Thursday, April 17, 2014

Gothic (5/15/14; PAMLA 10/31-11/2/14)

Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association
112th Annual Conference - Riverside Convention Center, California
Friday, October 31 - Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Gothic

Presiding Officer:
Cheryl Edelson, Chaminade University of Honolulu
Given the recent popularity of the Twilight series of novels and films, television programs such as True Blood and Grim, and numerous remakes of Gothic “classics” such as Frankenstein and Dracula, it is clear that Gothic motifs of haunting, ghosts, the undead, and the supernatural are still “alive and well” in contemporary culture. This panel will bring together critical responses to Gothic texts and their various iterations.

Status:
Open (accepting submissions)
Associated Sessions
The Gothic
Topic Type:
Special Session

- See more at: http://www.pamla.org/2014/topics/gothic#sthash.q85Ii7qK.dpuf

CFP Television Studies (5/15/14; PAMLA 10/31-11/2/14)

Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association
112th Annual Conference - Riverside Convention Center, California
Friday, October 31 - Sunday, November 2, 2014

Television Studies

Presiding Officer:
Russell McDermott, New York University
Proposals for papers are invited on any subject relating to the study of Television. Papers that  relate to the conference theme, "Familar Spirits," and explore the ghostly, ghastly, the uncommon and uncanny, the profound and the paranormal are especially welcome, but proposals on any topic related to television will be considered and appreciated.

Status:
Open (accepting submissions)
Associated Sessions
Television Studies
Topic Type:
Standing Session

- See more at: http://www.pamla.org/2014/topics/television-studies#sthash.nrHfLzNF.dpuf

CFP Familiar Spirits (5/15/14; PAMLA 10/31-11/2/14)

Another great sounding conference:

Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association
112th Annual Conference
http://www.pamla.org/2014

Friday, October 31, 2014 to Sunday, November 2, 2014
Riverside Convention Center
Riverside, California
Riverside Convention Center
Our 2014 PAMLA Conference will be held at the beautiful, brand-new Riverside Convention Center, in Riverside, California. Downtown Riverside is a hidden gem of Southern California, less than an hour’s drive from LA and about 90 minutes from San Diego. With its historic Mission Inn and many fine restaurants, boutiques, and museums, its almost-always lovely fall weather, and its proximity to so much of Southern California’s natural beauty and cultural sites, Riverside is a truly lovely and relaxing site for our conference.

We are planning some very special events for Halloween and the entire conference, including our special conference theme, “Familiar Spirits.” As part of this theme, in addition to many regular standing sessions not focused on the theme, we invite you to propose papers on magic, conjuring, spirits, hauntings, Spiritualism, and manifestations as well as presentations that treat the familiar, familial, and the commonplace in relation to the paranormal, strange, and uncanny. We anticipate rich and vibrant discussions that defamiliarize the known and draw near the mysterious.

The deadline to propose a paper (or two—although our PAMLA rules only allow you to present one paper at the conference, you may propose more than one, and then decline an offer should you be accepted more than once) is Thursday, May 15, at midnight. There are more than 100 approved sessions you can propose a paper to, and a few more may appear as if by magic in the coming days.

Questions about special session topics may be sent to heidis@uic.edu. Questions about conference planning and logistics may be sent to svonkin@netzero.net.

- See more at: http://www.pamla.org/2014#sthash.jCOAeAoM.dpuf

Temporality of Magic (5/15/14; PAMLA 10/31-11/2/14)

CPF PAMLA Conference, 2014 Special Session: “That Old Black Magic”: Temporality of Magic
full name / name of organization:
Sören Fröhlich / University of California, San Diego
contact email:
sfrohlic@ucsd.edu

Recent scholarship in the ‘temporal turn’ has raised fundamental questions in the intersection of time and cultural representations (). However, this scholarship frequently side-steps cultural representations of time as malleable and non-rational, as well as supernatural temporalities. Thinking alongside the 2014 PAMLA Conference theme “Familiar Spirits,” this panel invites papers that consider the relation between magic and time.

