The Fan Studies Network

University of Western Australia

Perth, Australia
December 8-10, 2017

CALL FOR PAPERS:

With the rise of Web 2.0, people brand themselves through social media as a singular person. The online visibility of their brand often takes precedence over social contributions. Their online presentation, however, is a reflection of how they want to be perceived in a collective setting. How does this kind of branding differ to a local business service or an international celebrity who also brands themselves online? What impact is persona branding having on society and the way people view themselves?

A focus on the persona of activists shows the particular impact of branding in society. An activist’s voice, like that of a political leader, is often heard if they have a strong brand. Yet, the perception is often specific to their national contexts. How are socialist actions in North Korea viewed in the Western world? How does having a female political leader change the perception of a country? How are immigrants seen around the world? What role does media play in creating theseconstructed views in national and transnational contexts?

We encourage scholars and industry practitioners to question, explore, and problematize the notion of national identity in persona, branding, and activism. We ask:how is a country reflected through its celebrities, popular history, stereotypes and myths? Often one individual can have global fame, which can result in branding a nation or city and develop a country’s cause as well. Their persona becomes the basis of how a place is perceived internationally. For example, American born icon Elvis Presley is used to represent Las Vegas and Memphis, while George Clooney has attached himself to Darfur through his activism. Similarly, Steve Irwin became a symbol of Australian culture through his philanthropy and his fame as “The Crocodile Hunter.” A decade since his death people still create the association between him and the nation’s identity, while overlooking how race, gender and class affect one’s overall brand identity.Myths surrounding national identity are also evident in beauty pageants and the Olympics. How do these stereotypes affect our understanding of culture?

The Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) Bridging Gaps conference, in association with sponsors Centre for Ecological, Social, and Informatics Cognitive Research (ESI.CORE) and WaterHill Publishing, invites papers and films that explore the relationship among four key themes – persona, branding, activism, and national identity. We invite academics, filmmakers, journalists, publicists, designers, advertisers, marketing specialists, charity organizers, and guests to explore and connect themes from a range of interdisciplinary fields and generate a valuable discussion and practice that will inspire change.

Attendees may present papers, take part in a workshop or create a roundtable discussion on the themes of persona, branding, activism and national identity. We recommend roundtables on Heath Ledger but open to discussions on other stars in national contexts of Australia and abroad.

Extended versions of selected papers will be published in an edited book by WaterHill Publishing, while others will be invited for the opportunity to publish work in the CrossBridge journal.

We also invite people to send in videos for the Celebrity Chat Award. The idea forCelebrity Chat was born in Melbourne and the first recording took place in Perth. We are proud to be bringing it back home. The best video/documentary will be selected based on its ability to draw attention to a significant matter, be relevant to the conference theme and/or inspire change.

Registration includes: Your printed conference package, catered lunch, coffee / tea breaks, evening drinks, professional development workshop, access to evening receptions, eligibility to publish in edited book, and consideration for the $100 best paper and screen awards.

Submission guidelines:

• • 250-word abstract or workshop / roundtable proposal
  • Include a title, your name, e-mail address, and affiliation if applicable
  • Submit to conference Chairs Dr Jackie Raphael and Dr Celia Lam at email address: celeb.studies@gmail.com
  • Deadline for abstract submission:July 28, 2017
  • Notification of acceptance: August 25, 2017
  • Full text due: November 1, 2017
  • Pre-Conference reception: December 8, 2017
  • Conference presentations:December 9-10, 2017
  • Publication of edited book: 2018

Celebrity Chat Video Submissions:

• Video length should be 10-20 minutes
• Include a title, your name, e-mail address, and affiliation if applicable
• Submit to conference Chairs Dr Jackie Raphael and Dr Celia Lam at email address: celeb.studies@gmail.com
• Deadline for submission: August 1, 2017
• Notification of acceptance: September 15, 201
• Conference screening: December 9-10, 2017

Topics include but are not limited to:

