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Seminar | Participating in Fiction: Why We Speak Klingon, Play Quidditch, and Shop at Kwik-E-Mart: ACLA 2016 | Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

September 21, 2015

Seminar | Participating in Fiction: Why We Speak Klingon, Play Quidditch, and Shop at Kwik-E-Mart
http://www.acla.org/node/5354

This panel focuses on the intersection of fictionality and participatory culture. Specifically, we will explore the impact of public participation on the reception and ontological status of fictional entities.
As readers and text consumers, we have a propensity to actualize fiction. That is, we regularly interact with originally fictional entities in ways that effectively bring them across the ontological border, rendering them actual. Examples are myriad and multimedial: consider Quidditch (no longer a fictional sport, as it is played on scores of university campuses), Klingon (no longer a fictional language now that it is spoken by non-fictional people), and Buzz Cola (available for purchase outside of The Simpsons’ Springfield). It is becoming increasingly important to foreground the connection between the public and the humanities, and vital to this is a study of how participation and narrative are mutually influential. This session welcomes papers that address the role of participatory culture in the phenomenon of actualized fiction, and situate the reader’s propensity within existing scholarship on fictionality, popular culture, and media studies.
Paper topics could include but are not limited to the following:

 Narratives that come to life in theme parks; theme parks as adaptations
 The use of originally fictional products in marketing stories and franchises (Buzz Cola; Wonka
bars; Spın̈al Tap albums; Radioactive Man comics)
 The proliferation of communication, courses, and books in originally fictional languages
(Klingon; Sindarin; Quenya; Na’vi; Dothraki)
 The International Quidditch Association
 Google Maps’ inclusion of fictional locales such as the TARDIS and Diagon Alley
 Subway maps of fictional locales such as Westeros and Wonderland

Organizer: Rhona Trauvitch, Florida International University

http://www.acla.org/node/5354.
Potential presenters should submit proposals by midnight PST, September 23.

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CFP: Stardom and Fandom, SW PCA/ACA (11/1/15; 2/10-13/16)

September 21, 2015

CFP: Stardom and Fandom, SW PCA/ACA (11/1/15; 2/10-13/16)

Join us for the 37th Annual Southwest Popular Culture and American Culture Association Conference, February 10 – 13, 2016 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Area Chair for Stardom and Fandom invites paper or panel proposals on any aspect of stardom or fandom.

Proposal submission deadline: November 1, 2015.

The list of ideas below is limited, so if you have an idea that is not listed, please suggest the new topic. We are an interdisciplinary area and encourage submissions from multiple perspectives and disciplines. Topics might include:

Studies of individual celebrities and their fans
Studies focused on specific fandoms
The reciprocal relationship between stars and fans
Impact of celebrity and fame on identity construction, reconstruction and sense of self
Reality television and the changing definition of ‘stardom’
The impact of social media on celebrity/fan interaction
Celebrity/fame addiction as cultural change
The intersection of stars and fans in virtual and physical spaces (Twitter, Tumblr, conventions)
Celebrity and the construction of persona
Pedagogical approaches to teaching stardom and fandom
Anti-fans and ‘haters’
Fan shame, wank, and fandom policing
Gendered constructions of stars and fans
Historical studies of fandom and fan/celebrity interaction

Submit 250 word paper proposals, or proposals for multi-paper panels, to: http://conference2016.southwestpca.org Choose the area “Stardom and Fandom” and input your information as directed. Deadline for proposal submissions: November 1, 2015. Earlier proposals are welcomed!

Please remember that there are monetary awards for the best graduate student papers – we encourage you to apply! Papers in the Stardom and Fandom area could qualify for several awards, including the Diana Cox Award for best paper on images of women in popular culture, Euro Pop Award for best presentation on European popular culture, Peter C. Rollins Award for best paper dealing with a popular culture issue, Richard Tuerk Science Fiction and Fantasy Award for outstanding essay related to science fiction and fantasy, and the Post Script Award in film studies. You can see the full list at: http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/

Conference hotel:

Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
330 Tijeras
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Phone: 1.505.842.1234
Fax: 1.505.766.6710

Register early for discounted conference registration and hotel rates, and to reserve space at the conference hotel as discounted rooms fill quickly. For more details on the conference, please visit the Southwest Popular Culture/American Culture Association: http://www.southwestpca.org.