What happens when we consider that at once relative and all-pervasive dimension of time through the lens of the imagination, the cultural, and the irrational? Whose time is it that counts, and how can it be manipulated? This panel invites discussions of time in representation of magic including, but not limited to literature, art, film, and history.

Topics might consider questions like:

Is there a connection between legacies of racism, sexism, or gender discrimination and time?
Does time differ in the conception of magic across disciplines?
How do religious and magical notions of time cooperate or clash?
Can temporal changes associated with trauma and anxieties be represented through magic?
How are nostalgia and magic related temporally?
What characterizes magic temporality or the temporality of magic?
Which questions about time does the historiography of magic offer?
How can narrative dimensions of time be manipulated to convey a sense of magic?
How do magical manipulations of time relate to retrospective or futuristic projections?
Can time be the different between good and bad magic?

To submit, please follow the directions on

http://www.pamla.org/2014/topics/“-old-black-magic”-temporality-magic

Note: PAMLA proposals cannot be submitted by email. In order to fill out a paper proposal, proposers simply:
1. register at and log in to the PAMLA clearinghouse form at http://www.pamla.org/2014,
2. fill out a paper proposal, including a paper title, a brief abstract and long proposal (max. 50 and 500 words, respectively), and
3. indicate whether the use of a laptop connected to a projector is needed.

For further detail on the proposal submission procedure, please visit:
http://www.pamla.org/2014/guidelines-and-procedures,
or email: Sören Fröhlich, University of California, San Diego (sfrohlic@ucsd.edu).

By web submission at 04/01/2014 - 18:19

Call for Bloggers: International Gothic Association Postgrad Blog (no deadline)

Call for Bloggers: International Gothic Association Postgrad Blog
full name / name of organization:
International Gothic Association
contact email:
lrk207@lehigh.edu

Call for Bloggers: International Gothic Association Postgraduate Blog

The International Gothic Association fosters postgraduate/graduate student work through its student-run, student-written postgraduate blog. Every month, the blog features posts by a different graduate student working in the field of the Gothic, across time periods and disciplines, from French Revolution writers to Star Trek, ghost stories to zombies and beyond. Posts can consist of the writer's current dissertation/thesis work, but it may also include film/book reviews, teaching topics, events, discussion questions, etc. Each blogger usually writes between two and four posts for the month, of approximately 500-800 words. The posts can be formal or informal, depending on the writer's preference. You can see examples of past posts on the blog here: http://www.iga.stir.ac.uk/blog.php

We are searching for guest blog writers for the coming academic school year. Writers must be graduate students working with some aspect of the Gothic. This is a great opportunity to share your work and join the Gothic community! Please get in touch with the IGA Postgrad Reps: Laura Kremmel (lrk207@lehigh.edu), Chloe Buckley (c.buckley@lancaster.ac.uk) and James Campbell (jc92@stir.ac.uk) if you are interested or have any questions.


By web submission at 03/27/2014 - 14:07

CFP Conference on the Supernatural (6/1/14; State College, PA 10/3-4/14)

[UPDATE] Oh! The Horror!: The Supernatural in Literature, Film, and Popular Culture
full name / name of organization:
Pennsylvania College English Association 2014 Conference
contact email:
penncea@gmail.com
Proposal Submission Deadline: June 1, 2014

Conference Dates: October 3-4, 2014

Conference Location
1450 S. Atherton St., State College, PA [= Ramada Conference Center State College]

Keynote Speakers
John Russo and Russ Streiner
Writer, Producers, and Actors of Night of the Living Dead

Conference Email Address: penncea@gmail.com

PCEA 2014 Conference Theme

From the past to the present, the supernatural has inundated our popular culture. Zombies, witches, vampires, and werewolves star in our books, television shows, graphic novels, comics, stage performances, and films. This conference will contribute to the already rich discussion surrounding these topics that may already be taking place in our classrooms, on our campuses, and in our culture.

PCEA invites proposals for original creative works and critical interpretations that celebrate our theme. We also welcome all proposals related to the study and/or teaching of literature, film, composition and linguistics, as well as creative works.