• National Identity and Persona
• Activism and Philanthropy
• Fandom and Audiences
• Endorsements and Advertising
• Branding and Graphic Design
• Tourism and Promotion
• Politics and Leadership
• Persona and Online Presence
• Mass Media and Social Media
• Public Relations and Publicity
• Journalism and Newsworthy Topics
• Fame and Fortune
• Gender and Power
• Icons and Status
• Beauty Ideals, Pageants and Culture
• Models as Role Models
• Olympics and Representing Nations
• Sporting Identities
• Literature and Photography
• Film and Television
• Laws and Policies
• Theory and Methods
• Research Agenda and Business Models
• Ethics and Morality
• Cognition and Memory
• Social Innovation and Change
• Education and Advocacy
• Community Building and Community Partnerships

Conference Chairs: Dr Jackie Raphael and Dr Celia Lam
Conference Committee: Dr Kirsty Fairclough, Dr Bertha Chin and Bethan Jones and
Conference URL: http://cmc-centre.com/conferences/2017perth/

10—12 January 2018

London South Bank University
Theme: Creativity and Agency
Deadline for proposals: Monday 18 September 2017

We are pleased to invite you to submit abstracts, panel proposals and posters for the next Annual MeCCSA Conference, to be held on 10—12 January 2018 at the School of Arts and Creative Industries, London South Bank University.

The conference is the annual presentation of the best work across the whole range of MeCCSA interests, and is also an opportunity to hear about and discuss important topics in both media and HE policy relevant to MeCCSA members.

We welcome scholarly papers, panels, practice contributions, film screenings, and posters across the full range of interests represented by MeCCSA and its networks, including, but not limited to:

• Cultural and media policy
• Film and television studies and practice
• Radio studies and practice
• Representation, identity, ideology
• Social movements
• Digital games studies
• Women’s media studies
• Disability studies within media studies
• Approaches to media pedagogy
• Children, young people and media
• Diasporic and ethnic minority media
• Political communication
• Methodological approaches
• Media practice research and teaching

The theme of the MeCCSA 2018 conference is Creativity and Agency. ‘Creativity’ is a concept that is, at least implicitly, central to many courses in our subject area, which often entail analysis of ‘creative industries’ and include elements of ‘creative
practice’ as part of the curriculum. Yet it remains a highly contested concept, from the official promotion of the ‘creative economy’ through to more recent debates about the commodification of everyday ‘creative labour’ via social media. How has the concept
developed in the twenty-first century? How should we interpret today’s creative landscape?

Confirmed keynote speakers:

• Professor David Gauntlett (University of Westminster)
• Professor Angela McRobbie (Goldsmiths, University of London)
• Professor Andy Miah (University of Salford)

We invite proposals for papers, practice contributions, themed panels and other presentations which engage with the various artistic, organisational, social, political, economic, individual, collective and technological dimensions of creativity and agency.
Potential topics could include, but are not limited to:

• art and activism
• creativity and cultural policy
• everyday creativity
• public service media as a creative agent
• technology and creativity
• creative entrepreneurship and cultural industries
• individual and collective conceptions of creativity
• non-fiction and creativity
• creativity and pedagogy
• creative labour and social media
• creativity and practice research

Deadline for proposals: Monday 18 September

Individual abstracts should be up to 250 words. Panel proposals should include a short description and rationale (200 words) together with abstracts for each of the 3-4 papers (150-200 words each including details of the contributor), and the name and contact
details of the panel proposer. The panel proposer should co-ordinate the submissions for that panel as a single proposal.

Practice-based work

We actively support the presentation of practice-as-research and have a flexible approach to practice papers and presentations. This may include opportunities to present papers and screenings in the same sessions or as part of a separate screening strand. 
We also welcome shorter papers in association with short screenings/sharing. We have dedicated presentation spaces to display practice artefacts including screenings and computer-based work. For displaying practice work, please include specific technical data
(e.g. duration, format) and a URL pointing to any support material when submitting your abstract.

