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Showing posts with label Wizard of Oz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wizard of Oz. Show all posts
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Sunday, August 24, 2025
CFP NeMLA 2026 Panel Session: The Murder and Its Afterlife: Regenerating the Wicked Witch (9/30/2025; Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2025)
NeMLA 2026 Panel Session: The Murder and Its Afterlife: Regenerating the Wicked Witch
deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2025
full name / name of organization:
Noah Gallego, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
contact email:
noahrgallego@gmail.com
source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/12/nemla-2026-panel-session-the-murder-and-its-afterlife-regenerating-the-wicked-witch
send submissions to https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21574.
Conference dates: March 5-8, 2026 in Pittsburgh, PA
Deadline for abstracts: September 30, 2025
Contact panel chair for inquiries: Noah Gallego @noahrgallego@gmail.com
Upon the release of his beloved children’s classic, The Wizard of Oz (1900), L. Frank Baum introduced the masses to one of the most enduring villains of American literature: the Wicked Witch of the West. While she played a marginal role in the original book, Victor Fleming’s 1939 movie adaptation rebranded her as the main antagonist who has become an icon in western popular culture, responsible for traumatizing generations of young children. Such was the impact and intrigue of the Wicked Witch that American novelist Gregory Maguire composed a prequel speculating her origin story as the greenified, Dorothy-hating crone. In the spirit of the Broadway musical inspired by Maguire’s novel finally being adapted to the silver screen, this panel seeks to capitalize on “Wicked-mania” and solicit papers that will explore the Witch’s legacy and regeneration throughout film and beyond. Since her debut over a century ago, there have been dozens of under-examined dramatic representations beyond The Wizard of Oz and Wicked that this panel invites scholars to investigate. While on the surface, the Wicked Witch is a horror to behold, this panel seeks to uncover the even more horrific implications of her character. Scholars have claimed her and her Winkie army to be analogs of the Wehrmacht (MacDonnell 1990), a mestiza figure (McCabe 2008), a queer woman (Wolf 2008), and even a monstrous vegan (Sebastian 2022). Interested parties are welcome to expand on these themes as well as initiate new critical discourses as they pertain to the Wicked Witch. Prospective candidates are welcome, but not required, to consider representations of the witch outside of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz and examine other portrayals as in The Wiz (1974), the recovered 1976 Sesame Street episode, season 3 of Once Upon a Time (2013-14), and the film, Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).
In the spirit of the recent cinematic adaptation of the Broadway megamusical Wicked (2024) and its forthcoming companion film Wicked: For Good (2025), this session invites scholars from across the disciplines to submit proposals critically exploring the various iterations of L. Frank Baum’s infamous Wicked Witch of the West throughout the media since the first adaptations of the Oz franchise were released in the early twentieth century. Interested parties are welcome to probe Maguire’s revisionist work on which the musical is based in addition to other under-examined productions featuring the green-skinned menace. Inquiries may consider themes such as: gender, sexuality, queerness, monstrosity, disability, race, ecocriticism, and class.
Last updated June 12, 2025
Saturday, January 18, 2025
CFP One Short Day: An Online Symposium Celebrating Wicked (5/1/2025; Online 6/27/2025)
One Short Day: An Online Symposium Celebrating Wicked
deadline for submissions:
May 30, 2025
full name / name of organization:
Noah Gallego and Layal Dahi
One Short Day: An Online Symposium Celebrating Wicked
Deadline: May 30, 2025
Conference Date: June 27, 2025
Format: Online (via Zoom, Pacific Time)
Abstract: 150 words + 50 word biographical statement + Time Zone
Submit to: Noah Gallego @noahrgallego@gmail.com
Organizers: Noah Gallego, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona & Layal Dahi, California State Polytechnic University
"Every day is a great crisis for our society. ... We stand at a crossroads. Idolatry looms. Traditional values in jeopardy. Truth under siege and virtue abandoned" (Maguire 9).
In the spirit of the recent release of the long awaited cinematic adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s revisionist novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), as well as timely political upheaval, this free online symposium invites scholars from all backgrounds and disciplines to contribute to this spellbinding gathering and critically engage with the novel and its theatrical and cinematic iterations.
2025 will not only celebrate the release of the second installment of Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation but also the 30th anniversary of the release of Maguire’s novel as well as the 125th anniversary of the original source material: L. Frank Baum’s novel, The Wizard of Oz (1900).
