way" – Community, belonging and parasocial relationships in television fandom.
• The Imperial March – Empire, corruption and war in the Star Wars universe.
• "The Resistance will rise" – Class struggle, labour and economic systems in Star Wars worldbuilding.
• "Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine" – Death, resurrection and immortality narratives.
• "I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe" – Labour, precarity and the gig economy in space.
• "That's no way to treat a lady!" – Manners, civility and social codes across species and cultures.

Please email inquiries to popcrn@une.edu.au

Website: www.popcrn.org

Please submit abstracts (200 words) and author details via our online portal By 31st December 2026.

Notification of abstract acceptance is 31st January 2027.

Registration is free. The conference is welcoming of early career researchers, postgraduates, Indigenous scholars, people with diverse identities and other Star Wars enthusiasts.

You can also submit via the QR code below or through the URLs below

Submit here - https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8jjzaWnS732QsFE

Register here - https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7TGWUYZidtlxVLU

CFP Star Wars at 50: Forces, Forms, Legacies (12/1/2026; Durham University 5/7/2027)

Star Wars at 50: Forces, Forms, Legacies

deadline for submissions:
December 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Dr Sam Thomas / Durham University

contact email:
samuel.thomas@durham.ac.uk

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/05/01/star-wars-at-50-forces-forms-legacies

2027 marks the 50th anniversary of the film now generally known as Episode IV: A New Hope, the first instalment in the hugely successful Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. As beloved as it is divisive, Star Wars now straddles multiple decades and generations while proliferating across narrative media (novels, comics, games, animation, TV). It provides a series of compelling case studies in the relationship between creativity and commerce, from the foundation of Lucasfilm during the New Hollywood period to the 21st century Disney-era, and it has developed via a complex interplay between cutting-edge technological innovation, nostalgia, and mythmaking. It is both shaped by and responsive to historical and political contexts ranging from the Vietnam War to 9/11. With Lucas famously drawing on an eclectic range of cinematic and intellectual influences (Kurosawa, the Western, Saturday serials, Joseph Campbell, Buddhism, and more), the influence that Star Wars itself now exerts on contemporary culture is as wide as it is deep. Star Wars, as Obi-Wan says of the Force, “binds us and penetrates us.” At the same time, however, and with some important exceptions, academic discussion of Star Wars has often relied on a rather narrow set of critical frameworks and has tended to neglect the actual texts of the franchise and their place in cultural history. As the blockbuster of blockbusters reaches its half century, it is therefore the ideal moment to reflect anew on Star Wars and its manifold legacies.

When and where?

The conference will take place on Friday May 7th 2027 at Durham University. This will be followed by an exciting series of public events and activities at the Glasshouse concert venue in Gateshead across May 8th and 9th. Details tbc. Speakers and attendees at the conference are welcome (and indeed encouraged) to stay for the weekend! Presenting online will also be an option (although these slots will be limited).

Texts and topics

Presentations are sought on any Star Wars media – from the films of the original trilogy to Knights of the Old Republic to Andor.

Topics covered may include (but are by no means limited to) the following:

• Star Wars in history and Star Wars as history.
• Star Wars and industrial change / allegory / crisis.
• The directors, producers, writers, showrunners, game designers etc who have shaped the franchise.
• Star Wars and genre.
• Star Wars and the nature of transmedial storytelling.
• Star Wars, stardom, and performance.
• Puppets, costumes, masks.
• The distinction between the ‘practical’ and the ‘digital’.
• The significance of race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and indigeneity in making and interpreting the franchise.
• Star Wars and critical theory (especially Jameson).
• Star Wars geographies (landscapes, locations, frontiers, cities, and so on).
• Star Wars and extractivism.
• Star Wars and neurodiversity.
• The relationship between scholarship and fandom.

Last updated May 7, 2026

CFP Edited Volume on Star Wars and Politics in the Disney Era (9/30/2025)

CFP: Edited Volume on Star Wars and Politics in the Disney Era

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Dominic J Nardi

contact email:
dnardi@umich.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/07/28/cfp-edited-volume-on-star-wars-and-politics-in-the-disney-era

This edited volume seeks to collect scholarship on the treatment of political themes and world-building in the Star Wars franchise since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. Scholars have thoroughly explored political topics in George Lucas’s works, but have paid less attention to how Star Wars projects under Disney have continued, changed, or challenged the franchise’s approach to politics. To advance the scholarship on this subject, we welcome proposals from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, including literary criticism, cultural history, political science, film studies, and fandom studies.