Direct link for proposals submission:
http://tinyurl.com/abstracts-2018
Conference website: http://www.meccsa2018.org
Email enquiries: MeCCSA2018@lsbu.ac.uk
Twitter: @MeCCSA2018

There is just one week to the deadline for abstracts. We have received some wonderful abstracts, but there is still time to submit! Deadline is 30th June.

The Melodrama Research Group presents: At home with horror? Terror on the small screen

27th-28th October 2017

University of Kent

Keynote speaker: Dr Helen Wheatley (University of Warwick)

CALL FOR PAPERS

The recent horror output on TV and the small screen challenges what Matt Hills found to be the overriding assumption ‘that film is the [horror] genre’s ‘natural’ home’ (Hills 2005, 111). Programmes such as American Horror Story, Penny Dreadful and The Walking Dead are aligned to ‘‘quality TV’, yet use horror imagery and ideas to present a form and style of television that is ‘not ordinary’’ (Johnston 2016, 11). Developments in industrial practices and production technology have resulted in a more spectacular horror in the medium, which Hills argues is the ‘making cinematic’ of television drama (Hills 2010, 23). The generic hybridity of television programmes such as Whitechapel, and Ripper Street allow conventions of the horror genre to be employed within the narrative and aesthetics, creating new possibilities for the animation of horror on the small screen. Series such as Bates Motel and Scream adapt cinematic horror to a serial format, positioning the small screen (including terrestrial, satellite and online formats) as the new home for horror.

The history of television and horror has often displayed a problematic relationship. As a medium that operates within a domestic setting, television has previously been viewed as incompatible with ‘authentic’ horror. Television has been approached as incapable of mobilizing the intense audience reactions associated with the genre and seen as a medium ‘restricted’ in its ability to scare and horrify audiences partly due to censorship constraints (Waller 1987) and scheduling arrangements. Such industrial practices have been seen as tempering the genre’s aesthetic agency resulting in inferior cinematic imitations or, ‘degraded made-for-TV sequels’ (Waller 1987, 146). For Waller, the technology of television compounded the medium’s ability to animate horror and directed its initial move towards a more ‘restrained’ form of the genre such as adapting literary ghost stories and screening RKO productions of the 1940s (Ibid 1987). Inferior quality of colour and resolution provided the opportunity to suggest rather than show. Horror, then, has presented a challenge for television: how can the genre be positioned in such a family orientated and domesticated medium? As Hills explains, ‘In such a context, horror is conceptualised as a genre that calls for non- prime-time scheduling… and [thus] automatically excluded from attracting a mass audience despite the popularity of the genre in other media’ (Hills 2005, 118).

Helen Wheatley’s monograph, Gothic Television (2006), challenges the approach of television as a limiting medium for horror, and instead focuses on how the domestic setting of the television set is key to its effectiveness.  Focusing on the female Gothic as a domestic genre, Wheatley draws a lineage from early literary works, to the 1940s cycle of Gothic women films and Gothic television of the 1950s onwards. Wheatley argues for the significance of the domestic setting in experiencing stories of domestic anxiety for, ‘the aims of the Gothic drama made for television [are] to suggest a congruence between the domestic spaces on the screen and the domestic reception context’ (Wheatley 2006, 191).

Developments in small screen horror are not restricted to contemporary output. In his work on the cultural history of horror, Mark Jancovich argues that it was on television in the 1990s where key developments in the genre were taking place (Jancovich 2002). Taking Jancovich’s work as a cue, Hills develops his own approach to the significance of horror television of the 1990s. Hills cites Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X Files as examples of programmes striving to mobilise the genre’s more graphic elements while existing as a ‘high-end’ cultural product: ‘authored’ TV that targeted a niche fan audience (Hills 2005, 126).

