The Fan Studies Network

Now accepting submissions and ideas for the fifth annual Pop Culture Colloquium at DePaul University in Chicago! DePaul University (Loop Campus) is hosting a one-day celebratory colloquium in honor the twentieth anniversary (!!) of the
publication of the first Harry Potter book on Saturday, May 06, 2017, from 9am-6pm. 

The first keynote speaker announced is Alanna Bennett, Film and TV Writer for Buzzfeed. Ms. Bennett writes about Harry Potter and is perhaps best known for her work on racebending Hermione Granger.

This event will feature roundtable discussions from scholars and fans of Harry Potter, speaking about a broad array of topics related to the series and its cultural impact. Rather than formal paper presentations, speakers are invited
to have roundtable discussions themed around these topics. The audience for this event is both graduate and undergraduate students, both fans and scholars. 

If you’re interested in speaking on a roundtable, please send a 200-300 word abstract that proposes a significant topic of discussion and a CV/resume to Paul Booth (pbooth@depaul.edu) by Feb 01. Please
aim your abstracts for a more general audience and for a discussion rather than a paper presentation. For more information, please check out the website www.mcsdepaul.com/depaul-pop-culture-conference.html and
sign up for updates on Facebook (search “Harry Potter and the Pop Culture Conference”). We hope that you will be able to join in the discussion and celebration!

An international conference hosted by The School of Arts and Media, University of Salford, UK and the Department of Recording Industry, Middle Tennessee State University, USA. 24th- – 26th May 2017, Media City UK, University of Salford, UK.

Convenors:

Dr Mike Alleyne, Dept of Recording Industry, College of Media & Entertainment, Middle Tennessee State University

Dr Kirsty Fairclough, School of Arts and Media, University of Salford, UK

Tim France, School of Arts and Media, University of Salford, UK

Proposals are invited for a two-day international conference on the life and legacy of Prince.
 
This conference aims to provide fresh perspectives on the creative and commercial dimensions of Prince’s career, re-examining the meanings of his work in the context of his unexpected death.

It seeks to address the issue of Prince’s significant influence and lasting appeal from a number of multi-disciplinary perspectives.  We welcome proposals from scholars in the fields of popular music studies, sound studies, gender studies, cultural studies, television studies, celebrity studies, film studies, visual arts, performance studies, digital and social media and related disciplines.
 
The conference presents a timely consideration of the cultural impact, iconic status of Prince and his global legacies across many media platforms. It will examine all aspects of his creative output and the ways in which it intersects with video, performance, literature, theatre, film, digital cultures, design and fashion.

Single and panel proposals are invited on, but are not limited to, the following:
 
Prince as musician.
Prince as songwriter.
Prince and fandom.
Prince and racial representations.
Prince, feminism and gender relations.
Prince on film.
Prince as actor.
Prince and performance style.
Prince’s music videos.
Prince and fashion.
Prince as star/celebrity.
Prince’s death.
Prince and media representations.
Prince as enigma.
 
Submission guidelines:

Deadline for abstracts: 31st January, 2017

Panel proposals should consist of a 500word abstract plus a 100word biography from each participant. Proposals should be sent to: purplereignconference@gmail.com

Individual submissions should consist of 300 word abstracts plus a 100word biography and should be sent to:
purplereignconference@gmail.com

ICA Preconference, by the Popular Communication Division, sponsored by the Centre for Participatory Culture, University of Huddersfield

24^th and 25^th May 2017, San Diego, CA.

Organisers:                                                         

Cornel Sandvoss and Stephen Harrington

Background and Aims:

From Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the 2016 US presidential election and the successful Brexit campaign in Britain, via the rise of far right populist parties across Eurpoe to new Left movements across Southern Europe or Corbynism
in the UK, representative democracies in Europe and the US are currently being confronted with dramatic and rapid transformations to the substance of political discourse, frequently summarised as ‘post-truth politics’. Rapidly accelerating over the past two
years, many of these changes to politics, political movements, political campaigning and political debate have been observed and explored in the field of communication studies focusing on its early manifestations such as the Tea Party as much as progressive
grass root movements over the past decades. This preconference draws on the rich body of work in the study of new political formations, political campaigning, the changing nature of political discourse, the eroding boundaries between political and popular
communication and between popular entertainment and popular and populist politics in the field of media and communication studies over this period, and aims to provide a forum for the presentation of current research on the rapid rise of political populism,
political movements and post-truth politics in 2016 in different national and international contexts and thus to provide comparative perspectives on transformations of political discourse, participation and electoral behaviour.