Possible / Suggested Topics:

We are willing to consider relevant proposals about Star Wars stories in any medium — including films, TV shows, novels, comics, and video games — published since Lucasfilm reset the Star Wars canon in April 2014. Below are some topics that essays selected for the volume might address. Please consider this list a starting point for ideas rather than an exhaustive checklist of desired coverage. 

• Everyday heroes and weapons of the weak in Rogue One and Andor
• Political idealism in The High Republic multimedia project
• Magical weapons to identify rightful rulers in Rebels, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett
• Luthen’s accelerationism in Andor
• Links between the Empire and organized crime
• Post-conflict justice in the Aftermath and Alphabet Squadron novels
• Information warfare and propaganda, including the Star Wars Propaganda artbook
• Political parties in Bloodlines as a commentary on American polarization
• Star Wars Visions and Ronin as non-Western perspectives on politics in Star Wars
• Mistreatment of veterans in Rebels, The Bad Batch, Andor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Transplanetary corporations and the military-industrial complex
• Income inequality and the donor class in The Last Jedi
• Pre-Mor Authority and the Empire’s use of contractors
• Political dynasties and/or cults of personality
• How political debates during the 2010s and early 2020s affected responses to the Sequel Trilogy
• Interconnections between the State and carceral institutions
• Tensions between political and religious institutions
• Nemik’s manifesto as political rhetoric

Submission and Contact:

Interested authors should email the following to sweede01@luther.edu and dnardi@umich.edu by September 30, 2025:

• 300-500 word abstract of your proposed chapter;
• Contact information - name, email address, and any institutional affiliation;
• Resume/CV for each author/co-author (in any format).

Selected authors will be notified by November 1, 2025, and will be invited to contribute a first draft of a full-length chapter by May 4, 2026. Essays should be between 5,000-7,500 words.



About the Editors

Derek Sweet (sweede01@luther.edu) has been a professor in the communication studies department since 2005, focusing on the topics of rhetoric and public address. Some of his course topics include Public Address, Advanced Public Address, Rhetoric of Everyday Life, Rhetoric of Spirituality, and Media & Popular Culture. He also coedited The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV (Palgrave 2020) and wrote Star Wars in the Public Square (McFarland, 2015).

Dominic J. Nardi (dnardi@umich.edu) is a political scientist who researches the depiction of politics in science fiction and fantasy. He coedited and wrote chapters for The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV (Palgrave 2020), Discovering Dune (McFarland 2022), and Studio Ghibli Animation as Adaptations (2025). He received his PhD from the University of Michigan and teaches at George Washington University.


Last updated July 28, 2025

CFP: Edited volume on Star Trek and Star Wars (8/2/2021)

Call for Proposals: Edited volume on Star Trek and Star Wars

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/05/11/call-for-proposals-edited-volume-on-star-trek-and-star-wars

deadline for submissions:
August 2, 2021


full name / name of organization:
Emily Strand and Amy H. Sturgis for Vernon Press


contact email:
drahsturgis@gmail.com



Call for Abstracts

Edited volume on Star Trek and Star Wars

Edited by Emily Strand, MA and Amy H. Sturgis, PhD

Vernon Press

The generations-spanning, multimedia franchises Star Trek and Star Wars will form the focus for this edited collection of scholarly essays. As venerable and evolving repositories of science fiction and fantasy storytelling, and as towering pillars of popular culture, both Star Trek and Star Wars inspire, transform, and even at times inflame their often overlapping fan bases. Together with the publisher, the editors seek proposals for essays exploring these franchises’ themes, narratives, characters, treatment of moral and philosophical dilemmas, religious or spiritual notions, and other aspects. (Abstracts for essays which compare or contrast the two franchises are also welcome.) Collected essays will offer insight — from a variety of disciplines and perspectives — on how these franchises contribute to popular culture and the tradition of speculative storytelling.

Abstracts and subsequent essays should be academically rigorous yet accessible to the informed (even non-academic) reader.