The conference will also feature a special showing of one of Russo and Streiner’s films followed by a question and answer session. Entry to this presentation is included for all conference participants, but those interested in attending this session only can purchase separate tickets. A limited supply of autographed books, photos, and other collectables will also be available.

PCEA 2014 Conference Proposal Submission Instructions

PCEA invites either panels or individual papers for the 2014 PCEA Conference. Proposals in any area of literary, film, composition studies, and popular culture are welcome. Both pedagogical and theoretical proposals are encouraged, as are proposals to present original creative writing. To preserve time for discussion, PCEA limits all presentations to 15 minutes.

PCEA invites faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars to submit proposals. Undergraduate student participation is limited to faculty-organized and led panels. Faculty organizers should submit panel information, including contact information and abstracts. Individual undergraduate proposals will not be accepted. Undergraduate students are welcome to attend the conference as participants if they are not members of a panel.

Panels must consist of at least three presenters and, in order to leave time for questions, should not last longer than 45 minutes.

Proposers must join PCEA in order to present at the conference.

Please submit proposals using our Submittable Site: https://paenglish.submittable.com/submit

Read the full cfp here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CimigMNIZu5J31-Mg4fNssexLJTzS-RyQT8QXURrR38


By web submission at 03/25/2014 - 20:58

CFP English Gothic Literature on Screen Collection (7/1/14)

English Gothic Literature on Screen Chapter Proposal Call
full name / name of organization:
Lorna Fitzsimmons
contact email:
lfitzsimmons@csudh.edu

This is a chapter proposal call for an edited book GOTHIC LITERATURE IN ENGLISH ON SCREEN. Chapters will address film, television, and other screen adaptations and should demonstrate currency in contemporary adaptation theory. For initial consideration, email a statement of interest. Proposals of 600 words plus bibliography will be due by July 1 2014. Chapters will be 6000 words, due by January 5, 2015.

Lorna Fitzsimmons is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Humanities Program at California State University Dominguez Hills in Los Angeles.


By web submission at 04/01/2014 - 18:55

Uncanny Animations - Spec. Issue of Preternature (proposals 4/15/14)

Here's a rather unique one:

Uncanny Animations
full name / name of organization:
Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural
contact email:
kirsten@uszkalo.com
Please forgive the Cross-posting

Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural, invites submissions for the special issue, “Uncanny Animations,” guest-edited by Prof. Elina Gertsman.

We seek essays that offer inquiry into the agentic potential—depicted, imagined, described, and perceived—of medieval animate or animated objects. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the ontology of living images; miracle stories that focus on image enlivening; visual and literary histories of automata; articulated objects used in devotional performances; agency of relics and reliquaries; and discourses of iconoclasm that target the living nature of images. The editor welcomes essays that are interdisciplinary in nature; submissions from scholars working on Byzantine and Islamic material are especially encouraged.

Contributions should be 8,000 - 12,000 words, including all documentation and critical apparatus. If accepted for publication, manuscripts will be required to adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (style 1, employing endnotes).

The title of proposed contributions, a brief abstract, and a CV, should be e-mailed to elina.gertsman@case.edu by April 15, 2014.

Complete papers must be submitted through Preternature's Content Management System at http://preternature.org by June 15, 2014.

Queries about the journal should be made to the Editor, Dr. Kirsten C. Uszkalo (Kirsten@uszkalo.com)

Thanks for the continuing interest in our work!

Dr. Kirsten C. Uszkalo
kirsten@uszkalo.com


By web submission at 03/19/2014 - 03:34

CFP Undead as Sustainable (Academic) Resource (6/1/14, SAMLA 11/7-9/14)

The Undead as Sustainable (Academic) Resource, SAMLA 11/7-9/14
full name / name of organization:
Lynne M. Simpson, College English Association
contact email:
lsimpson@presby.edu

“ZOMBIES are a value stock. They are wordless and oozing and brain dead, but they’re an ever-expanding market with no glass ceiling,” writes Chuck Closterman for The New York Times. Thanks in part to the commodification of the zombie, the undead prove rich fodder for the academic as well. Papers that explore the zombie as cultural, ecological, political, or, of course, commoditized figure are welcome. Please send abstracts of around 500 words to Lynne Simpson at lsimpson@presby.edu by June 1, 2014.

