CFP SWPACA 2022 Conference (10/31/21; Albuquerque 2/23-26/22)

 From the PCA newsletter:

Call for Papers Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA) Annual Conference   43rd Annual Conference, February 23-26, 2022 Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center Albuquerque, New Mexico http://www.southwestpca.org Submissions open on August 1, 2021 Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2021   Proposals for papers and panels will soon be accepted for the 43rd annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/   All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca   For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Proposal Submission FAQs and Tips page at http://southwestpca.org/conference/faqs-and-tips/   Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.     For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs and Tips page.     The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2021.     SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2022. SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students. For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/   Registration and travel information for the conference is available at http://southwestpca.org/conference/conference-registration-information/   In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org/ If you have any questions about a particular area, please contact its Area Chair; you can find Area Chair contact information here: http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@southwestpca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.   We look forward to receiving your submissions!

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 

 

CFP MMLA Milwaukee 2021 Roundtable: Fantastic Viruses (5/20/21; MMLA 11/4-7/2021)

 MMLA Milwaukee 2021 Roundtable: Fantastic Viruses

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/05/05/mmla-milwaukee-2021-roundtable-fantastic-viruses

Event site: https://www.luc.edu/mmla/convention/

deadline for submissions:
May 14, 2021


full name / name of organization:
Joseph Donica, Noah Jampol, CUNY


contact email:
joseph.donica@bcc.cuny.edu




We seek submissions for an MMLA session on "fantastic viruses" for the November 2021 Milwaukee conference.

Topics can include but are not limited to:

Viruses in sf and fantasy lit and film

​Collectivities of the infected, uninfected, or vaccinated 

Please send 300-500 word proposals to the email addresses below by May 14. We apologize for the quick turnaround, but proposals are due to MMLA by May 20. joseph.donica@bcc.cuny.edu noah.jampol@bcc.cuny.edu.

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 Pop Enlightenments: The Eighteenth Century Now (6/18/2021)

CFP: Pop Enlightenments: The Eighteenth Century Now

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/04/22/cfp-pop-enlightenments-the-eighteenth-century-now

deadline for submissions: June 18, 2021


full name / name of organization: Emrys Jones and Madeleine Pelling


contact email: mp656@york.ac.uk



Contemporary depictions of the long eighteenth century – whether drawn from historic sources or responding imaginatively to the era’s multifarious legacies – regularly captivate TV, film and theatre audiences and gamers alike. Increasingly, scholarly biographies provide the basis for big budget biopics, eighteenth-century narratives are adapted in new and experimental ways, objects from museum collections are replicated in cultures of fandom, and academics are invited onto sets as consultants. During a global moment in which the representation and deployment of history in the public sphere are subject to new and urgent scrutiny, we ask what function film, television, gaming, theatre and more can perform when depicting the eighteenth century in our modern world? Can such works speak to perceived eighteenth-century ideas and values and, simultaneously, the shifting paradigms of our own time? How, and why, should we engage?

Pop Enlightenments will bring together scholarly essays and interviews with creative industry professionals. Building on conversations begun in Emrys Jones’s Pop Enlightenments podcast, it takes a broad approach to explore how eighteenth-century forms and narratives are variously taken up, recycled and re-visioned in contemporary media. It asks which histories are being told and by whom.

We seek proposals for chapters from scholars, including early career researchers. Particular areas for analysis and discussion might include, but are not limited to:

• The eighteenth century’s imaginative currency in contemporary popular culture
• The representation (or misrepresentation) of historical crimes and traumas
• Intersections between eighteenth-century models of culture and our own
• Considerations of genre and audience expectation
• Contrasting international contexts for adaptation and re-creation
• Recent shifts in historiographical discourse, and industry responses to these

We welcome contributions discussing any cultural sources from the last twenty years. The list below, while not exhaustive, provides some examples of possible focus points.

Potential contributors are requested to send 300-word abstracts to emrys.jones@kcl.ac.uk and mp656@york.ac.uk by 17th June 2021.



Works of Interest

Television

• Bridgerton
• Outlander
• Poldark
• Harlots
• The Great
• Taboo
• The Scandalous Lady W
• Versailles
• Turn: Washington’s Spies
• Black Sails
• Roots
• Frontier
• Catherine the Great
• Banished
• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Film

• Belle
• Amazing Grace
• The Favourite
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• Emma.
• The Duchess
• A Little Chaos
• Marie Antoinette
• Mary Shelley
• Bright Star
• Beauty and the Beast
• Last of the Mohicans
• The Patriot
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Interview with a Vampire
• Sleepy Hollow
• John Adams
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
• The Royal Affair
• Love and Friendship
• Rob Roy
• Lady J
• Casanova

Theatre

• The Madness of King George
• Hamilton

Games

• Assassin’s Creed III, IV, Rogue and Unity
• The Council
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• We. The Revolution
• Banner of the Maid

Last updated April 23, 2021
This CFP has been viewed 16 times.

CFP Greek Mythology & Modern Culture: Reshaping Aesthetic Tastes (11/30/21; Spec Issue of Humanities)

Greek Mythology & Modern Culture: Reshaping Aesthetic Tastes

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/03/29/greek-mythology-modern-culture-reshaping-aesthetic-tastes

deadline for submissions: November 30, 2021


full name / name of organization: Humanities


contact email: phillipzapkin@gmail.com




Dear Colleagues,

Much of the Western world has a rising problem with white nationalists. These white supremacists often co-opt fields like Classics, medievalism, and Norse mythology to support their racist ideologies—twisting these disciplines and repressing or ignoring evidence for the multicultural and multiracial realities of the ancient and medieval world. In terms of Classics, these distortions and appropriations have been documented by an emerging generation of scholars like Donna Zuckerberg, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Curtis Dozier, Sarah Bond, and others. Ancient myth, literature, and symbols continue to pervade modern culture.

In particular, Greek myth continues to shape modern worldviews, influence contemporary artists and writers, and appeal to our literary and aesthetic tastes. However, understandings of Greek myth—both in its original context and its reception by later generations—have changed dramatically over time. This special issue of Humanities seeks articles about current research in Greek mythology. Submissions should present cutting edge research about an aspect of Greek myth, prepared for a general audience.

Specific topics might include:

• Greek drama, tragedy, or comedy
• Greek vase paintings
• Epic or lyric poetry
• Reception studies
• Adaptations
• (Re)-Examinations of mythic structures (e.g., rethinking Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces)
• Feminist analysis of Greek myth
• Postcolonial analysis
• Psychoanalytic analysis
• Generic or cross generic analysis (e.g., myths adapted for film or TV)
• Cross-cultural comparison between Greek myths and myths from other cultures
• Children’s or Young Adult literature, movies, or TV

This special issue seeks to offer an impression of the field, with essays presenting different arguments about Greek myth. While this is a broad brief, the issue as a whole should explore the ways in which Greek myth, and debates about it, remains relevant to the modern world.