Abstracts of 300-500 words in length should be submitted, along with a brief biographical statement, by August 2, 2021.

Authors of accepted papers will be notified by September 1, 2021, and paper drafts should be submitted by January 10, 2022.

Please submit proposals via email (with or without attachment) to emilykcstrand@gmail.com and drahsturgis@gmail.com.

Last updated May 11, 2021 

 

May the Fourth Be With You

Happy Star Wars Day!

Celebrate with some old-school animation with the Ewoks, now on Disney+.

CFP Star Wars Conference (2/20/21; Virtual 5/4-7/21)

 I was excited to come across this call today from the SFRA news feed.

Realizing Resistance Episode II: Uncharted Galaxies

https://digital-frontiers.org/rrii/

With the end of the Skywalker era of the Star Wars saga, and the emergence of spin-offs like The Mandalorian, Resistance, and Rebels, aca-fans from all disciplines have an opportunity to engage with nearly half a century of Star Wars media. As with our previous event, this conference aims to bring together scholars from across disciplines to examine Star Wars media as cultural texts. We invite scholarly and creative interventions with an explicit focus on themes of resistance and justice. How do these these films and other media objects contribute to, reflect on, or depart from broader contemporary cultural practices and social discourses?

Since 2019, both the political and media worlds have experienced dramatic shifts and disruptions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, a contentious U.S. presidential election, and an increasing sense of the vulnerability of democratic institutions and processes. Star Wars, as a cultural phenomenon, has also been embroiled in controversies and transitions, from reactions to The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian to the emergence of Disney+ as a principle platform for the continuation of the Star Wars legacy. Star Wars has penetrated into the culture in surprising ways including martial arts classes offering lightsaber training, political protests that feature Star Wars iconography, the co-opting of the Empire and First Order by the alt-right, among many others. We encourage presentations that reflect on these contexts to offer new perspectives and innovative methodological and disciplinary approaches to Star Wars scholarship. 

 

 

Digital Frontiers invites proposals of individual papers, panels, academic posters and infographics, media objects (critical making, comics, video, Twine, or performance), and methodology or other workshops. Topics may include but are by no means limited to:

• Expanding the Star Wars universe: where do we go from here?
• Genres far, far away: Star Wars as western, war story, dystopian fiction, caper movie, romance, etc. 
• The Transmedia Star Wars: memes, video games, board games, RPGs, etc.
• Fan cultures and participatory practices.
• Star Wars Style: costume and fashion in the Star Wars universe.
• Animation as an artform and cultural object.
• Comics and animated series as canon
• The material culture of Star Wars: toys, branding, and collectibles
• Star Wars DH: computational and quantitative approaches to Star Wars scholarship
• Ahsoka Tano, Rey, Ventress, and other Women Warriors
• Queering Star Wars
• The Fall of Skywalker
• Deus ex Exegol: narrative studies and Star Wars
• The Star Wars Family: Malignant paternity, missing moms, toxic relationships
• “Much to learn, you still have.” Star Wars and Pedagogy
• Pop culture precursors
• Getting over “The Hero’s Journey”
• Monsters of Star Wars

Submit 250-word abstracts via this Google Form no later than midnight Central Time (US) on February 20, 2021.

Submit

All submissions will undergo transparent peer review. All participants will have the opportunity to publish their work in the RRII Proceedings in Unbound: A Journal of Digital Scholarship. Every effort will be made to accommodate international and early career and student scholars to facilitate their participation. All interactions are governed by the Digital Frontiers Statement of Inclusion and Accessibility.

This virtual conference will take place May 4-7, 2021.  Registration will be Pay-What-You’re-Able with a recommended contribution of $45. Registration opens March 22, 2021.

Important Dates:

Submission Deadline: February 20, 2021
Notifications & Registration Opens: March 22, 2021
Conference: May 4-7, 2021

Collaborating Institutions

• The University Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• The University of North Texas Libraries
• The Department of Rhetoric and the Program for Critical Theory at the University of California Berkeley
• The Departments of English and Environmental Studies at Aurora University
• The Department of Communication & Media Studies at SUNY Cortland

Organizing Committee

Bridgitte Barclay, Aurora University
Spencer D. C. Keralis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Christina Knopf, SUNY Cortland
Samantha Langsdale, University of California Berkeley
John Edward Martin, University of North Texas

Sponsorships

We invite organizations and institutions to sponsor Realizing Resistance Episode II. A $250 sponsorship will add your branding to this page, include coordinated social media announcements, and your branding during the virtual event. Sponsors can share a video or other personal message to be played during the event. To purchase a sponsorship, visit our Square Store, or contact conference@digital-frontiers.org for additional information.