SAMLA 86th Annual Conference: Sustainability and the Humanities
November 7-9, 2014
Marriott Atlanta Buckhead Hotel
Atlanta, Georgia

For more information on the conference, please see the following:
https://samla.memberclicks.net/conference


By web submission at 03/18/2014 - 02:43


More CFPs Coming!

Sorry for the flurry of CFPs tonight. I invariably get behind on things, but, whether I send a proposal or not, there are all worth looking at, as they often suggest new ways of looking at familiar texts.


CFP Gothic Spaces Conference (6/30/14; Australia 1/21-22/15)

CFP The Second Biennial Conference, Gothic Spaces: Boundaries, Mergence, Liminalities
full name / name of organization:
The Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia (GANZA)
contact email:
conference@ganza.co.nz
Gothic Spaces: Boundaries, Mergence, Liminalities

The Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia (GANZA) welcomes proposals for its biennial conference, to be held at Novotel Darling Harbour, Sydney, on 21-22 January 2015.

Recent developments in Gothic Studies have highlighted the importance of ‘space’. Here, ‘space’ is not only an abstract locus of meaning, but is also a loaded term that incorporates the interconnecting dimensions of cultural, geographical, and textual studies. As matters of spirituality and location, style and representation, chaos and order intersect, the Gothic continues to be moulded and re-moulded in relation to ever-changing understandings of both division and fusion. As such, the Gothic refuses to occupy a single space, and, as it interweaves and merges with multiple disciplines, readings, and interpretations, it also puts on new masks that change and mutate over time, societies, and cultures. The Gothic inhabits a space that is as liminal as it is demarcated, ambiguous as it is defined.

The aim of this conference is to revise, revisit, and question the meaning and impact of ‘Gothic spaces’ not only in aesthetic terms, but also in relation to their physical, psychological, and cultural scopes.

The conference will be interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary in nature. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Gothic genres
Liminal identities
Hybridity and trangression
Gender boundaries and definitions
Gothic Bodies
Post/in/un-humanity
Narratives of ab/normality
Gothic geographies
‘Gothic tourism’
Haunted spaces
In/between spaces
Digital Gothic: reality/virtuality
Public/private nightmares
Dead/alive dichotomies
Sanity and insanity
Food and consumption
Gothic writing: canon and innovation
Gothic visuals and styles
Urban/rural spaces
Gothic forms (literature, film, poetry, comics etc.)
Theories of the Gothic

Proposals for panels are also welcome. Abstracts (250 words max) for 20 minute papers should be emailed to the attention of the conference organisers at: conference@ganza.co.nz.

Abstracts should include your name, affiliation, e-mail address, and the title of your proposed paper. The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2014.


By web submission at 03/17/2014 - 08:55

CFP Gothic Landscapes Collection (6/15/14)

"Gothic Landscapes: Changing Eras, Changing Cultures, Changing Anxieties" due 6/15/14
full name / name of organization:
Dr. Sharon R. Yang, Professor, English Department, Worcester State University
contact email:
syang@worcester.edu

The Gothic is a genre that emerged during the turmoil leading up to and caused by the French Revolution. Its symbolic use of shattered landscapes, natural and human made, challenging the view of the individual and society as ordered and rational, continues to evolve to reflect the anxieties of the eras and changing cultures of the nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first centuries. Ruined castles and mansions, blasted heaths, and ominous mountains and cliffs give way to uncharted lands for colonization, mean streets and urban jungles, sinister laboratories, gruesome battlefields, the labyrinth of political and economic conspiracies, and the dark unknowns of the human mind and body themselves. This collection will explore how Gothic’s use and refashioning of its generic landscapes trace the changing social and philosophical concerns in the centuries since its development to the present in literature. We are looking for essays that will explore how landscape in the Gothic is adapted across various time periods, geographies and cultures to reflect shifting cultural anxieties, concerns, and values.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by June 15, 2014 to either of the following individuals. Email submissions preferred. Abstracts may be submitted via email or snail mail. Snail mail submissions should include an SASE:

