The Fan Studies Network

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)

​CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS

Screening Scarlett Johansson: Gender, Genre and Celebrity

We invite chapter proposals for an edited collection on the intersection of celebrity, gender and genre, focused on the persona and work
of Scarlett Johansson.

In recent years, Johansson has achieved new standing as the darling of science fiction cinema. However, what makes her a worthy figure of
critical investigation is the multiplicity of genres and personae that she has been associated with. In her twenty-year career, Johansson has inhabited the personae of child actor (Manny & Lo (1996),
The Horse Whisperer (1998)), indie ingénue (Ghost World (2001),
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003),
Lost in Translation (2003)), director’s muse (Match Point (2005), Scoop
(2006), Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona (2008)), action heroine (The Island
(2006), Iron Man 2 (2009), The Avengers (2012)) and, most recently, science fiction performer (Her
(2013), Lucy (2014), Under the Skin (2013), Ghost in the Shell (2017)).

This collection seeks to provide the first book-length account of Johansson’s persona and work. It will position Johansson as a discursive
conduit for discussing celebrity as it intersects with questions of gender and genre, a research trajectory that is enabled by Johansson’s varied career. The collection casts a critical eye over the characters she has portrayed and personas that she has inhabited,
and how the two intersect and influence one another. The collection not only brings together a critical analysis of Johansson’s work. It draws out the multitude of meanings generated through and inherent to her performances.

We welcome a range of approaches to gender, genre and celebrity, focalised through Johansson’s persona. Possible topics include, but are
not restricted to:

• Johansson,
  gender and science-fiction cinema
• Indie
  cinema stardom
• “Crossover”
  stardom
• Child performers and performance
• Johansson
  as auteurs’ “muse”
• Gender
  and Johansson as voice performer
• Johansson’s
  action cinema stardom
• Female
  celebrity and science-fiction cinema

Submission requirements:

Please send a 350 word abstract (excluding bibliography) with a title, 100-word bio, and contact information
by December 2nd, 2016.

Deadlines:

Submission of abstract:
December 2nd, 2016

Notification of decisions: by
January 6th, 2017

Chapters due:
April 7th, 2017

Contact info:

Please send abstracts or enquiries to the editors via email at
screeningscarlettjohansson@gmail.com

Editors: 

Dr Janice Loreck (Monash University)

Dr Whitney Monaghan (Monash University)

Dr Kirsten Stevens (Monash University)

​Call for Papers: Liminal Celebrity and Small Nations- Special Issue of Celebrity Studies

Guest Editors:

Professor Barry King, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

Dr Damion Sturm, Leeds Beckett University, UK

Research into celebrity tends to focus on larger and more powerful media systems and how the logic of mediated fame has been formed and developed in larger and more powerful nations. Considering that 60% of the world’s nations have populations of less than 10 million and 48% of nations have less than 5 million inhabitants, this issue seeks to explore the role, value and function of celebrity in such localities. 

Historically the study of celebrity has followed the paths of organizational development and the cultural templates set by the success of Hollywood and the American media. Although significant differences in the formation of global and national celebrity culture are apparent in Europe (e.g., England, France, Italy) and other large and emerging global markets (e.g., China, India) these developments beg the question of the dynamics of celebrity in smaller nations. More explicitly, within such localities the formation of celebrity systems are subject to tensions between the global and the local. Drawing on the work of Victor Turner and Homi Bhabha, there is a need to explore the condition of inbetweenness and the liminal condition of local celebrity, charged with representing nationhood – itself internally conflicted and contested – and participation in the global celebrity order based on American and Western media systems. It could be argued that the national features of global celebrity, especially Hollywood and the American media, is rendered “invisible” as the universal touchstone of fame. Conversely, for the imagined communities of the periphery, celebrities are required to contend with notions of cultural specificity and traditions of representation and identity. So whilst it is true that the tension between the global and the local is a feature of celebrity culture per se, in small nation contexts this tends to be less a phenomenon between the ordinary and the extra-ordinary than between different versions of collective identity. 