The preconference will foster a dialogue between scholars working within different conceptual and methodological traditions in order to advance interdisciplinary debates and approaches to the study of contemporary popular and populist politics;
building on this analysis the preconference concludes with reflections on how this analysis can and ought to translate into interventions on behalf of communication scholars in the political process and its communicative infrastructure.

Themes:

The rise of new political movements and campaigns, including but not limited to the rise of far-right and post-truth populism, are distinctly multi-factorial. In exploring their premises and consequences we distinguish between media intrinsic
and extrinsic factors. While the preconference will focus on media intrinsic factors that are closely associated with changes in political discourse as a result of a.) technological change including processes of digitisation and media convergence, b.) transformations
of media ownership and (broadcast) market deregulation and c.) the proliferation of forms of participation and textual production among media users and audiences, it also acknowledges the wider economic, social, cultural and political factors that have informed
and driven these transformations.  The preconference therefore examines the interplay between media intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the rise of popular and populist movements. We thus invite contributions to a range of related fields of research including:

• ·      
  Media, politics and trust
• ·      
  Citizen journalism and political participation
• ·      
  Perception on (news) media among media users
• ·      
  The crisis of political journalism
• ·      
  The role of comedy and other forms of entertainment in political discourse
• ·      
  Infotainment 
  and political discourse
• ·      
  Social movements, protest and digital media
• ·      
  Social media and the public sphere
• ·      
  The affective and emotional qualities of political support and voting
• ·      
  Fans of politicians as well as campaigns and movements as fan cultures
• ·      
  Political discourse, Othering and anti-fandom
• ·      
  Further communication research pertinent to understanding populism and post-truth politics

Participants are invited to examine cases and phenomena from across the world, including, but not limited to:

·      
The 2016 US election campaign

·      
Far right populism including movements such as the Tea Party, UK Leave campaign, Fidesz, Front National, UKIP, AfD, PiS and FPÖ.

·      
Movements against neo-liberalism and austerity including Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign, Syriza, Podemos and Momentum.

·      
Forms of civic action and political interventions by media users and audiences across the political spectrum as well as within realms of entertainment.

We invite submissions to any of the above themes and topics in the following formats:

Full Research Papers

We welcome paper submissions on any research of empirical, conceptual and methodological relevance to the preconference theme. Given the preconference’s topical nature, submissions of current and ongoing research
are highly encouraged. Paper proposals should be supported by an extended abstract of up to 800 words outlining the paper’s background, rationale, methodology and indicative findings (if available). Paper presentations will be between 15 and 20 minutes

Position Papers

We also invite submissions of shorter position papers (10 minutes). Position papers should be based on emerging and developing research and will offer an opportunity to present and reflect on new and innovative
conceptual, methodological and empirical approaches. Proposals for position papers should be based on an abstract of up to 500 words.

Panel Proposals

Panel proposals should aim to focus on a particular theme or aspect of populism, post-truth politics or political participation across different case studies, or instead examine a given case study through a range
of approaches and themes.

Panels should feature between three and six papers. Proposals should include the following: 1. A 400-word abstract including a rationale for the panel. 2. A 150-word abstract for each of the papers on the panel
followed by a brief (100 word) description of each panelist’s background band qualifications regarding the proposed topic. 3. A 75-word description of the panel for the conference program.

Mediated / Alternative Submission Formats

We also encourage scholars and practitioners in the field to submit related research outputs in any format (both academic and artistic in formats such as, but not limited to, written, visual, sonic, audio, video,
hypertext, ) to be featured on preconference website, in situ or as part of the programme.