Dr. Sharon Rose Yang
55Elmwood Street
Auburn, MA 01501

syang@worcester.edu

or

Dr. Kathleen Heaely
P.O. Box 376
Eastford, CT 06242

khealey@worcester.edu


By web submission at 03/13/2014 - 14:33

CFP Literary Monsters (5/20/14; SAMLA 11/7-9/14)

Literary Monsters - SAMLA 2014 - Nov. 7-9
full name / name of organization:
Lisa Wenger Bro
contact email:
lisa.bro@mga.edu
Special Session at S014 SAMLA conference (Atlanta)

In today's culture, it's almost impossible to avoid "monsters." Straight from mythology and legend, these fantastic creatures traipse across our television screens and the pages of our books. Over centuries and across cultures, the inhuman have represented numerous cultural fears and, in more recent times, desires. This panel will explore the literal monsters--whether they be mythological, extraterrestrial, or man-made--that populate fiction and film, delving into the cultural, psychological and/or theoretical implications.

Please submit a 250-300 word abstract, a brief bio, and any A/V needs by May 20, 2014 to Lisa Wenger Bro, Middle Georgia State College, at lisa.bro@mga.edu.


By web submission at 03/12/2014 - 20:37

CFP Rebirth - Spec. Issue of Bristol Journal of English Studies (proposals by 4/25/14)

Bristol Journal of English Studies, Issue 5, Rebirth
full name / name of organization:
Bristol Journal of English Studies
contact email:
bristoljournalofenglishstudies@gmail.com
Bristol Journal Of English Studies call for submissions
Issue 5, Autumn 2014

Whether understood literally or symbolically, narratives of rebirth are a staple of myriad cultures and societies. Some rebirths can be dramatic, instantaneous, and we can see these kinds of transfigurations in, for example, Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Or, rebirth could perhaps be an ongoing, glacially-slow process, such as the perpetually provisional rebirths of Darwinian evolutionary theory: over time, for example, a microbe can become Picasso, but does the length of time preclude the possibility of this being seen as the rebirth of the microbe? Each day, even, could be seen as re-awakening and rebirth, after the shut-down of foetal-sleep; does memory preserve and make continuous our identity, as it did for John Locke, or has something fundamental changed overnight?
Religious and mythic texts, perhaps viewing rebirth in more spiritual terms, emphasise the proximity of rebirth to the divine and through which a spiritual transfiguration (and, less frequently, a physical transformation) may take place; in the Christian Bible, Christ undergoes both a moment of transfiguration and a resurrection; in Egyptian mythology, the creation myth perpetuates a kind of rebirth, in which the gods transform themselves into the material universe. In a more modern, secular culture, talk of rebirth often hinges on more tangible ideas of refreshment or renewal; in pop culture, for instance, an artistic rebirth allows a performer to distance themselves from a past (a scandal, an identity, a rather lack-lustre album) while simultaneously indicating their creative reinvigoration – whether for personal or commercial reasons. Revivals (of critical theories, of artistic or cinematic movements, of musical or fashion trends...) allow a group of individuals to participate collectively in a conscious resurrection of a particular phenomenon. To what extent is this a rebirth? What is the purpose (socially, culturally or psychologically) of rebirth? What remains of spiritual and theological notions of reincarnation and regeneration in modern narratives of rebirth? Are rebirths necessarily always positive? Is it even possible to be properly reborn?

The Bristol Journal of English Studies invites proposals for articles that aim to explore any number of these questions, in connection with any era or genre of literature, film, art, music or culture more broadly. Areas for consideration might be (though not limited to):

- Transformation; metamorphosis; transition; reincarnation; transfiguration.
- Religious figurations of rebirth; Messianic rebirths; resurrection; notions of being ‘born again’, Christian or otherwise.
- Identity and rebirth; the extent to which identity is or is not continuous; the adoption of new identities, conscious or otherwise; what stays the same, what changes?
- Psychoanalytical conceptions of rebirth; Jungian narratives of rebirth, Symbols of Transformation.
- The subversion or negation of death; death as a transient phenomenon.
- Becoming undead as a form or perversion of rebirth; the exploration of these themes in the literature of the gothic.
- Textual rebirth; whether or not re-writing, adaptation and even re-reading constitute the ‘rebirth’ of a text.
- Consumerism and rebranding; the illusion that something is either ‘fresh’ or ‘new’ through corporate marketing strategies; the alienation of audience through rebranding.