Dr. Phillip Zapkin
Prof. Dr. Kevin Wetmore
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information



Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Last updated April 6, 2021 

 

CFP Storytelling to and about Boys: Meanings and Representations in Children’s Media (4/16/21; Spec Issue Boyhood Studies)

Storytelling to and about Boys: Meanings and Representations in Children’s Media

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/03/30/storytelling-to-and-about-boys-meanings-and-representations-in-children%E2%80%99s-media

deadline for submissions: April 16, 2021


full name / name of organization: Boyhood Studies


contact email: BoyhoodStorytelling@gmail.com




In recent decades, research has repeatedly demonstrated the overrepresentation of boys and men in children’s media (tv and movies, literature, and games). This field of research has, justifiably, focused primarily on the impact of this inequality on girls and women and has grown to consider not only the quantity of representations but also their content.

In this special issue of Boyhood Studies, the guest editors, Cliff Leek and Jonathan Allan, invite scholars to turn this critical lens toward boys. What types of stories do we tell to and about boys? Who is telling the stories? Which stories are overrepresented and which stories are missing? What are the effects of the stories we tell (on boys, on their interactions with people around them, on who boys grow up to be…)? How are the boundaries of stories for boys defined and maintained? How and why do adults reread/revisit/remember the stories of their boyhoods? We invite scholars to consider children’s media not only as leisure/entertainment, but also as a source of children’s socialization and, therefore, a building block of society. We also encourage authors not to lose sight of how boys themselves experience media by considering what it means to read children’s media boyishly.

Submissions could take the following formats:
1) Full length empirical papers relevant to or dealing with gender and children’s media (max 6,000 words including references).
2) Commentary pieces illuminating trends or arguing for new directions in thinking about children’s media – especially as it relates to gender and boys (max 4,000 words including references).
3) Reviews of children’s media (tv and movies, literature, or games) that deal specifically with the gendered messaging to/about boys (max 1,000 words).

Timeline: The deadline for abstract submissions is April 16, 2021. Decisions will be made on which submissions to invite for the special issue by the end of April 2021. Full submissions will be due in October 2021 and the special issue will be published in Spring 2022.

To submit a work for consideration for the special issue, please prepare a 250-500 word abstract and
submit it using the form at this link: https://forms.gle/Wg4YKXj1q2tr2MyR9

Contact the editors at BoyhoodStorytelling@gmail.com. More information, including the style guide, can be found at: www.berghahnjournals.com/boyhood-studies

Last updated April 6, 2021
This CFP has been viewed 17 times. 

CFP Pandemics (6/30/21; Spec Issue Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy)

Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy No. 6, 2021 - Pandemics 

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/04/06/messengers-from-the-stars-on-science-fiction-and-fantasy-no-6-2021-pandemics

deadline for submissions: June 30, 2021


full name / name of organization: ULICES-ULisbon/Messengers from the Stars


contact email: mfts.journal@gmail.com




Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy

No. 6, 2021

Edited by: Elana Gomel

Co-edited by: João Félix

Messengers from the Stars is an international, peer-reviewed journal, offering academic articles, reviews, and providing an outlet for a wide range of creative work inspired by science fiction and fantasy. The 2021 issue will be dedicated to the following theme:

Pandemics


For the 2021 Messengers from the Stars issue, we will focus on the current pandemic and how it relates to past and present cultural expressions. The concept of a globally-impacting health threat has been widely explored in dystopian fiction from Mary Shelley’s The Last Man to Margaret Atwood’s MaddAdam trilogy, among many others. In a wider sense, however, the contagion trope in literature and the arts is far-reaching and with a well-established tradition that is closely related to that of historical plagues. Whether by placing its characters in lockdown due to the Black Death as in Boccaccio’s Decameron or speculating on the impending threat of a SARS outbreak in a globalized world as in Soderbergh’s Contagion, the health-related catastrophe is as present in fiction as any other human experience.

Therefore, given the current global pandemic, we look at where and how events of this nature are represented, whether in literature, film, television, videogames or other cultural expressions. What are their fundamental concerns and expectations? How do they reflect on the human experience when faced with such a catastrophe? What role do science and superstition play in these instances? How is our worldview informed by these narratives, past and present?

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Ecotopias, dystopias, overpopulation and sustainability
• Medical Humanities in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and the uncanny
• Speculative fiction and concerns for the future
• Pandemics and temporalities (utopia/dystopia/apocalypse, perception of time during epidemics)
• Prophetic visions, occultism and the supernatural, particularly in relation to perceived global calamities
• Representations of the pandemic across the arts and contemporary discourse in general
• Zombies, vampires, parasitic aliens and other contagious threats

Submissions, between 4000 and 6000 words in English, must be sent to mfts.journal@gmail.com by June 30, 2021. The authors will be notified by the end of July. You can download the CFP here.

In addition, you can propose a book or film review. We welcome book and film reviews on current science fiction and fantasy research and PhD dissertations. Reviews should be between 500 to 1,000 words. Longer reviews, e.g. dealing with more than one book, should be agreed upon with the Editorial Board.

All submissions must follow the journal’s guidelines available here.



Last updated April 6, 2021
This CFP has been viewed 26 times.

CFP Children's Literature (4/15/21; PAMLA 11/11-14/21)

Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) Conference CFP: Children's Literature (Nov. 11-14 2021)

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/03/22/pacific-ancient-and-modern-language-association-pamla-conference-cfp-childrens

deadline for submissions: April 15, 2021


full name / name of organization: Craig Svonkin, Metropolitan State University of Denver


contact email: director@pamla.org




PAMLA 2021 LAS VEGAS: "CITY OF GOD, CITY OF DESTRUCTION" (Thursday, November 11 - Sunday, November 14, 2021 at Sahara Las Vegas Hotel, hosted by University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Session: British Literature and Culture: To 1700

Contacts: Craig Svonkin, Metropolitan State University of Denver (director@pamla.org)


Description: This general session invites submissions on a wide range of topics relating to children’s literature, including novels, picture books, graphic novels, or theatrical performances intended for, or consumed by, children. This session entertains paper proposals on a wide variety of topics, including childhood studies, children's television, children's literature with respect to image-text interactions, and the conference theme of "City of God, City of Destruction."

Conference Note:

This November, PAMLA will be offering both in-person (in Las Vegas, NV) and virtual sessions, which you can search for today, alongside important deadlines, membership details and conference fees.