Taking these recent developments into account, the aim of this conference is to engage with such advances. Can we say that it is on the small screen where critical and creative innovations in horror are now being made? How has the expansion of satellite television and online sites impacted the genre? How has the small screen format developed the possibilities of horror? Is the recent alignment with ‘quality TV’ evidence of horror’s new mainstream status? This conference will also reflect on seminal works on television horror and revisit the history of the genre. In addressing these questions the conference will underline the importance of the small screen for horror, within the study of the genre and of the medium, and ask: is the small screen now the home of horror?

Topics can include but are not limited to:

  *   The seasons and horror on the small screen
  *   Gothic television
  *   Gender and horror
  *   Historical figures and events in small screen horror
  *   Small screen horror as an ‘event’
  *   Adaptation from cinema to small screen ‘re-imaginings’
  *   Production contexts
  *   Censorship and the small screen
  *   Serialisation and horror production
  *   National television production of horror
  *   The impact of Netflix and Amazon Prime
  *   TV history and horror
  *   Literary adaptations
  *   Children’s TV and horror
  *   Genre hybridity
  *   Fandom
  *   Teen horror
  *   Stardom and horror

Please submit proposals of 400 words, along with a short biographical note (250 words) to horrorishome@gmail.com<mailto:horrorishome@gmail.com> by Friday 30th June. We welcome 20 minute conference papers as well as submissions for creative work or practice-as-research including, but not limited to, short films and video essays.

Conference organisers: Katerina Flint-Nicol and Ann-Marie Fleming

https://tvhomeofhorror.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/Homewithhorror

Football, Politics and Popular Culture: 2017 Annual Conference of The Football Collective. 
Hosted by the Popular Music and Popular Culture Research Cluster, University of Limerick.

‘The Football Collective’ is a dedicated International network of over 200 academics and practitioners across a range of disciplines (Sociology, Musicology, Business Management, Economics and Finance, Political Science, Gender Studies, History, Social Media and Fan Studies, Corporate Governance etc.). Through sharp analysis and research it has provided a platform for thought provoking critical debate in football studies.

Football has always been political. For example, on 13th May 1990, just weeks after parties favouring Croatian independence had won the majority of votes in an election, a riot between the fans of Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade marked a game in the Maksimir Stadium. Zvonimir Boban, the Zagreb captain and future AC Milan star kicked a police officer who had allegedly been mistreating Croatian fans. Some argue that this moment marked the end of Yugoslavia, with a devastating Civil War following soon afterwards and many of the protagonists on that day swapping the terraces for the front lines.

The bodies of clubs, players and fans are enmeshed with politics. Clubs have been born as a result of population upheavals and migration; have been associated with ethno-national and religious communities, and political ideologies and parties to name but a few. In the contemporary context, football continues to be tied to political events and symbols. The ongoing movement of people into Europe has witnessed voices raised by football supporters both in support of and opposition to migration. Racism and anti-racism practices play out on and off the pitch. Broader contemporary international political controversies such as the prohibition of the flag of the Palestinian State, the wearing of symbols such as the British poppy or the commemoration of Irish Independence continue to spark controversy among player and fan communities alike.

Football also manifests at times in artefacts of music and broader popular culture. Football chants for example are a sophisticated socio-political activity, which connect to early forms of communication where humans used music, chant, and dance to bond as social groups. ‘Performance’ also has a unique ability to make difference visible and audible, and songs in particular have been shown to have powerful agency in the negotiation of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’.

We invite you to join us at the University of Limerick, on Thursday and Friday 23rd – 24th November 2017 for the Annual Conference of The Football Collective which is organized in association with the Popular Music and Popular Culture Research Cluster @UL. “Football, Politics and Popular Culture” will bring together interdisciplinary football researchers, academics and students to share research findings, interests, stories, and methods, in order to develop better research and collaboration across the Collective. We will also host guests from outside of the academy. In this conference, we therefore particularly welcome papers that address (but are not limited to) football and the following:

·      Fan culture
·      Political songs and chants
·      Migration
·      Racism
·      Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism
·      Ethno-national formation
·      Conflict
·      Sectarianism
·      Identities
·      Class politics
·      Gender and Sexualities
·      Its representation in popular culture (including film and literature)