The editors seek 250 word proposals on the topic of rebirth, for 5,000-7,000 word articles or essays of up to 5,000 words. For guidance on this please see the attached Submissions Guidelines. Proposals should be sent, with 5-10 keywords, to bristoljournalofenglishstudies@gmail.com before 25th April 2014. Decisions will be made and communicated to authors by May 2nd, and completed articles will be due on June 2nd for publication in autumn 2014.

Please note that all articles and abstracts for consideration must follow the MHRA style guide.

website: http://englishjournal.blogs.ilrt.org/


By web submission at 03/12/2014 - 17:23

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Mickey Mouse as Frankenstein!

Sorry to have missed this. It looks like a Halloween promotion. Details (for now) at http://www.disneystore.com/mickey-mouse-halloween-tee-for-men/mp/1336276/1000228/. The image on the tee shirt also glows in the dark.



Sunday, November 17, 2013

CFP Lovecraftian Poe (11/15/13)

Here's another expired CFP. I just learned about the project at MAPACA earlier this month. Details from cfp.english.upenn.edu:

By web submission at 09/03/2013 - 16:22

The Lovecraftian Poe: Essays on influence, reception, interpretation and transformation - abstracts due by Nov 15, 2013
full name / name of organization:
Sean Moreland, Ph.D.
contact email:
moreland.sean@gmail.com

The editor invites original scholarly essays that address the reception and transformation of Edgar Allan Poe's thought and writing by H. P. Lovecraft.

That Poe was among the greatest influences on Lovecraft is widely known; Lovecraft famously referred to Poe as both his "model" and his "God of Fiction." Yet, despite widespread recognition of this fact amongst scholars and fans of both Poe and Lovecraft's work, there has surprisingly so far been no collection that brings together scholarly approaches to this topic. This collection aims to address this absence, gathering original essays that focus closely on the precise nature and extent of Poe's influence on Lovecraft, Lovecraft's role in Poe's wider reception and dissemination, and his adoption and adaptation of many of Poe's concepts and techniques.

Topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Specific considerations of the way Lovecraft's fictions make use of and modify Poe's (for example, the reworking of “The Fall of the House of Usher” in “The Rats in the Walls,” or “M. Valdemar” in “Cool Air”).
  • The influence of Poe's philosophical and critical writings on Lovecraft's thought (for example, the cosmicism of Poe's Eureka and Lovecraft's “cosmic indifferentism,” or Lovecraft’s conception of Poe’s “Unity of Effect”).
  • Lovecraft's critical assessment of Poe (in Supernatural Horror in Literature and elsewhere).
  • The development of Gothic and science-fictional conventions in Poe and Lovecraft’s fictions.
  • Philosophical, historical and aesthetic differences and continuities between Poe's and Lovecraft's writings.
  • The interdependence of Poe and Lovecraft's literary and popular legacies.
  • The ways in which Lovecraft's reception of Poe has influenced Poe's reception by later writers (examples might include Borges, Bradbury, Matheson, King, Ligotti or Kiernan.)
  • The continuing importance of Lovecraft's contributions to Poe scholarship and appreciation.


The volume will include an introductory chapter by influential Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi.

Abstracts of 400 - 500 words on any aspect of this topic are invited, with a deadline of Nov 15, 2013. Finished essays will be due by May 2014. Abstracts may be directed to: moreland.sean@gmail.com

About the editor:

Sean Moreland is a professor, editor, and writer of poetry and short fiction. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Ottawa, where he currently teaches part-time. He recently co-edited the essay collection Fear and Learning: Essays on the Pedagogy of Horror (McFarland, 2013), is currently co-editing Holy Terrors: Essays on Monstrous Children in Cinema, and has recently published chapters in a number of books, including Deciphering Poe and Generation Zombie. He is on the editorial board for the Edgar Allan Poe Review, and is founder and a fiction editor of Postscripts to Darkness (PstD), a serial anthology of dark fiction and art.