Top tip: when you log in and enter the Call for Papers portal, remember that you have to click on the title of the session that you are interested in submitting your paper to, and then click on the green “Submit Abstract” icon at the top right corner of the page!

And for those who are interested, note that our conference theme this year is “City of God, City of Destruction,” an homage to contemporary urban literature, culture, architecture, as well as other topics, including the noir genre, postmodern cityscapes, dystopia and postindustrial decay, and/or the sublime, spiritual spaces found across many urban depictions.

We look forward to reading your submissions, and all of us at PAMLA HQ hope for calmer, better days ahead.


Last updated March 26, 2021
This CFP has been viewed 27 times.

CFP Literature and Popular Culture (8/1/21; NEPCA 10/21-23/21)

Literature and Popular Culture 

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/04/05/literature-and-popular-culture


deadline for submissions: August 1, 2021


full name / name of organization: Northeast Popular & American Culture Association


contact email: susan.gorman@mcphs.edu




The Literature and Popular Culture area for the 2021 Northeast Popular & American Culture Association conference is accepting paper and panel proposals from faculty and graduate students. NEPCA’s 2021 virtual annual conference will be held online from Thursday, October 21-Saturday, October 23, 2021. Abstracts are due by August 1, 2021.

The NEPCA Literature and Popular Culture area welcomes papers that analyze and evaluate the connections between popular culture and literature, understood broadly. How does popular culture inform and/or react to literature, and what are the implications for that relationship?

Presentations can discuss many different theoretical and disciplinary perspectives. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Analyses of individual/multiple works that engage with popular culture
• Intersections of popular culture and Literature
• Retelling of works of literature in popular culture media
• Publication, reception and audience of Literature and popular culture
• Popular culture trends in Literature
• Literary genres and how they are explored in popular culture
• Any other topics that bring together these two areas

Please submit paper proposals of 250 words via the paper proposal form available on the NEPCA website (http://bit.ly/PopCFP2021) to the Literature and Popular Culture area chair Susan Gorman (susan.gorman@mcphs.edu) by August 1, 2021. Please ensure that your proposal is jargon-free and understandable to a broad audience.

For more information, please visit the NEPCA website: https://nepca.blog/conference/.

Susan Gorman, Area Chair
Literature and Popular Culture
MCPHS University

179 Longwood Avenue

Boston, MA 02115
Email: susan.gorman@mcphs.edu
Visit the website at https://nepca.blog/
 

Last updated April 6, 2021 

 

CFP Fantasy and Science Fiction Area (8/1/21; virtual 10/21-23/2021)

My thanks to Amie Doughty for sharing this:

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Fantasy and Science Fiction Area

Northeast Popular/American Culture Association

The Northeast Popular/American Culture Association (NEPCA) is seeking paper proposals on the topic of Fantasy and Science Fiction for its fall conference to be held virtually from Thursday, October 21 through Saturday, October 23, 2021.



Highlighting the more positive aspects of the fantastic genre, the Fantasy and Science Fiction area seeks to examine texts that bring about a sense of wonder in their receivers through their representation of the marvelous, and we welcome submissions from scholars of all levels for papers that explore any aspect of the intermedia traditions of the fantastic that might promote this work. Topics can include, but are not limited to, elements of fairy tale, fantasy, legend, mythology, and science fiction; proposals should investigate how creative artists have shaped and/or altered our preconceptions of these sub-traditions by producing innovative works in diverse countries, time periods, and media and for audiences at all age levels.



Please submit your proposals through the NEPCA conference website: https://nepca.blog/conference/



NEPCA presentations are generally 15-20 minutes in length and may be delivered either formally or informally. NEPCA prides itself on holding conferences which emphasize sharing ideas in a non-competitive and supportive environment involving graduate students, junior faculty, and senior scholars.



Deadline for proposals is August 1, 2021.



Questions should be directed to the area chair, Amie Doughty, at Amie.Doughty@oneonta.edu. 

 

Mythcon 51 Update and New CFP (5/15/21; virtual event for Summer 2021)

 Further news from the Mythopoeic Society: http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm

Mythcon 51

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Mythcon 51
A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON

Moving Online - Dates To Be Determined

   

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to ongoing health concerns and the realization that we cannot now plan something that may violate future New Mexico state health and safety regulations, whatever they are in July-August of this year, the Council of Stewards has decided to postpone the next in-person Mythcon until summer of 2022; the date will be July 29-August 1, 2022. Our venue and Guests of Honor have all agreed to this change and the conference theme will remain the same.

Because the costs associated with a virtual online event are less than the costs of an in person event, if you are already a member of Mythcon 51, your membership will automatically "roll over" to next year (Mythcon 52 in 2022) but if you cannot attend next year, please contact mythcon@mythsoc.org and request a refund of your Mythcon 51 membership. For those who paid the non-member prices, your membership in the Mythopoeic Society associated with joining the conference will be extended by a year (again!). Thank you for understanding.

The virtual option will be very different from our usual Mythcons, but what we miss out on we hope to make up for in new and different ways, and we’ll see everyone once it’s safe to do so. On some level this is a chance to get back to our Mythopoeic Society roots and gather with friends (if virtually!) to just discuss what we love. Best of all, the cost of registration will be steeply reduced, though prices have not been set yet.

Check back for confirmed details in Mythprint #397 as well as Mythlore #138, and as always on our website, www.mythcon.org. Thank you for understanding!

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Call for Papers (subject to change)

Papers of the traditional Mythopoeic variety are still welcome, though we are looking forward to trying out a new panel model that we are calling Panel Discussions (see below).

Time slots: Individual long papers may still have hour-long time slots but are now encouraged to be no more than 30 minutes for the paper and 15 minutes for discussion; Individual short papers about 15 minutes for the paper and 10 minutes for discussion; Panels are now 60 minutes, about 30 minutes for the panel and 20 minutes for discussion. For traditional paper and panel proposals:

Email papers abstracts of 200-500 words to:
Cami Agan (Papers Coordinator),
cami.agan@oc.edu

Email panels abstracts of 50-150 words to:
Leslie Donovan (Panels Coordinator),
leslie.a.donovan@gmail.com

Presenters who have already submitted have the option of presenting at Mythcon 51 virtually or being automatically accepted into the Mythcon 52 program. All presenters must register for the conference at which they wish to present.

Eligible presenters should see details on our Alexei Kondratiev student paper award at: http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/alexei.htm.

Discussion Panel and Alternative Programming Options
Though we have not formally revised the call for papers just yet, we are excited to experiment with different presentation models that may work better over an online platform, privileging panels of short papers or group discussion panels.