Direct questions to:
Dr. Lynn Zubernis
Area Chair, Stardom and Fandom
lzubernis@wcupa.edu

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CFP: The Fantastic in a Transmedia Era: New Theories, Texts, Contexts, 24 & 25 November 2015, University of Southern Denmark

July 3, 2015

The Fantastic in a Transmedia Era: New Theories, Texts, Contexts

November Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25, 2015
International two-day conference at the University of Southern Denmark, SDU

Keynotes and speakers include Prof. Cristina Bacchilega, Prof. Martin Barker, Prof. Kathy Fowkes, Prof. Angela Ndalianis, Prof. Anne Gjelsvik, Senior Lecturer Stephanie Genz, Ass. Prof. Rikke Schubart

The fantastic is today’s most popular and significant genre in entertainment media. Among its developments are George R.R. Martin’s fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire and its HBO adapted series Game of Thrones; the Hunger Games film series based on Suzanne Collins’ books; The Walking Dead in comics and television; the new Disney princesses in Brave and Frozen; the rebooted superheroes emerging in games, comics, and film series; religious-themed stories in blockbuster cinema; among games are LOL and WOW. The fantastic has reached new audiences and achieved mainstream status.

Fantastic genres include fantasy, science fiction, horror, and the fairy tale, and today’s transmedia storytelling generates new versions, hybrid forms, and new audience engagements. Multiple media platforms and participatory audiences call for new theorizations of the fantastic as it expands, transforms, and migrates across media, be they grand cinemas or intimate cell phones. This raises questions about medium specificity: what does the fantastic look and feel like in different media and how do stories – affectively and aesthetically – behave when changing form? What significant developments demand our attention, from mash-up narratives to TV genre hybrids? How do audiences engage with the fantastic across media? How does the increase of female authors and female characters influence the fantastic? And, finally, the relation between imagination and the fantastic calls for re-conceptualization: Is the fantastic conservative or subversive, or can its appeal be explained by other factors?

You can go to the conference site here and read more about keynotes and speakers:

http://sdu.dk/en/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/Ikv/Konferencer/Konferencer+2015/The+Fantastic

For questions contact: thefantastic@sdu.dk

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Call for Papers: European Fan Cultures 2015 Conference, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands 12-13 November, 2015

June 15, 2015

European Fan Cultures 2015

Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
12-13 November, 2015

Academic studies are increasingly paying attention to active audiences and participatory cultures. The figure of the fan – the enthusiastic, adoring, productive, but critical audience member perhaps best captures these cultures. Both online and offline, fans have their own subcultures, habits and local practices based around their relationship with a range of media texts and objects, both domestic and global.

Fandom represents what it means to engage with popular culture today. Fans are active, inspired and passionate followers of media content. Yet, the meaning-making processes of fans can vary greatly, especially when taking a geographical perspective. The diversity of Europe offers an interesting setting to explore the broad variety of fan practices, raising questions such as: How do fans understand objects of global or transnational pop-culture in their national or local context? How is one’s national identity of influence in (global) fan activism? What challenges unfold when fan production happens in the local language (e.g. fan fiction or fan forums)?

The conference will feature Professor dr. Cornell Sandvoss (University of Huddersfield) as a keynote speaker. He is the author of Fans: The Mirror of Consumption (2005), and co-editor of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (2007). His keynote will focus on “The Value of Belonging: Fans, Place and Postnationalism in Europe”.