The conference is designed to offer opportunities for all to present research, research ideas, potential projects, and innovative methods of data collection or public engagement. Thus it aims to discuss research that (a) has been undertaken, to share findings and gain insight and feedback on data analysis, representation, and potential outputs (b) is being proposed as a potential option for the Collective group to understand an existing issue or (c) has been published, to share findings and discuss future research needs. Please submit a Word document containing your paper title, a 250 word abstract, and author information including full name, institutional affiliation, email address, and a 50-word bio to footballconference2017@ul.ie by 6th September 2017. A maximum of 20 minutes will be allocated to each conference paper. Panel proposals (three presenters – 60 minutes) should include a 150 word overview and 250 word individual abstracts (plus author information listed above). We also welcome proposals for workshops, film screenings, performances etc. We particularly encourage submissions from PhD scholars and early career researchers. Notifications regarding acceptance will be sent by 15th September 2017.

Conference Conveners:

Dr. James Carr, Dept. of Sociology, University of Limerick.
Dr. Martin Power, Dept. of Sociology, University of Limerick.
Dr. Stephen Millar, Popular Music & Popular Culture Research Cluster, University of Limerick.

For further information please visit https://footballcollective.org.uk/2017/04/05/the-football-collective-annual-conference-2017/ 

or contact:

footballconference2017@ul.ie

GAMES & CULTURE SPECIAL ISSUE: CASUAL GAMES AND GAMING

Editors: 

Shira Chess, University of Georgia (schess@uga.edu) 

Christopher A. Paul, Seattle University (paulc@seattleu.edu)

As the video game medium continues to shift, the casual games market has grown increasingly robust. In “casual” we are referring to games meant to be played in short bursts of time, are inexpensive or free, require minimal expertise on the part of the player, and are typically played on mobile devices and computers.  The texts, genres, audiences, and industries of these games has grown exponentially in the past decade. 

Given these shifts in platform and style, this special issue seeks to push at research within the casual games market. Juul’s foundational work A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players (2010) helped establish much of the groundwork in this area. Further research continues to suggest the need to use a variety of methodological approaches to capture the often-ephemeral nature of the casual games market and its players (Leaver & Willson, 2015). Possible areas of investigation could include (but are not limited to):

• Historicizing the term “casual”

• Analysis of the casual/hardcore breakdown

• Methodological approaches to casual games

• Analysis of specific casual genres (Time Management, Hidden Object, Invest/Express, Puzzle, etc.)

• Audience studies on casual games

• Industry and studies in casual

• Formal/textual analysis of specific casual games

• Research on mobile games

We are looking for new voices and innovative research that push the boundaries of casual. We are happy to give some basic feedback on abstracts pre-submission. 

Deadline & Submission Information

Essays are due by October 10, 2017.

Final essays should be 6000 words or less, including references and should use APA style (5th edition). Submissions should be posted to Manuscript Central portal, at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/games.  When submitting, please be sure to submit as a “special issue for casual games.”  

If you have questions, please contact us at schess@uga.edu or paulc@seattleu.edu

“Queer/ing Animation” is developing nicely with a strong emphasis on queer readings of animated work and queer understandings of the medium as a whole.  However, we are still looking for abstracts on queer
fan communities (ex. queer interpretations of a character, slash and femslash communities), animation as a tool for queer activism, queer representation within animation (ex. positive representation, gaps in representation, possible examples of queerbaiting),
and studios’ relationship with queer communities (ex. treatment of queer employees, interaction with queer fans, marketing practices aimed specifically at the queer community).  

If you missed the last CFP or if you saw the CFP and missed the deadline, this is a great second chance.  Please send a 250 word abstract and 100 word biography to Kodi Maier at
queeringanimation@outlook.com    
Abstracts are due 16 June 2017.  

The symposium will take place at the
University of Hull on 26 July 2017.  

https://www.facebook.com/queeringanimation