Have a topic in mind you want to discuss, but pandemic brain has got you down so you don’t want to write a paper about it? Revive the roots of the Society by proposing to Moderate a Discussion Panel for Mythcon 51—virtually! Moderators would need to come prepared with a mythopoeic discussion topic, some opening remarks, some questions for the attendees, and plan to facilitate discussion.

Want to submit a Discussion Panel, or have an idea for Alternative Virtual Mythcon programming?
Email 200-500 word proposals to:
Megan Abrahamson
mythprint@mythsoc.org

The new deadline for submissions is May 15, 2021. Please check in on Facebook, Twitter, or www.mythcon.org for an updated and complete Call For Papers as well as other updates about the now-virtual conference. 

Mythcon 52 Update (Summer 2022)

 The latest from the Mythopoeic Society: http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm

Mythcon 52

New Dates!    July 29 - August 1, 2022

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Mythcon 52
The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien

Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 29 - August 1, 2022

  

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to ongoing health concerns and the realization that we cannot now plan something that may violate future New Mexico state health and safety regulations, whatever they are in July-August of this year, the Council of Stewards has decided to postpone the next in-person Mythcon until summer of 2022; the date will be July 29-August 1, 2022. Our venue and Guests of Honor have all agreed to this change and the conference theme will remain the same.

Your membership will automatically "roll over" to next year but if you cannot attend next year, please contact mythcon@mythsoc.org and request a refund of your Mythcon 51 membership. For those who paid the non-member prices, your membership in the Mythopoeic Society associated with joining the conference will be extended by a year (again!). Thank you for understanding.

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Theme: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien

Mythcon 52’s theme provides multiple opportunities to explore the Other in fantasy and mythopoeic literature. Tolkien spoke in “On Fairy-stories” of “the desire to visit, free as a fish, the deep sea; or the longing for the noiseless, gracious, economical flight of a bird.” We invite discussion about the types of fantasy that are more likely to put us into contact with the alien, such as time portal fantasy and space travel fantasy. In addition to Inklings, some writers who deal particularly well with the truly alien who might be explored include Lovecraft, Gaiman, Le Guin, Tepper, and others. Other topics that might be fruitfully explored are: depictions of the alien Other in film and television (Contact, Arrival, HBO’s Watchmen, etc.); developing constructed languages that are truly different from those of Earth-based humans; fantastical Others in indigenous myths (such as Coyote and Spider Woman from Native American mythology); and American folklore about the alien (flying saucers, alien abduction, Area 51, Roswell).

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Guests of Honor

Rivera Sun - Author Guest of Honor

Rivera Sun is a change-maker, a cultural creative, a protest novelist, and an advocate for nonviolence and social justice. She is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and other novels. Her young adult fantasy series, the Ari Ara Series, has been widely acclaimed by teachers, parents, and peace activists for its blending of fantasy and adventure with social justice issues. Going beyond dragon-slayers and sword-swingers, heroes and sheroes in Ari Ara’s world stop wars and wage peace. They use active nonviolence to make powerful change. In all her works, Rivera Sun advocates that if we want to build a culture of peace, we have to tell new stories that still appreciate, but go beyond the old myths, epics, and legends that rehash outdated war and violence narratives. The Way Between, the first book in the Ari Ara Series, has been read by numerous groups of all ages, while the second book in the series, The Lost Heir, is the winner of the 2019 Nautilus Award Silver Medal in Middle Grade Fiction.

Rivera Sun’s essays have been published in hundreds of journals nationwide. She is a frequent speaker and presenter at schools, colleges and universities, where The Dandelion Insurrection has been taught in literature and political science courses. Rivera Sun is also the editor of Nonviolence News, an activist, and a trainer in making change with nonviolence. Her essays and writings are syndicated by Peace Voice and have appeared in journals nationwide. She lives in an Earthship house in New Mexico.

David Bratman - Scholar Guest of Honor

David Bratman is has been reading Tolkien for over fifty years, and has been writing Tolkien scholarship for nearly as long. His earliest contribution to the field was the first-ever published Tale of Years for the First Age, right after The Silmarillion was published. Since then he’s published articles with titles like “Top Ten Rejected Plot Twists from The Lord of the Rings,” “Hobbit Names Aren’t from Kentucky,” and “Liquid Tolkien” (on Tolkien and music). He’s been co-editor of Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review since 2013, and has written or edited its annual “Year’s Work in Tolkien Studies” since 2004. David edited The Masques of Amen House by Charles Williams and contributed the bio-bibliographical appendix on the Inklings to Diana Pavlac Glyer’s The Company They Keep. He has also written on C.S. Lewis, Ursula Le Guin, Mervyn Peake, Neil Gaiman, and others. For the Mythopoeic Society he was editor of the monthly bulletin Mythprint for fifteen years, and has worked on many Mythopoeic Conferences, including serving twice as chair. He’s a retired academic librarian and an active classical music reviewer who lives with his wife, Berni (a soprano and violinist), and two cats in a house they call Minnipin Cottage.

---

Location

Please plan to join us at the Ramada Plaza Hotel by Wyndham in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Mythcon 52. Albuquerque is a wonderful “destination city” where Mythcon has been held only once before in 2011 (Mythcon 42) and is well worth the return.

Updated CFP SFRA 2021 (new proposal deadline 5/1/21)

 Source: http://www.sfra.org/SFRA-2021-Call-for-Papers.

•  
  

Call for Proposals:

Science Fiction Research Association

(Virtual) Annual Conference 2021

Friday, 18 June - Monday, 21 June 2021

Virtual Host: Seneca College, Toronto, Canada

Conference Theme: The Future of/as Inequality

Keynote Speaker: Madeline Ashby

[Company Town, How to Future: Leading and Sensemaking in an Age of Hyperchange, Machine Dynasty series]

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Joy Sanchez-Taylor

[Diverse Futures: Science Fiction and Authors of Color]

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Lars Schmeink


[Biopunk Dystopias: Genetic Engineering, Society and Science Fiction; The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture, Cyberpunk and Visual Culture]

Special Guest: Aisha Matthews

[The MOSF Journal of Science Fiction; Director of Literary Programming for the Museum of Science Fiction’s annual Escape Velocity Conference.]

The Science Fiction Research Association invites proposals for its 2021 annual conference, to be held virtually from June 18 until June 21, 2021 and sponsored by Seneca College, Toronto, Canada. Topics related to the conference theme include (but not limited to the following:

• posthumanism(s) and the economies of/and poverty
• (hyper) exploitation and posthuman labouring bodies
• reinforcing/redefining social class
• utopianism and post-capitalist societies
• the Anthropocene; or, we’re not all in the same (sinking) ship, are we?
• Indigenous survivance
• speculative technologies of resistance

We also welcome papers on topics relevant to science fiction research broadly conceived that are not specifically related to the conference theme, including proposals for virtual panels and roundtables, if technologically feasible.