All proposals for contributions to the preconference should be submitted online at
https://goo.gl/FcdSjZ. For any further questions on the submission process please contact Cornel Sandvoss at
c.sandvoss@hud.ac.uk.

The proposal submission deadline is midnight (GMT) on 31^st December 2016.

We will support dissemination of the preconference through a digital dissemination strategy including live streaming.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: December 20, 2016

The Division of Mass Communication at St. John’s University is now
accepting submissions for paper presentations at an upcoming one-day symposium, Consumer Identities and Digital Culture. We seek transdisciplinary interpretations and critical analyses of consumption and consumer identity, broadly defined across emerging media and digitallandscapes. This symposium is the first in a planned series of events interrogating various aspects of consumer identity, using fans as one exemplar and catalyst for discussion. Panelists will also be invited to participate in the development of an edited volume.

POTENTIAL TOPICS (including but not limited to):

— Fans and fandom

— Aspirational consumption

— Anti-consumerism/consumer activism

— Brand communities

— Makers, crafters and prosumers

— Target markets and subcultural identities

— Cultural marketing and consumer relationships

We welcome scholarly submissions that address audience, industry, and critical/cultural perspectives and are particularly interested in the intersections thereof.

LOCATION: St. John’s University, Queens Campus

DATE: March 28, 2017

KEYNOTE:

Dr. Paul Booth, associate professor of Media and Cinema studies at DePaul University and author of several books including Digital Fandom 2.0: New Media Studies (Peter Lang, 2016), Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Playing Fans: Negotiating Fandom and Media in the Digital Age (University of Iowa Press, 2015)

SUBMISSIONS:

350-word abstract and brief biographical note by Decembrt 20 2016 to
consumer.identities@gmail.com

Accepted panelists will be notified in mid-January.

Please address any questions to:

Candice D. Roberts

Assistant Professor of Communication

St. John’s University

robertsc@stjohns.edu <robertsd@stjohns.edu>

Myles Ethan Lascity

Assistant Professor of Communication

Chestnut Hill College

lascitym@chc.edu

Website:
http://www.consumeridentities.com

April 1, 2017, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 

CFP DEADLINE: DECEMBER 19, 2016 

Participants will be notified by January 15, 2017. 

Keynote Speaker: Sherryl Vint, University of California, Riverside 

This one-day conference invites scholars working on film and television, literature, philosophy, history, folklore studies, religion, and related academic disciplines to explore the ongoing legacy of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer as it turns twenty years old this year. 

Undoubtedly one of the best-loved (and best-studied) television programs of all time, Buffy has left an indelible mark on contemporary genre fiction and contemporary fandom both. Where do we go from here? What is the place of Buffy today, in a media ecology that in many ways has moved beyond the stale genre conventions and offensive sexist assumptions that made it feel so revolutionary in its moment? Does Buffy really still matter, all these years later? 

We submit it does, and invite papers that advance novel and innovative interventions in Buffy studies that point the way towards another twenty years (at least).

Possible topics might include: 

* Buffy/Angel spinoff media, including the video games, Fray, and the seasons 8-10 comics 

* Where are they now? Post-Buffy careers 

* Buffy/Angel fan commentary and fan fictions 

* Bingewatching Buffy

* Re-(re-(re-))watching Buffy 

* Buffy and philosophy 

* Buffy and history 

* Buffy and religion 

* Buffy and contemporary identity politics 

* Buffy/Angel and the wider Mutant Enemy culture industry (Firefly, Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible, The Cabin in the Woods, Much Ado about Nothing, the Marvel Cinematic Universe) 

* Buffy and nostalgia 

* Buffy and mythopoesis 

* classic episodes / classically bad episodes 

* the rise of Whedon Studies / Buffy in the academy / Buffy in the classroom 

* Buffy in the Anthropocene 

* Buffy in the Age of Trump 

* Buffy’s impact, legacy, ongoing relevance, and future 

Conference organizers: 

Gerry Canavan (gerry.canavan@marquette.edu) 

James South (james.south@marquette.edu)