CFP Poe Studies Association (1/15/13)

Another call courtesy the American Literature Association (pdf at http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/2014%20Poe%20CFP.pdf). 

American Literature Association
25th Annual Conference
May 22 – 25, 2014
Washington DC
CALL FOR PAPERS
Poe Studies Association

1. “Lyrical Eruptions in Poe’s Prose: ‘The Haunted Palace’ 175 years later”

On several occasions Poe inserted a previously published lyric into a new story, perhaps to
assure that his poems reached a wider audience. By way of exploring this mode of recycling
and re-inscription, and to honor its 175th anniversary, this session will take as its focus “The
Haunted Palace,” first published in April 1839 and then given a renewed literary life in The Fall
of the House of Usher (September 1839). The context in which it appears may well provide
deeper insight into the character of our narrator (who self-consciously comments on why he is
able to recite it from memory); and also, by virtue of “the under or mystic current of its meaning,”
into the mind of Roderick Usher. Papers are invited that consider the relation of the poem to the
story; and whether (and to what extent) “The Haunted Palace” is a mirror in miniature,
emblematically refracting the world of the story from within while at the same time projecting a
self-contained if melancholy world of fragile beauty. Close readings and critical interpretations of
the poem are welcome; as are papers that look at the broader issue of lyrical eruptions in Poe,
which might also consider the place of “The Conqueror Worm” (1843) in Ligeia (1845). Do such
lyric eruptions betoken some larger aesthetic plan or purpose? Other topics involving “The
Haunted Palace” as it relates to Poe’s oeuvre also are welcome. To submit a proposal, send a
title and an abstract of no more than 350 words to: William Engel (wengel@sewanee.edu); in
the subject line, put “PSA panel 2014.” Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2014 (panelists
will be notified shortly thereafter).

2. “Teaching Poe’s Poetry”

For Emerson, Poe the poet was a “jingle man,” a writer of lachrymose lyrics, but
Baudelaire and the Symbolists venerated Poe, whom they considered a model of poetic
excellence. Eliciting divergent responses during the nineteenth century, Poe’s verse
continues to frustrate and to intrigue readers in our time. Such divergences present
opportunities for teachers, who can choose from a wide range of approaches as they
introduce the poetry of Poe to students. For this panel, which will feature papers about
pedagogical matters, the Poe Studies Association solicits proposals. Possible topics
include Poe and the lyric in nineteenth-century America; Poe’s poems as primary texts
for theory classes; Poe as a poet in and/or against the Romantic grain; madness as
discursive formation in Poe’s poems of grief; visions of apocalypse in the poetry of Poe
and his contemporaries; Poe and prosody; othering in the poems of Poe; and Poe’s poetry
in the world of antebellum print culture. Other topics are, of course, welcome.
To submit a proposal, send a title and an abstract of no more than 350 words to Travis
Montgomery at tdmontgomery2@fhsu.edu. The subject line should read “PSA panel
2014.” The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2014.

CFP Panel on Where the Wild Things Are (1/15/14)


A head's up courtesy the American Literature Association (click for pdf).

CALL FOR PAPERS
Children’s Literature Society
American Literature Association
25th Annual Conference
May 22-25, 2014
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
400 New Jersey Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001

Panel #2: The Wild Things. Where Are They Now?

Fifty years after the publication of the iconic picture book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, the public imagination is still captivated by Max's story of adventure, mischief, power, journey, fantasy, repression, surrealism, and illusion in place and time. The expansion of Sendak's imagination for this title has led to a feature length film and to a popular culture phenomenon based on the impact of his work on readers. Likewise literary criticism in children's literature has continued to explore the importance of this work and its reverberations through the genre of children's literature. In this panel, we invite scholars to broadly explore Where the Wild Things Are expanding their approaches to this text or related texts (e.g., Jon Klassen's This is Not My Hat) considering the fifty years of research, literary, art and philosophical thought since its publication.