300-500 word abstracts should be sent to Graham J. Murphy (graham.Murphy@senecacollege.ca) by May 1, 2021 (extended deadline). Notification of acceptance will occur on a rolling basis beginning April 1. Attendees will be organized into thematic “streams” and present short, ten-minute presentations in a synchronous manner on the Cisco Webex virtual conferencing platform; precirculation of written papers is recommended but not required.

The conference will be international, with presentations in local timezones so all may participate.

General questions concerning this call for papers, conference panels, etc. can be directed to Graham J. Murphy (graham.Murphy@senecacollege.ca) and/or SFRA president Gerry Canavan (gerry.canavan.marquette.edu).

You will also need to join SFRA (or renew your membership) to register for the conference. For more on registration categories and deadlines, visit the SFRA website.

CFP Midwest Popular Culture is Association / American Culture Association 2021 Conference (4/1/21; Minneapolis 10/7-10/21)

 The Midwest Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association has announced its call for papers for its 2021 Annual Conference. At present, the event is slated to be face-to-face. Further detail on the conference and information how to submit a proposal are available from the MPCA/ACA's website. 

CFP City of God, City of Destruction PAMLA 2021 Conference (4/15/21; Las Vegas and remote 11/11-14/21)

This event includes calls for papers in fantasy, horror, Gothic, and science fiction, among other related topics. Check out the list online for proposed sessions.

City of God, City of Destruction PAMLA 2021 Call for Papers

Source: https://www.pamla.org/pamla2021/




We hope our PAMLA friends and members are well as we move into a safer, saner, and healthier 2021!

PAMLA 2021 will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada between Thursday, November 11 and Sunday, November 14, 2021 at the Sahara Las Vegas Hotel and Virtually (Online).

We are pleased that the 118th annual conference will be hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The PAMLA 2021 Conference will be two, yes two, conferences in one! We will have our normal In-Person Panels (we are asking everyone participating in the in-person conference to have had a COVID-19 vaccine beforehand), but we will also be having Virtual (Online) Panels at this year’s PAMLA Conference. You can see which sessions are which at our CFP Page (some panels are still in the process of switching from In-Person to Virtual, and the In-Person conference will only take place given a safer, more vaccinated reality, which we are increasingly confident will happen by the fall).

Can you attend the In-Person conference at the lovely Sahara Las Vegas and still be a part of a Virtual (online) Session? YES, yes you can–and it will be as easy as walking to your hotel room, and logging into your laptop and using the Sahara’s free hotel room wifi to deliver your paper and take part in your session. We are nicknaming this option The PAMLA 2021 Daily Double: The Best of Both Worlds!

Enjoy the in-person conference, the pleasures of Las Vegas, and your own and other Virtual panels. Win-win, Ka-Ching!

We will be adding more information soon about how to make a reservation at the Sahara Las Vegas at the amazingly reasonable special PAMLA rate we’ve arranged.

The PAMLA 2021 Call-for-Papers page (CFP page) and Online Paper Proposal System are now open! You have until April 15 to propose a paper to one (or more) of our many approved sessions. Should you have any questions, feel free to call or email PAMLA Executive Director Craig Svonkin: 626-354-7526 or director@pamla.org. Or email PAMLA’s terrific Assistant Director David John Boyd: assistant@pamla.org.

PAMLA could use your support! Please consider joining PAMLA for the 2021 year, so as to receive our terrific journal, Pacific Coast Philology, and also, if you have a few extra dollars, please consider making a donation to support PAMLA during these difficult times. Go here to join or rejoin PAMLA (and, if you can, please make a donation to the PAMLA General Fund–we could use your help!).



PAMLA 2021’s Conference Theme is “City of God, City of Destruction,” ideal for Las Vegas, a city known for its Janus-like nature as both a historic spiritual beacon in the frontier of the American West and a modern city that has celebrated the world’s greatest cities! But PAMLA is an open city: open to panels and papers that connect to the special conference theme, and open to panels and papers that do not. More information about the conference theme is available here: https://www.pamla.org/conference/2021-conference-theme/



Please visit our conference and registration portal to sign up today.


PAMLA Dates and Deadlines

• Abstract paper proposals to conference sessions due: April 15, 2021
• Early-bird conference payment period: January 1, 2021 – May 31, 2021.
• PAMLA membership payment due for all accepted conference participants: July 1, 2021.
• Regular conference payment period: June 1, 2021 – September 1, 2021
• Late payment period: September 2, 2021 – November 1, 2021
• After November 2, those who haven’t paid their conference fees will be removed from the conference program

CFP Nature and Overnature in SF and Fantasy Discourses (5/28/21; Messengers from the Stars -online 11/25-26/21)

Messengers from the Stars: Episode VI

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/03/12/messengers-from-the-stars-episode-vi

deadline for submissions: May 28, 2021


full name / name of organization: School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon/University Lisbon Centre for English Studies


contact email: mensageirosdasestrelas@gmail.com

Messengers from the Stars: Episode VI

Online Conference

School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon

November 25-26, 2021

Nature and Overnature in SF and Fantasy Discourses

Science Fiction and Fantasy are lasting fields of inquiring into today’s world. They have become privileged means to question issues of aesthetic, ethical, political, social, economic, environmental and historical nature with high impact on contemporary societies. They have promoted hot-button issues and rich critical debates in literature as well as in cinema, TV, and videogames among other media.

The University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (ULICES) invites you to take part in the 6th International Conference Messengers from the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy to be held at the School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, on November 25-26, 2021. This year Episode VI will focus on the theme “Nature and Overnature in SF and Fantasy Discourses”.

Since humankind’s early days, our relationship with nature has undergone different stages and attitudes. From fear and antagonism to deep integration or attempt at subjugation, we humans have tried both to understand our environment and make the most of it. “What is our bond with Nature? Are we part of it or are we its destroyers?”; “What will be the consequences of our former and current actions towards Nature?”; “Are we the dominant species or is this just a human delusion?”; “What is the connection between Nature and social environment?”.

Also, under scrutiny is our inner nature, either as an immaterial everlasting sector or as a mutable human feature: “In distancing ourselves from Nature are we losing our natural humanity?”; “Are we more or less naturally human than our ancestors?”; “How has technology challenged the nature of our humanity?”; “Are we becoming over-natural?”; “Is there a universal human nature or do we embrace plural human natures?”

These are ever-present themes in Fantasy narratives, as masterly explored in Tolkien’s legendarium and C. S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles, as well as in many other 20th and 21st century authors, namely Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea cycle. They are also at the core of many SF visions, since the very beginning of the genre with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, H. G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau and John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, to name just a few.