European Fan Cultures 2015 invites inspiring talks about European fan studies and related topics. The topic of fans and fan cultures connects a wide range of disciplines, which is why we welcome scholars who investigate (but not limited to) audiences, media, leisure, tourism, games and celebrities. Early career scholars and PhD students are especially invited to contribute. We welcome proposals on, but not limited to, the following topics:

European Fan Cultures
Local fandom and audience cultures
National identity in media tourism, music and sports
Transcultural fandom
Politics and fandom

Media and European fandoms
Fan activism
Fan works and practices
Anti-fandom
Reception of video games, music, television
Construction of celebrity images

Methods and Approaches
Challenges of local fan studies, such as language issues
(Internet) ethnography
Ethics of researching fans, users and consumers

Please submit an abstract of max. 250 words (plus 3 key words to help classify your submission) and a short biography (including your name, email address, institutional affiliation and position) by the 22nd of July to Simone Driessen at: efc@eshcc.eur.nl

Notifications of acceptance will be send out before the 5th of August. There is a fee of 80€ which covers participations costs (including lunch and refreshments on both days).

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Symposium: Amateur Creativity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

May 29, 2015

A two-day symposium on Amateur Creativity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives is to be held at the School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies, Millburn House, University of Warwick, UK on Thursday 17th – Friday 18th September 2015. 

Amateur creativity is enjoying renewed vitality in the twenty-first century, reflecting deep cultural changes. Amateur performers, critics, authors and musicians can reach global audiences through blogs, youtube, ebooks and many other forms of social media, a cultural practice set to increase as digital technology becomes increasingly accessible. There is a revival of interest in folk art and craft, with some amateur bakers, knitters and gardeners becoming TV celebrities and others turning their skills to guerrilla performance, slow art or political activism. Organisations that have long supported amateur creativity, such as the Women’s Institute, The National Allotment Society, The Embroiders Guild and National Operatic and Dramatic Society are thriving, with many gaining new and younger members. Diasporic communities often maintain links with the cultural traditions and heritage of ‘home’ through craft and different forms of performance, many of which exist outside the boundaries associated with professional activity in the West. Amateur creativity in the twenty-first century is redefining what it means to be a professional, with profound cultural consequences. 

In the academy there is a resurgence of interest in amateur creativity, regarded as a vital alternative to the commodified creative industries and to forms of cultural practice that reflect only the tastes of the metropolitan élite.  At the same time, the parameters of professional researcher are becoming porous, as amateur researchers are encouraged to gather data, shape research agendas and become co-producers of knowledge. The twenty-first century is set to loosen the idea of amateurism from its association with the ‘unprofessional’, and to reassert the significance of amateur creativity to communities, individuals and the wider ecologies of cultural participation. 

This inter-disciplinary symposium aims to challenge perceptions of amateur creativity and contribute to debates about the cultural significance of the amateur through a consideration of key themes including: the boundaries between the amateur and professional, everyday creativity, methodological issues, amateur creativity and craft, amateur creativity and subjectivity, making spaces for creativity and the histories and heritage of amateur creativity. The symposium will include research presentations from a number of fields including cultural geography, film, media, cultural policy, dance, theatre and visual culture from a range of historical and international perspectives. 

There is no registration fee for this symposium and lunches/refreshments will be provided, however, delegates need to register for the event and will be asked to arrange and cover their own travel and accommodation. Please note that the nearest train station to the campus is in Coventry. 

To register for the symposium please visit: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/theatre_s/staff/nadine_holdsworth/amateur_creativity/
 
This event has been organised as part of the AHRC-funded project Amateur Dramatics: Crafting Communities in Time and Space (http://amateurdramaresearch.com/)

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Theology, Religion and Popular Culture

April 29, 2015

Theology, Religion and Popular Culture – A Major Conference for Faith Community Practitioners and Academics

You are warmly invited to ‘Fandom and Religion’, a conference organised by the international, UK-based Theology, Religion and Popular Culture Network.

28th – 30th July 2015, University of Leicester

Main speakers:
Matt Hills (Aberystwyth)
John Maltby (Leicester)
Chris Partridge (Lancaster)
Tracy Trothen (Queen’s, Ontario)

The UK launch of The Routledge Companion to Religion and Popular Culture, with John Lyden and Eric Mazur (co-editors).

Over 40 short paper presentations, plus other sessions, including a session solely for faith community practitioners.