What are the specificities, nuances and complexities that underpin the development of celebrity in smaller nations? How do smaller nations respond to the the influence of global Hollywood as it interfaces with local traditions of prestige, performance and cultural identity? Do local “celebrity imaginaries” under pressure to gain the economic advantages of following global formats, essentially mirror and replicate globally powerful forms of celebrity? Alternatively, what are the differences, distinctions and cultural conflicts that emerge in the formation of such “glocal” celebrity systems? Does “liminal” celebrity germinate, operate and mobilise different logics of fame and moral economies of representation? Across a range of celebrity fields – in sport, entertainment and politics – how do localised nationalist discourses come to the fore and how do these play out in the logic of self-commodification and formation of personae? How do the factors of smaller market size and limited economies of scale enact a territorial or geographical compression on systems of value and prestige, geographic distance or isolation from the West structure the discourse of celebrity and the development and maintenance of liminal celebrity cultures? 

In order to consider the interaction of the local and global (e.g., economic, political and cultural), as well as possible paradoxes and tensions in the formation of small nation celebrity, we welcome submissions that probe celebrity in any small nations located in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania.

Potential themes addressed may include but are not limited to:

The politics of celebrity in small nations

The local and global dimensions to celebrity in small nations 

The role, value and/or significance of celebrity in small nations

Celebrity identity politics via traditional (e.g., cultural, national, global, gender, race) and alternative articulations (e.g., abject, affect, agency, glocal, grobal, liquid, subversive) 

Cultural specificity and different versions of collective identity in small nation celebrity

Celebrity in specific fields of fame, such as entertainment (film, television, sport, music), politics and public life

Typologies of fame in small nations (e.g., notions of stardom, celebrity, persona, personage) 

Representational regimes and the burden of nationalistic articulations of celebrities as icons, heroes/heroines, and/or representatives of the nation (e.g., sport, media, politics)

Everyday occurrences of small nation celebrity, micro-celebrity and ‘ordinary’ celebrity 

Celebrity culture, commodification and gift economies

Celebrity and Transgender performance traditions (e.g., in South East Asia, the Pacific Rim)

Local traditions of performance in theatre, film and television, sport and politics in the formation of celebrity systems

Historical treatment and/or contemporary case studies of celebrity 

The mediatisation and/or commodification of celebrities in small nation media 

The consumption of celebrity in small nations (i.e., fandom, gossip)

The role of new media, social media and technology for celebrity in small nations

Interested authors should send a 250 word proposal and 200-word biography to both barry.king@aut.ac.nz and d.c.sturm@leedsbeckett.ac.uk by October 21, 2016. Acceptance notices will be sent out by December 9 2016. For accepted proposals, completed essays of 6000-8000 words will be due no later than April 7, 2017. Final publication of the special issue is expected early 2018. Only previously unpublished essays will be considered.

CFP for Edited Book Collection: War in the Whedonverses: Essays on Warfare and Military Studies in the Works of Joss Whedon

Editors: Ensley F. Guffey and Samira S. Nadkarni

Publishers: McFarland and Co.

Book Website: warinthewhedonverses.wordpress.com

Issues of war have played a prominent role in Whedon’s work across various media, from the progressively militarized later seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,to the later seasons in comic book format
and its offshoot, Fray. This continues throughout the television and comic book iterations of Firefly and Serenity, inDollhouse, in Whedon’s work with Marvel Studios both behind the scenes and as writer/director of the first
two Avengers films, as well as his independent projects such as Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog and even in his critically acclaimed rendition of Much Ado About Nothing. Despite the prevalence of warfare in Whedon’s work, a collection
of sustained critical examination has yet to be published and is the gap this book seeks to address.

Possible topics might include:

• Military Leadership in Whedon’s Work
• Past and Present Cultural Histories of Wars
• War and Gender
• PTSD and Combat Stress
• Whedon and Empire
• Narratives of the Good War and Humanitarian Intervention
• Trauma and Destruction
• Private Military Companies and Armed Individuals
• Corporate Ideology and Warfare
• Disability and War
• Military Science and Invention

Please respond with any questions or abstracts of 300-500 words by September 30, 2016 to  warinthewhedonverses@gmail.com. Proposals should
be for original essays that have not been published previously (including in conference proceedings) and that are not currently under consideration for another edited collection or journal. Final pieces must adhere to the MLA style of citations
and be approximately 8,000 words, inclusive of endnotes and bibliography. These are due April 1, 2017.  