Inspired by these pioneering texts and fed by advances in technology, such issues have become more and more complex in Fantasy and SF literature, cinema, TV series, comics and graphic novels, music, and other art forms. Moreover, we are witnessing a turning point in our relationship with nature, the most dramatic since our existence, which clearly has raised new doubts and anxieties but also new forms of self-awareness about our role in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has alerted us to the dangers of our current ways of living as well as to our vulnerabilities. This is the time to find responsible solutions able to open up, for us and for the next generations, a healthier future.

We welcome papers of 20 minutes as well as joint proposals for thematic panels consisting of 3 to 4 participants. Postgraduate and undergraduate students are also welcome to participate.

Topics may include but are not limited to the following:

• Artificial Intelligence;
• Ecocriticism;
• Fantasy, SF and ethics;
• Human nature and natural environment;
• Nature/over-nature and the human body;
• Natural and social environment;
• Utopias/Dystopias.

Call for pitches 5MP (five-minute pitches)

This year we are also interested in hearing from you if you are an undergraduate student (MA or PhD) and have a great project still in its early stages. The Five-Minute Pitch Call is inspired in the international competition Three-Minute Thesis (3MT). This is a great opportunity to showcase the innovative nature of your proposal even if there are no results yet. Break down your topic and tell us why everyone should be paying attention to your research.

Please, communicate your ideas effectively. Pitches will need to include (though not restricted to) the following: Name, Affiliation and Contact Information; Overview and Aim; Research Question; Material and Methods; and So what? (originality and relevance).

Your pre-recorded pitch should be no longer than 5 minutes and will be available on the conference website.



Deadlines:

Proposals for individual papers, as well as for thematic panels, should have 250 words maximum and be sent to mensageirosdasestrelas@gmail.com along with a short biographical note (100 words maximum) by May 28, 2021.

Notification of acceptance will be sent by July 5, 2021.

Working Languages: Portuguese and English



Registration fees:

Early bird registration: July 6 – September 17

30 € / Students: 10 €

Late bird registration: September 18 – October 19

60 € / Students: 20 €



Notes:
Only after proof of payment is registration effectively considered.
Undergraduate and post-graduate students must send proof of student status with their registration.
The registration fee includes attendance of all sessions, digital conference material, and a certificate of participation.

Last updated March 12, 2021 

 

CFP Student Submissions to Journal of Fantasy and Fan Cultures

Call for Undergraduate and Graduate Submissions: Journal of Fantasy and Fan Cultures Vol 2

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/02/28/call-for-undergraduate-and-graduate-submissions-journal-of-fantasy-and-fan-cultures

deadline for submissions: October 1, 2021


full name / name of organization: The Journal of Fantasy and Fan Cultures


contact email: jffc@siu.edu




Submissions are now open for the second issue of The Journal of Fantasy and Fan Cultures. Submissions are due October 1, 2021.





The topic of the second issue is an open one, and any essays on fantasy and fan cultures (broadly construed) will be considered.

You may submit once per issue for each category (creative non-fiction and academic essays). We are not interested in publishing fan fiction or poetry.

Submissions must be between 2500-7500 words and, if scholarly, must be in MLA citation format. Please use Times New Roman 12 pt font. All submissions should be in .doc or .docx (Microsoft Word) format; we cannot accept PDFs. Current undergraduates and graduate students in any major or field are eligible to submit, as are holders of master’s degrees.



We consider only previously unpublished work. We ask for first rights to publish accepted work online; after publication, all rights revert to the author.



To submit, please send an email to jffc@siu.edu with the following before October 1, 2021:
Your document for submission (in .doc or .docx format) attached to the email with a cover sheet (this will be the only place you put your name)
The word “submission” and the category (creative non-fiction or academic essay) in the subject line of the email
A brief bio in the body of the email



Last updated March 4, 2021 

 

CFP Essays on Adventure Time TV Show (5/30/2021)

Edited Collection on Adventure Time

Source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/03/05/edited-collection-on-adventure-time

deadline for submissions: May 30, 2021


full name / name of organization: Ann-Gee Lee/University of Arkansas at Fort Smith


contact email: ann-gee.lee@uafs.edu




Edited Collection on Adventure Time



According to the AV Club, “over six seasons and 186 episodes (and counting), [Adventure Time has] blossomed into one of the most distinctive cartoons currently on the air.” With young male hero, Finn, and his dog, Jake, whose shapeshifting body gets them out of trouble and a colorful world of adorable characters and creatures, the stories appeal to children of all ages. Additionally, the political undertones make it very attractive to scholars and fans.

This CFP requests papers applying theoretical concepts to different issues that have risen in the show:

• the absurd, the imagination
• bullying, intimidation, and torture
• civic discourse: fighting injustice, doing the right thing
• characterization, personality, and psychology
• class differences and/or feudal life
• education
• ethics and morality
• gender
• heroism
• humor and pranks
• queering life
• religion and spirituality
• representations of race and/or implications of racial difference
• rhetoric and persuasion
• roles, friendships, and relationships
• what makes a ‘family’
• And many more

These abstracts will be compiled into a book proposal to a popular-culture publisher.

Please send abstracts of 250-500 words to adventuretimecollection@gmail.com

For any questions, feel free to contact us

Dr. Ann-Gee Lee, English Department, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith ann-gee.lee@uafs.edu

Dr. Nicki Stancil, Department of Communication and Theatre Arts, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Nicki.Reamer@uafs.edu

Deadline: May 30, 2021




Last updated March 10, 2021

Survey/CFP MLA and Sherlock Holmes!

Contribute to an MLA Approaches Volume on Sherlock Holmes Stories 

Source: https://news.mla.hcommons.org/2021/03/01/contribute-to-an-mla-approaches-volume-on-sherlock-holmes-stories/

Posted 1 March 2021 by Benjamin Schacht

The volume Approaches to Teaching Sherlock Holmes Stories, edited by Tom Ue, is now in development in the MLA series Approaches to Teaching World Literature. Instructors who have taught works that feature Sherlock Holmes are encouraged to contribute to the volume by completing a survey about their experiences. Information about proposing an essay is available at the end of the survey.