Connect

Follow @RealizeResist on Twitter for updates and conversations. Contact conference@digital-frontiers.org with inquiries.

 

 

One last cfp for the day:

CFP: Mythmoot VII: Defying and Defining the Darkness, June 25–28, 2020, Leesburg, VA, USA
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2020/cfp-mythmoot-vii-defying-and-defining-the-darkness-june-25-28-2020-leesburg-va-usa/
February 1, 2020

Mythmoot VII: Defying and Defining the Darkness

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
— attributed to Anne Frank

When: June 25–28, 2020
Where: The National Conference Center
Leesburg, VA
USA

What is Mythmoot VII?

Mythmoot VII, with the theme of “Defying and Defining Darkness,” combines an academic conference, creative writing meet-up, and fan convention for a unique experience. Here at Mythmoot, we have room for serious scholarship in fields such as science fiction, high fantasy, horror, gothic, mythology, children’s literature, folklore.. .the list goes on. We also appreciate less academic, but no less enthusiastic, pursuits of all the above—such as demonstrations of how to knit the best fake candle ever, presentations theorizing the exact recipe for Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, or papers dissecting the cultural background of Baron Harkonnen!

Call for Proposals:

Where there is light there is darkness—the two play off of each other. This concept appears throughout literature all over the world in yin and yang, good and evil, two sides of the same coin, and even in the literal sun rising and setting. How does one define the darkness? Can darkness only be defied once it is known? Should darkness even be defined or defied? We want to hear how you believe defining and defying the darkness interacts with the stories you love and how you would approach the topic.

We are accepting proposals for Papers, Panels, Workshops, and Creative Presentations about defying or defining the darkness (or tangential topics) in the following areas of study:

● Imaginative Literature (ex: Harry Potter, Dune, The Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Dresden Files, etc.)
● Tolkien and Inklings Studies
● Classic Literature from ancient times to the present
● Philology

If you are unsure whether your topic fits, send your proposal or a description of your idea to the listed submissions email, and we will let you know.

Individual presentations, whether creative or critical, will have 30 minutes—20 minutes for presentation and 10 for Q&A. (N.B. The “creative” category is not limited to original works but could include presenting or performing art, music, drama, or dance. If you have any questions about what you can present, please contact the submissions email.)

Panels must contain at least 3 papers and/or presenters and will be allocated 90 minutes total for presentations and Q&A.

Workshops must identify their own length (either 30 min, 60 min, or 90 min) and include justification for the requested time. Workshops may be run individually, but it is recommended that a workshop have at least two leaders. (Workshop examples: the knitting of Smaug hats, an interactive discussion on dragon species, etc.)

Papers will be presented in 90-minute sessions of 1 – 3 presenters. Each presenter will have 30 minutes (20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for questions) to present their paper.

Proposal Submittal:
Your submission to events@signumu.org must contain the following in the email: the type of submission, a title, a 300-word abstract or description, the name(s) of the presenter(s), and a two-sentence biography for each presenter. Title your email “Mythmoot VII Proposal”. All submissions must be received by 11:59 pm EST on March 13th, 2020.

No presentations will be given in absentia, and your submission to Mythmoot VII is considered an agreement to attend and present should your proposal be accepted. Each room will have a projector for presenter use.

Newish Book: Star Wars: The Rise of a Hero

One more Star Wars book:

Simonson, Louise. Star Wars: The Rise of a Hero. Art by Walter Simonson, Tom Palmer, and Laura Martin. Los Angeles and New York: Disney-Lucasfilm Press-Disney Book Group, May 2017. 978-1-4847-9933-8

Released in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the original Star Wars, Star Wars: The Rise of a Hero details the life of young Luke Skywalker through words and images based on the film; however, in design, it is very unlike traditional picture books. Instead, it offers an illustrated narrative reminiscent of illustrated comic strips, like Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant. Louise Simonson’s text (which is sometimes a bit too close to the dialogue of the film) is depicted in a comics-style font with related features of italics and bold accents; this is presented alongside and around the comics-like images produced by her husband Walter Simonson and his fellow artists Tom Palmer and Laura Martin. For the most part, the text and images are depicted separately, but a few pages include the text boxes within the image panels; at other occasions, the images are stacked creating an even more comics-like page. Both occurrences further reinforce the work’s connection to the comic form.