In 2006’s /Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide/, Henry Jenkins defines “convergence culture” as “the low of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” (2). In contemporary culture, we are no longer merely passive consumers of media: we are participants in the narrative to the point where fans often actively influence outcomes and storylines well after a primary text has been released. J.K. Rowling’s tendency to continuously play with her /Harry Potter/ characters and stories a decade after the “final” book of the 7-part series was published is indicative of a growing trend towards interactive, convergence storytelling as part of the fan experience. Rowling certainly has her supporters and critics, and arguably, no one embodies the art of transmedia storytelling quite like Rowling. Since the 1997 publication of the first /Harry Potter/ novel, the “Potterverse” has seen the addition of eight feature films (with a ninth in production), the creation of the fan-interactive Pottermore© website, the release of myriad video games for multiple platforms, the construction of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, several companion books (such as /Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them/), critical essays and analyses, and the 2016 debut of the original stage play, /Harry Potter and the Cursed Child/.

We invite essays for a collection that explores the topics/themes/ideas in the companion works outside of the 7-book original canon /Harry Potter/ series. Specifically, we are looking for essays that explore the cultural implications of these narratives and the way fans (and critics) negotiate these narratives in a post-modern, convergence culture world.

We anticipate that this collection will include 16-20 essays, and as a working guide, the essays should be 4000-4500 words. Essays must adhere to the most current MLA format.

Submission Guidelines: Please send a 500-word proposal in Word, followed by a short bibliography showing the paper’s scholarly and theoretical context. Please also include a short professional description of yourself.

In addition to submissions from academics taking a scholarly approach to the subject, we are also particularly interested in essays that include analyses of /The Cursed Child/ from someone who has seen a live performance in London, any individuals who currently work or have worked at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and individuals associated with cosplay or active fandom (fan groups, organizations, etc.)

Submission deadline: 12/1/16

Direct inquires and proposals to:

Editors: Amanda Firestone, Leisa A. Clark

convergencepotter@gmail.com <mailto:convergencepotter@gmail.com>

​CALL FOR CHAPTERS:

Star Wars and the History of Transmedia Storytelling
Edited by Sean A. Guynes and Dan Hassler-Forest

We seek chapter proposals for a volume titled Star Wars and the History of Transmedia Storytelling, which aims to provide an account of the history of the franchise, its transmedia storytelling and world-building strategies, and the consumer practices that have engaged with, contributed to, and sometimes also challenged the development of the Star Wars franchise. We aim to have the collection in print by 2017, the year that marks the 40th anniversary of the first Star Wars film’s release. In those forty years, its narrative, its characters, and its fictional universe have gone far beyond the original film and have spread rapidly across multiple media—including television, books, games, comics, toys, fashion, and theme parks—to become the most lucrative franchise in the current media landscape, recently valued by Forbes at roughly $10 billion (Damodaran 2016).

A key goal of this project is to highlight the role and influence of Star Wars in pushing the boundaries of transmedia storytelling by making world-building a cornerstone of media franchises since the late 1970s. The chapters in this collection will ultimately demonstrate that Star Wars laid the foundations for the forms of convergence culture that rule the media industries today. As a commercial entertainment property and meaningful platform for audience participation, Star Wars created lifelong fans (and consumers) by continuing to develop characters and plots beyond the original text and by spreading that storyworld across as many media platforms as possible.

While there is much to be said about recent installments in the franchise, we discourage submissions that focusexclusively on Star Wars texts produced since the sale to Disney in 2012. Priority will be given to those submissions that demonstrate an ability to engage with the breadth of Star Wars media and fan activity, including (but not limited to) digital and analog games, novels, comics, televisions shows, tie-in merchandise, fanfic, and Star Wars events, places, and gatherings (conventions, exhibitions, shows, theme parks, performances, etc.); or that bring new approaches from transmedia and franchise studies to old topics. Chapters solicited from invited authors, for example, already propose a broad range of topics, including transmedia worldbuilding in comics and novels surrounding the original trilogy; the limits and criteria that define the limits of “A Star Wars Story”; transmedia erasure and the Holiday Special; and theStar Wars collectible card game.