 

CFP 2021 New England American Studies Association Annual Conference (4/15/21; virtual 6/5-6-21)

Of related interest:

Call for Proposals – 2021 Annual Conference – Patriotism and Protest

Source: https://newenglandasa.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/call-for-proposals-patriotism-and-protest/

Deadline for Submission: April 15, 2021

Contact: NEASAcouncil@gmail.com

New England American Studies Association Annual Conference

June 5-6, 2021

Online & at Fruitlands, Harvard, MA

The New England American Studies Association (NEASA) invites proposals for its 2021 conference on the theme of “Patriotism and Protest.” Given recent historic events, what defines patriotic protest as opposed to violent insurrection? How have protest, dissent, and unrest shaped movements in American history and culture? What have been the defining features of American patriotic beliefs and attitudes? How have artists, workers, and organizations sought to commend and critique major US institutions through the production of material objects and texts? Topics addressed may include, but are not limited to:

• Revolution
• Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Voting Rights
• Labor Unions and Strikes
• Public Marches and Occupations
• Climate Change Protests
• The Future of American Patriotism and Protest
• Hashtag Activism and Social Media Outrage
• Propaganda and State Media
• MAGA Patriotism
• Critical Optimism, Queer Optimism, and Postcritique
• Afro-pessimism
• Abolition
• Military Service and Militarism
• Great American Artists
• Hollywood and American Cinema
• Citizenship and Migration
• Global Populism and Nationalisms
• International Implications of American Nationalism
• Sound, Music, and Protest Anthems
• Visual Culture of Patriotism and Protest

NEASA welcomes proposals for individual papers or full panels. Please send abstracts of 250 words and a brief bio to M. M. Dawley at NEASAcouncil@gmail.com by April 15, 2021. Graduate students and non-tenure track scholars are eligible to submit conference presentations for NEASA’s Mary Kelley Prize. Conference panels will be held online but there will be an optional historical tour, keynote speech, and cocktail party at Fruitlands in Harvard, MA on Sunday, June 6th.

 

 

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.

 

 

Mythlore for Fall/Winter 2020

Here are the details on the most recent issue of Mythlore.

Purchase information is available on the content page.

 

Mythlore 137 Volume 39, Issue 1 (Fall/Winter 2020)

http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore/mythlore-137.htm

Table of Contents

Editorial
— Janet Brennan Croft

A Cosmic Shift in The Screwtape Letters
— Brenton D.G. Dickieson

“I woulde be there / Byyonde the water”: Consolation in Pearl and The Silver Chair
— Tiffany E. Schubert

“No Sex Please, We’re Narnians”: Turkish Delight, Twelfth Night, and the Problem of Susan
— Andy Gordon

Useful Little Men: George R.R. Martin’s Dwarfs as Grotesque Realists
— Joseph Rex Young

The Inner Consistency of Mythology: The Mythological Kernel and Adaptation in The Golden Compass
— Douglas A. Barnim

Tom Bombadil and the Spirit of Objectivity
— Dani Inkpen

“Her Enchanted Hair”: Rossetti, “Lady Lilith,” and the Victorian Fascination with Hair as Influences on Tolkien
— Kathryn Colvin

The “Polish Inkling”: Professor Przemysław Mroczkowski as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Friend and Scholar
— Łukasz Neubauer

Tolkien’s Lost Knights
— Ben Reinhard

---

Reviews

• Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien’s Legendarium, by Mark Doyle — Robert T. Tally Jr.
• Music in Tolkien’s Work and Beyond, edited by Julian Eilmann and Friedhelm Schneidewind — Megan N. Fontenot
• Hobbit Virtues: Rediscovering Virtue Ethics through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, by Christopher A. Snyder — Zachary D. Schmoll
• Michael Moorcock: Fiction, Fantasy and the World’s Pain by Mark Scroggins, and The Law of Chaos: The Multiverse of Michael Moorcock by Jeff Gardiner — David L. Emerson
• Myth-Building in Modern Media: The Role of the Mytharc in Imagined Worlds, by A.J. Black — Maria Alberto
• The Nibelungenlied: with The Klage, translated by William T. Whobrey — Larry J. Swain
• The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-earth, by John Garth — Mike Foster
• Briefly Noted: A Dictionary of Symbols: Revised and Expanded, by Juan Eduardo Cirlot — Janet Brennan Croft
Reality, Magic, and Other Lies: Fairy-Tale Film Truths, by Pauline Greenhill — Alissa Renales

 

 

CFP SFRA Virtual Conference (4/1/21; event 6/18-21/21)

 Call for Proposals:

• Science Fiction Research Association  

  (Virtual) Annual Conference 2021

  http://www.sfra.org/SFRA-2021-Call-for-Papers
  

  Friday, 18 June - Monday, 21 June 2021

  Virtual Host: Seneca College, Toronto, Canada

   

  Conference Theme: The Future of/as Inequality

   

  Keynote Speaker: Madeline Ashby

  [Company Town, How to Future: Leading and Sensemaking in an Age of Hyperchange,

  Machine Dynasty series]

  Guest Scholar: Dr. Lars Schmeink

  [Biopunk Dystopias: Genetic Engineering, Society and Science Fiction; The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture, Cyberpunk and Visual Culture] 

  The Science Fiction Research Association invites proposals for its 2021 annual conference, to be held virtually from June 18 until June 21, 2021 and sponsored by Seneca College, Toronto, Canada. Topics related to the conference theme include (but not limited to the following:

• •      posthumanism(s) and the economies of/and poverty
  •        (hyper) exploitation and posthuman labouring bodies
  •        reinforcing/redefining social class
  •        utopianism and post-capitalist societies
  •        the Anthropocene; or, we’re not all in the same (sinking) ship, are we?
  •        Indigenous survivance
  •        speculative technologies of resistance

We also welcome papers on topics relevant to science fiction research broadly conceived that are not specifically related to the conference theme, including proposals for virtual panels and roundtables, if technologically feasible.

300-500 word abstracts should be sent to Graham J. Murphy (graham.Murphy@senecacollege.ca) or through the Abstract Submission form by April 1, 2021. Notification of acceptance will occur by April 16, 2021. At this stage, the plan (although it can change!) is to have papers/presentations organized into thematic “streams” and made available to registered ‘attendees’ in advance of the conference in an asynchronous manner, coupled with synchronous Q&A sessions on a virtual conferencing platform.

Otherwise, general questions concerning this call for papers, conference panels, etc. can be directed to Graham J. Murphy (graham.Murphy@senecacollege.ca) and/or SFRA president Gerry Canavan (gerry.canavan.marquette.edu).

You will also need to join SFRA (or renew your membership) to register for the conference. For more on registration categories and deadlines, visit the SFRA website.

 

CFP Ursula K. Le Guin Spec. Issue of Mythlore (updated 12/20/2020)

I couldn't find an updated text, but Mythlore has recently revised its deadline for a special issue commemorating the life and works of Ursula K. Le Guin.

A PDF version of the revised call can be accessed here.