More details and ordering instructions from Disney Books at https://books.disney.com/book/star-wars-the-rise-of-a-hero/.

More Star Wars: DiTerlizzi's Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight

Not sure if I've posted on this before:

DiTerlizzi, Tony. Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. Illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie. Designed by Tony DiTerlizzi and Jason Wojtowicz. Glendale, CA: Lucasfilm Press-Disney Book Group, 2014. 978-1-4847-0668-8

This an interesting idea. Writing for young readers, DiTerlizzi presents the story of Luke Skywalker adapted (sometimes word-for-word) from the Original Trilogy, and his narrative is accompanied by the Star Wars concept art of the late Ralph McQuarrie.

There are some resources on the making of the book at DiTerlizzi's website (http://diterlizzi.com/book/the-adventures-of-luke-skywalker-jedi-knight/), and Disney Books includes a trailer on its official page for the book at https://books.disney.com/book/star-wars-the-adventures-of-luke-skywalker-jedi-knight/.

Of Interest: Marvel's Star Wars: A New Hope—The 40th Anniversary

Also of interest:

Harrold, Jess. Star Wars: A New Hope—The 40th Anniversary. Book design by Adam Del Re with Salena Mahina. New York: Marvel Worldwide-Marvel Ent., 2018. 978-1-302-91128-7

Very much a companion to the earlier Star Wars: The Marvel Covers Vol. 1, Star Wars: A New Hope—The 40th Anniversary is a celebration of both forty years of Star War and a spotlight on Marvel’s renewed association with the franchise. The book begins by reproducing a series of forty-eight variant covers, which ran across Marvel’s new and expanded Star Wars line in 2017, retelling iconic scenes from the original film through fresh images. Each cover includes a plot synopsis (often very much indebted to the dialogue of the film) and samples of concept art or (sometimes) comic art from Marvel’s 1977 adaptation of the film that depicts a similar image. The next section (similar to Marvel’s earlier collection) allows the creators involved in the commemorative celebration to comment on their experiences with the original film and highlight their role in furthering its legacy. Another section offers a selection of other recent covers and variants from a number of Marvel’s current Star Wars series, serving as somewhat of an incomplete continuation of the material reproduced in Star Wars: The Marvel Covers Vol. 1. The final section reprints the first issue of Marvel’s 1977 comic book adaptation of the original Star Wars along with writer Roy Thomas’s introduction to the series and a further text piece (possibly a studio press release) on the film, both also from the issue.

A digital copy is available from the publisher at https://comicstore.marvel.com/Star-Wars-A-New-Hope-The-40th-Anniversary/digital-comic/47717.

Of Inteterest: Star Wars: The Marvel Covers Vol. 1

Apologies for the long absence, but here's a recent book that might be of interest:

Harrold, Jess. Star Wars: The Marvel Covers Vol. 1. New York: Marvel Worldwide-Marvel Ent., 2015. 978-0-7851-9838-3

Star Wars: The Marvel Covers Vol. 1 is focused on the Marvel re-launch of Star Wars comics in 2015. The bulk of the book is composed of reproductions of the cover art for the initial arc of the three new series Star Wars, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia, and this gallery includes the regular covers as well as all the variants. These sections also include interviews with the writers and artists involved in the project, and they reminisce about their experiences with the Star Wars franchise and comment on their contribution to its latest manifestation in the comics medium. A final section offers a selection of covers from Marvel’s original Star Wars line—including Marvel Treasury Edition Featuring Star Wars (1977), the main Star Wars series (1977-1986), and the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi limited series (1983-1984)—plus cover images from the publisher’s recent reprinting of its earlier Star Wars line books in new collected editions.