Submissions might consider, but are certainly not restricted to, some of the following topics:

• Children’s media, kidification, and Star Wars
• Star Wars and/on television
• Star Wars video games
• Transmedia “metaseries,” e.g. Dark Empire
• Star Wars comics and graphic novels
• (Un)Adaptation and Dark Horse’s The Star Wars (2013-2014)
• Licensing, intellectual property, and canon
• Star Wars “Legends” imprint of novels and comics
• Children’s literature, YA literature, andStar Wars novels
• Star Wars and fandom, cosplay, fanfic, consumption practices, collecting
• Generational shifts in Star Wars fandom and creators as consumers
• Gender, race, and sexuality in Star Wars(especially where readings of lesser known characters, novels, comics are forwarded)
• Genre flexibility across Star Wars media
• Star Wars action figures and world-building through play
• Star Wars (tabletop) role-playing games
• Star Wars merchandising, franchising, and branding
• Mash-up/remix culture and Star Wars
• Music in and across Star Wars media

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the editors about the suitability of your topic for the collection.

Submissions should include a provisional title, a 200-word abstract, and a 100-word biographical note. Abstract submissions are due by October 1, 2016.

Please send submissions simultaneously to both editors, Sean A. Guynes (guynesse@msu.edu) and Dan Hassler-Forest (d.a.hassler-forest@uu.nl), with the subject line “SURNAME Star Wars Transmedia Book.”

Drafts will be due February 5, 2017, with a quick turnaround for editing and revisions so as to publish by Autumn 2017 before the 40th anniversary year ends.

LOCATING IMAGINATION: POPULAR CULTURE, TOURISM, AND BELONGING

APRIL 5-7 2017

ERASMUS UNIVERSITY ROTTERDAM 

Keynote Speakers:

David Morley

David Crouch

Marie-Laure Ryan

When the small Dutch seaside village of Urk was announced as a filming location for superstar director Christopher Nolan’s historical drama
Dunkirk, featuring One Direction star Harry Styles and other big names, it was unsurprising that reports of fans traveling in hopes of catching a glimpse of the production followed. Indeed, it would have been more surprising if they hadn’t. Visiting places connected to media is increasingly mainstream – from searching for film locations of popular TV shows to taking part in literary walking tours to traveling around summer music festivals. Popular culture sets the touristic identity of regions, while fan conventions and festivals draw increasing numbers (and prices) year after year. These developments, and others like them, point to a growing interest in bridging the gap between reality and imagination through physicality, intertwining them in new ways.

They also illustrate new ways in which place, and its role in creating a sense of identity and belonging, matters in a globalized and digital world in which popular culture plays an integral role.

This conference brings together these disparate threads and explores the ways in which popular culture and tourism interact in the contemporary media age. This is reflected in the keynote speakers: Professor David Morley of Goldsmiths University, author of many influential works of media theory, including The Nationwide Audience (1980) and Media, Modernity, and Technology: the Geography of the New (2007); Professor David Crouch, Professor Emeritus in Cultural Geography and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Derby, author of
Flirting with Space: Journeys and Creativity (2010) and editor of  The Media and the Tourist Imagination (2005); and Dr. Marie-Laure Ryan, author of Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media
(2000) and Narrating Space/Spatializing Narrative: Where Narrative Theory and Geography Meet (2016, with Kenneth Foote and Maoz Azaryahu).

We seek to bring together scholars across disciplines, including, but not limited to, media studies, literary studies, popular music studies, ethnomusicology, cultural geography, fan studies, and tourism studies and management, who work at the intersections of (popular) culture, place, and tourism. We invite papers that address all themes around this subject, such as:

fan pilgrimages

place identity and popular culture

contemporary literary tourism

music tourism

·        historical media tourism

·        themed and simulated spaces

·        music festivals

·        video-game-inspired tourism

·        media and fan conventions

·        transmedia marketing and tourism

·        place and storytelling

·        media tourism in the media

The conference will be held at Erasmus University Rotterdam, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Recently chosen as one of the “best places to visit” by Lonely Planet and the New York Times, Rotterdam is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city featuring cutting-edge architecture, an innovative dining scene, and top-class art museums. The conference is organized by the ‘Locating Imagination’ research group of prof. dr. Stijn Reijnders, Leonieke Bolderman, Nicky van Es, and Abby Waysdorf, and sponsored by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture (ERMeCC).

Please send abstracts of max. 300 words and a short biographical statement (max. 50 words) to conference@locatingimagination.com before November 1^st, 2016.