Bookings now being taken at:  http://www.le.ac.uk/fandom

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Film Tourism Workshop

April 2, 2015

On May 15th 2015, Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow is delighted to host a one day workshop on Developing Film Tourism: Theory and Practice. 

This workshop brings together academics and industry professionals in order to enhance our understanding of film tourism and to consider the resonances it has with other forms of tourism, such as festival, heritage, dark, and medical tourisms. 

Full details, including full abstracts and speaker information, and info on how to register, are available at the link below:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cca/research/theatrefilmandtelevision/developingfilmtourism/

You can also find us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/750373691745174/

Chelsea Birks
PhD Student, Film and Television Studies

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CFP: 2015 Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference, October 1-4, 2015, Cincinnati

March 18, 2015

FAN STUDIES

2015 Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference

October 1-4, 2015

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Cincinnati, OH

Deadline: April 30, 2015

Submissions.mpcaaca.org

Topics can include, but are not limited to, fan fiction, multi-media fan production, fan communities, fandom of individual media texts, sports fandom, or the future of fandom. Case studies are also welcome.

2015 Special Panels dealing with fan harassment, fan shaming, and diversity in fandom.

Please upload 250 word abstract proposals on any aspect of fandom to the Fan Studies area section of the MPCA submission site: http://submissions.mpcaaca.org

Any questions? Please email Katie Wilson at KateMarieWilson@gmail.com

More information about the conference can be found at http://www.mpcaaca.org/

Please note the availability of graduate student travel grants: http://mpcaaca.org/conference/travel-grants/

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Registration for Spirited Discussions: Exploring 30 Years of Studio Ghibli conference (Cardiff University, 18 April 2015) now open

March 9, 2015

Registration for the Spirited Discussions: Exploring 30 Years of Studio Ghibli conference is now live

JOMEC, Cardiff University, UK, 18 April 2015
(in collaboration with the University of East Anglia)

For 30 years, Studio Ghibli has produced some of Japan’s most popular and profitable films, and yet, beyond the work of famous film director Hayao Miyazaki, many of Studio Ghibli’s achievements remain unknown outside of Japan. This one-day conference is the first of its kind, and aims to investigate the meanings of Studio Ghibli, and its significance to Japanese and global culture.

Our speakers are international, coming from Japan, Europe and the UK, and our Keynote speaker, Professor Susan Napier, is one of the world’s leading experts on anime, whose work is widely available in Japanese as well as in English. In bringing these speakers together, we aim to offer new understandings of Studio Ghibli’s complex Japanese industrial and cultural history to those outside Japan who rarely see these sides of Japan’s most famous film studio.
Surprisingly little is known about Studio Ghibli, despite the high profile international success of its director Hayao Miyazaki. Not all of the Studio’s films have been released in the UK, nor are its regular contributors – from director Isao Takahata to producer Toshio Suzuki – well-known in the West. Our main aim is to improve academic and public knowledge about Studio Ghibli, and by doing so, to improve understanding of how Japanese animation operates and how it has come to be popular at home and abroad.

The conference offers a key moment for rethinking the debates around Studio Ghibli, marking not only 30 years since the Studio began, but also the year of its impending closure. We intend to ask what this might mean for the future of animation in Japan, and reflect on the the Studio’s incredible global success.

Our contributor’s papers will explore cultural, economic, historical and industrial concepts that seek to interrogate Studio Ghibli’s meanings in relation to broader aspects of Japanese culture and society. In this way, we hope to improve understandings of both, and to begin a deeper discussion about how anime works within Japanese culture.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spirited-discussion-exploring-30-years-of-studio-ghibli-tickets-16033263924

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#FSN2015 Conference

February 12, 2015

The 3rd annual FSN Conference took place at the University of East Anglia on 27-28th June 2015. Keynoted by Lincoln Geraghty (University of Portsmouth, UK) and Suzanne Scott (The University of Texas at Austin, USA), the event featured scholars from around the world presenting on many different aspects of fan studies. You can view the conference programme here.

The event was widely talked about on Twitter using the #FSN2015 hashtag. You can view an interactive, searchable archive of all the tweets sent during the event here.

We look forward to seeing you at FSN2016!

 

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