This was the last version of the call:
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2020/02/12/deadline-extended-honoring-ursula-k-le-guin-citizen-of-mondrath


DEADLINE EXTENDED: Honoring Ursula K. Le Guin: Citizen of Mondrath


deadline for submissions:
May 25, 2020


full name / name of organization:
Mythlore, a journal of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature


contact email:
mythlore@mythsoc.org

Call for Papers for Special Issue of Mythlore, Fall 2020:

Honoring Ursula K. Le Guin: Citizen of Mondrath

Guest Edited by Melanie A. Rawls



Proposal deadline March 25, Draft deadline June 25, Final paper deadline August 25

PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED to MAY 25



Mythlore, a journal dedicated to the genres of myth and fantasy (particularly the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis), invites article submissions for a special issue focused on Ursula K. Le Guin, grandmaster of mythopoeic fantasy.

We welcome essays on the following topics: Le Guin’s Earthsea series, the three novels of the “Annals of the Western Shore,” namely Gifts, Voices, and Powers, the young adult novel The Beginning Place, and her fantasy short stories.

Le Guin’s masterwork Always Coming Home has a special place in Mythopoeic Society history, as it was the topic of a panel when she was Guest of Honor at Mythcon 19 in 1988. Though this work is not considered strictly fantasy, it clearly has mythopoeic elements, and we welcome articles on this text

Other potential topics for articles include:

• Good and evil in Le Guin’s worlds
• Gender
• Power and its uses and abuses
• Jungian and Taoist elements in Le Guin’s writing

We also call for articles on her critical essays that examine mythopoeic writing and any of her poetry or non-fantasy writing that has mythopoeic themes and imagery. We welcome articles that explore Le Guin’s influence on the fantasy genre as a whole and on other writers, as well as articles exploring how other writers influenced Le Guin (Le Guin claimed Philip K. Dick and Walter M. Miller as influences in an interview).



To get an idea of the range of topics covered in Mythlore, visit the online archive at https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/

and consult the electronic index, which can be downloaded free at http://www.mythsoc.org/press/mythlore-index-plus.htm. Submission guidelines can be found at http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore/mythlore-submissions.htm.

Mythcon 51 Updates and New CFP (5/15/2021; Albuquerque 7/31-8/2/2021)

The Mythopoeic Society has announced the postponement of Mythcon 51 from this summer to next summer. The updated call is pasted below. Full details at the Society's dedicated site: http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm.



New Dates! July 30 - August 2, 2021

Mythcon 51
The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien
Albuquerque, New Mexico
July 30 - August 2, 2021

Call for Papers Download PDF of Call for Papers here


CONFERENCE THEME: THE MYTHIC, THE FANTASTIC, AND THE ALIEN This year’s Mythcon theme provides multiple opportunities to explore the Other in fantasy and mythopoeic literature. Tolkien spoke in “On Fairy-stories” of “the desire to visit, free as a fish, the deep sea; or the longing for the noiseless, gracious, economical flight of a bird.” We invite discussion about the types of fantasy that are more likely to put us into contact with the alien, such as time portal fantasy and space travel fantasy. In addition to Inklings, some writers who deal particularly well with the truly alien who might be explored include Lovecraft, Gaiman, Le Guin, Tepper, and others. Other topics that might be fruitfully explored are: 

• depictions of the alien Other in film and television (Contact, Arrival, HBO’s Watchmen, etc.);
•  developing constructed languages that are truly different from those of Earth-based humans;
•  fantastical Others in indigenous myths (such as Coyote and Spider Woman from Native American mythology);
• and American folklore about the alien (flying saucers, alien abduction, Area 51, Roswell).

Papers on our conference theme and the works and interests of our guests of honor are especially welcome, although all subjects will be considered.
GUESTS OF HONOR Papers on the works and interests of our guests of honor are also especially welcome:

Author Guest of Honor Rivera Sun is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and other novels. Her young adult fantasy series, the Ari Ara Series, has been widely acclaimed by teachers, parents, and peace activists for its blending of fantasy and adventure with social justice issues. The Way Between, the first book in the Ari Ara Series, has been read by numerous groups of all ages, while the second book in the series, The Lost Heir, has been nominated for the 2020 Dayton Peace Literature Prize. 

Scholar Guest of Honor David Bratman is has been reading Tolkien for over fifty years, and has been writing Tolkien scholarship for nearly as long. His earliest contribution to the field was the first-ever published Tale of Years for the First Age, right after The Silmarillion was published. Since then he has published articles with titles like “Top Ten Rejected Plot Twists from The Lord of the Rings,” “Hobbit Names Aren’t from Kentucky,” and “Liquid Tolkien” (on Tolkien and music). He’s been co-editor of Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review since 2013, and has written or edited its annual “Year’s Work in Tolkien Studies” since 2004. David edited The Masques of Amen House by Charles Williams and contributed the bio-bibliographical appendix on the Inklings to Diana Pavlac Glyer’s The Company They Keep. He has also written on C.S. Lewis, Ursula Le Guin, Mervyn Peake, Neil Gaiman, and others.

PAPERS and PANELS PROPOSALS Email papers abstracts of 200-500 words to this year’s Paper Coordinator:
Cami Agan
cami.agan@oc.edu
by May 15, 2021.

Email panels abstracts of 50-150 words to Panels Coordinator:
Leslie Donovan
leslie.a.donovan@gmail.com
by May 15, 2021.

Include AV requests and the projected time needed for your presentation. We will make every effort to accommodate A/V requests, but such equipment is limited and cannot be guaranteed. Available time slots: Individual long papers are one hour, roughly 45 minutes for the paper with 15 minutes for discussion; Individual short papers or 1/2 hour, roughly 20 minutes for the paper with 10 minutes for discussion; Panels are 90 minutes, roughly 60 minutes for the panel with 30 minutes for discussion.
You will be notified after the deadline if your paper proposal has been accepted. See our Alexei Kondratiev Award for details on our student paper award!

All presenters must register for the full conference; please see the Mythcon 51 Registration page for information and rates.

Participants are encouraged to submit papers chosen for presentation at the conference to Mythlore, the refereed journal of the Mythopoeic Society (www.mythlore.org). All papers should conform to the 8th edition of the MLA Style Manual. Presenters who are full-time undergraduate or graduate students are encouraged to submit their completed conference papers in advance for consideration for the Alexei Kondratiev Student Paper Award. Please see www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/alexei.htm for more information.


ABOUT THE MYTHOPOEIC SOCIETY The Mythopoeic Society is an international literary and educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and mythopoeic literature. We believe the study of these writers can lead to greater understanding and appreciation of the literary, philosophical, and spiritual traditions which underlie their works, and can engender an interest in the study of myth, legend, and the genre of fantasy. Find out about the Society s activities at: www.mythsoc.org