The digital version can be purchased direct from the publisher at https://comicstore.marvel.com/Star-Wars-The-Marvel-Covers-Vol-1/digital-comic/39963.

CFP Star Wars, Special Issue of Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (3/31/2017)

Call for Papers Journal of Religion and Popular Culture special issue "STAR WARS"

Event: 03/31/2017
Abstract: 03/31/2017
https://www.cfplist.com/CFP.aspx?CID=9649

Organization: University of Toronto Press

With an extensive and still growing body of work, including two cinematographic trilogies, a third trilogy in process, several animated television series, and numerous books and novels, Star Wars is probably one of the richest universes in science fiction, and generates a strong and constant interest from a vivid fan community. Religions play a major role in this setting, particularly with the preponderant importance of the Force in the Star Wars universe. However, given the size of the Star Wars galaxy and the number of sentient species that inhabit it, religion in Star Wars cannot be reduced to the Force.


The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture invites submissions exploring the religious dimensions of the Star Wars universe, including the religious and mystic symbols that have been extensively used in developing the varied elements of the Star Wars franchise. Papers exploring the religious dimensions and implications of the animated series’, the third trilogy, the Star Wars legends material, fans, conventions, theme parks, and other Star Wars material are particularly welcome.
This special issue will provide an up-to-date reflection on the topic of religion and Star wars, and will investigate some of the most recent avatars of the Star Wars saga through the lens of religion.


Interested authors, and book reviewers should contact guest editor, Matthieu Guitton at matthieu.guitton@fmed.ulaval.ca



Contact Email: agreenwood@utpress.utoronto.ca
Website: http://www.bit.ly/JRPCOnline

Vader, Voldemort and Other Villains: Essays on Evil in Popular Media

Here's a second McFarland collection for the night. Heit offers readers a nice mix of the mundane and the fantastic.

Vader, Voldemort and Other Villains: Essays on Evil in Popular Media
http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-5845-5
Edited by Jamey Heit

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-5845-5
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8510-9
notes, bibliographies, index
233pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2011

Price: $35.00
Available for immediate shipment

About the Book
What is evil? How do we understand it in our culture? The thirteen essays in this critical volume explore the different ways in which evil is portrayed in popular culture, particularly film and novels. Iconic figures of evil are considered, as is the repeated use of classic themes within our intellectual tradition. Topics covered include serial killers in film, the Twilight series, the Harry Potter series, Star Wars, and more. Collectively, these essays suggest how vital the notion of evil is to our culture, which in turn suggest a need to reflect on what it means to value what is good.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1
Introduction      3

1. The Aesthetic of Evil      13
DANIEL A. FORBES
2. The Devil Made Me Do It! The Devil in 1960s-1970s Horror Film      28
ANTOINETTE F. WINSTEAD
3. Frankenstein’s Legacy: The Mad Scientist Remade      46
KRISTINE LARSEN
4. Focus on the Family: Good and Evil Vampires in the Twilight Saga      64
A.J. GRANT
5. The Dichotomy of the Great Mother Archetype in Disney Heroines and Villainesses      80
SARAH LYNNE BOWMAN
6. Exploring the Relay Gaze in Hollywood Cinema: Serial Killers and the Women Who Hunt Them      97
SARAH LAFFERTY
7. Wanting the White Witch      113
BRYAN DOVE
8. Paradise Inverted: Philip Pullman’s Use of High Fantasy and Epic Poetry to Portray Evil in His Dark Materials      125
E. QUINN FOX
9. Sim Evil: Avatars and the Ethical Game Mechanic      145
KELLY KELLEWAY
10. Making Modern Evil: Terrorism, Torture, and the Creation of Evil in 24      162
MICHAEL J. LEWIS
11. No Laughing Matter: The Joker as a Nietzschean Critique of Morality      175
JAMEY HEIT
12. I Am Your Father: The Villain and the Future Self      189
NATHANIEL VAN YPEREN
13. Hearts of Darkness: Voldemort and Iago, with a Little Help from Their Friends      202
KEN ROTHMAN

Epilogue      218
About the Contributors      221
Index      223

About the Editor
Jamey Heit is the co-founder and CEO of Essay Assay, Inc., an automated assessment company. An active researcher and writer in cultural studies, he teaches humanities courses online at Walden University.