Emerging at the dawn of a new political administration that has provoked anxieties apropos of the story’s themes of fascism, propaganda, and terrorism, critical discourse on Wicked is necessary now more than ever. The work is a true testament to the subversive power of art and its potential to respond to the political climate. As Rebecca Onion wrote for The American Experience, Wicked is “an extended meditation on power and politics.” While the musical admittedly sanitizes some of the more grotesque images and subversive messages, as it experiences its renaissance at this consequential juncture, these themes deserve to be probed more critically.
Interested parties are invited to submit an abstract of 150 words as well as a short biographical statement. Please include your timezone so we may slate you at an appropriate time.
Proposals for panels with sufficient abstracts (at least 3) are also welcome!
The following list is illustrative of and by no means exhaustive of possible topics of inquiry:
Fascism, terrorism, and propaganda
The role of social media and memes
AI
CGI, set design, cinematography, and production
Global performances of Wicked
Wicked’s (2024) marketing campaign
- Fashion
- Worldbuilding
- Art
- Poetry
- Religion, tiktokism, and fantaticism
Race
Gender, sexuality, and queerness
Feminism
Disability
Historicism
Psychoanalysis
Ecocriticism
Critical Animal Studies
Posthumanism
Intertextuality
Philosophy
Musicology
- Performance
The event will be free of charge and hosted online via Zoom (Pacific Time). Notifications of acceptance or rejection can be expected to be submitted up to a week following the deadline. Acceptees will prepare papers/presentations of up to 15 minutes.
If you are simply interested in just attending, auditing is welcomed and encouraged! A registration form will go out prior to the conference.
Verification of presentation may be administered upon request.
Please note that there are currently no plans to publish the accepted papers. However, depending on interest and the success of the symposium, I would be very interested to (co-)edit a collection based on the papers presented. If you would like to collaborate on this project, please let me know!
Please email Noah @ noahrgallego@gmail.com with any questions concerning the symposium, whether it be logistics or the content of your proposal.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Millennial Mythmaking: Essays on the Power of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Films and Games
Millennial Mythmaking: Essays on the Power of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Films and Games
http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4562-2
Edited by John Perlich and David Whitt
Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4562-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-7864-5592-8
notes, bibliographies, index
212pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2010
Price: $39.95
Available for immediate shipment
About the Book
Contemporary myths, particularly science fiction and fantasy texts, can provide commentary on who we are as a culture, what we have created, and where we are going. These nine essays from a variety of disciplines expand upon the writings of Joseph Campbell and the hero’s journey. Modern examples of myths from various sources such as Planet of the Apes, Wicked, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Spirited Away; the Harry Potter series; and Second Life are analyzed as creative mythology and a representation of contemporary culture and emerging technology.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface: "There and Back Again…" 1
Contrasting Colors
1. Sorting Heroic Choices: Green and Red in the Harry Potter Septology
(KIRSTIN CRONN-MILLS and JESSICA SAMENS) 5
2. The Complexity of Evil in Modern Mythology: The Evolution of the Wicked Witch of the West
(JASON EDWARDS and BRIAN KLOSA) 32
3. Polysemous Myth: Incongruity in Planet of the Apes
(RICHARD BESEL and RENEE SMITH BESEL) 51
New Champions
4. The Hero with the Thousand-and-First Face: Miyazaki’s Girl Quester in Spirited Away and Campbell’s Monomyth
(DEE GEORTZ) 67
5. The Odyssey of Madame Souza: A Heroine’s Quest in The Triplets of Belleville
(DAVID WHITT) 83
6. Rethinking the Monomyth: Pan’s Labyrinth and the Face of a New Hero(ine)
(JOHN PERLICH) 100
No Boundaries
7. Actors and Their Mythic Heroes: From the Doctor to Captain Kirk
(DJOYMI BAKER) 129
8. Running Free in Angelina Jolie’s Virtual Body: The Myth of the New Frontier and Gender Liberaton in Second Life
(ELLEN GORSEVSKI) 146
9. So Where Do I Go from Here? Ghost in the Shell and Imagining Cyborg Mythology for the New Millennium
(JAY SCOTT CHIPMAN) 167
Epilogue: "Always in Motion Is the Future…" 193
About the Contributors 197
Index 199
About the Editors
John Perlich is a professor of communication studies at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska.
David Whitt is an associate professor of communication at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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