Please include academic rank and affiliation and AV requests
Please send abstracts or proposals by Wednesday, January 15, 2014 to Dorothy Clark (Dorothy.g.clark@csun.edu), Linda Salem (salem.sdsu@gmail.com)

Conference details may be found at the American Literature Association web
site: www.americanliterature.org

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Academics and the Zombie Apocalypse CFP (11/16/13)

A bit of an odd call for papers, but there are further details online at http://www.apsu.edu/news/apsu-professors-publish-scholarly-book-zombies

Essays needed on Academics and the Zombie Apocalypse for book under contract with McFarland
Location:United States
Publication Date:2013-11-16
Date Submitted: 2013-10-06
Announcement ID: 207294
We are seeking authors for a variety of essays that examine the zombie apocalypse from an academic perspective.

All essays will be written by individuals with the appropriate academic credentials in the fields listed below. Each essay will be approximately 5,500-6,000 words, inclusive of endnotes. The essays will conform to the Chicago Manual of Style.

Interested authors should send a c.v. to both Dr. Amy Thompson, Ph.D. (thompsona@apsu.edu) and Dr. Antonio Thompson, Ph.D. (thompsonas@apsu.edu). Please reference the anthology in the subject line.

Those selected will sign a contributor’s agreement conferring ownership of the essay to the editors and will receive one copy of the completed work. The essays should be received by November 18. This book is currently under contract with McFarland and Company, Publishers (www.mcfarlandbooks.com).

Please let us know if you have any questions. Below are the areas of need. Each area should be written from the perspective of how this academic discipline or area will be affected by or enable effective coping mechanisms during or after the zombie apocalypse or other major disaster or apocalyptic event. The essays should be rooted in academic rigor and should rely on real life examples, but also be able to tie in the fictional zombie apocalypse and the vast literature and material on that subject.

Military Science
Criminal Justice
Personal Security and Health
Financial and Business
Agricultural and Farming
Sexuality and Gender Norms
Education
Entomology
Geology

Dr. Amy Thompson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Austin Peay State University(thompsona@apsu.edu) and Dr. Antonio Thompson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Austin Peay State University (thompsonas@apsu.edu).
Email: thompsona@apsu.edu; thompsonas@apsu.edu

Zombies for SWPACA (11/15/13)

A day late, but this looks like it should be a great set of panels:

CFP-Zombie Culture-Film, literature, comics, video games, television etc., Southwest Popular culture Association 2014
Location:New Mexico, United States
Call for Papers Date:2013-11-15 (Archive)
Date Submitted: 2013-09-12
Announcement ID: 206580

Call for papers: Southwest Popular / American Culture Association - Zombie Culture
Make plans to join the Southwest PCA/ACA for our 35th annual conference, February 19-22,
2014, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Center in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
330 Tijeras NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102
Tel: +1 505 842 1234 or 888-421-1442

The conference theme this year is: Popular and American Culture Studies: Yesterday, Today &Tomorrow The area chair for Zombie Culture seeks papers and presentations on any aspect of the zombie in popular culture and history. It seems as though the world has gone “zombie crazy.” There are zombie walks, games on college campuses like “Humans Vs. Zombies,” zombie children’s books, zombie poetry, fiction, video games, zombie ammunition and guns, and zombie running contests. Almost anything can be “zombified” and society and fans all over the world are literally “eat it up.” The zombie has come to represent the chaotic world we live in, and courses continue to pop up on college and university campus all over the world. This is due in large part to the success of films like Night of the Living Dead, Zombie Flesh Eaters (Zombi 2), Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, and most recently Warm Bodies, World War Z and the television program The Walking Dead.

Any aspect of Zombie Culture will be given consideration. However, in keeping with the theme of the conference SPECIAL ATTENTION will be paid to those proposals which discuss the distinctive American aspects of the zombie in film, literature, and popular culture in general.
How does the zombie influence American Culture in a way that resonates in our transmedia world?

Some topics to consider:
  • Directors: George Romero, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, Todd Sheets, Danny Boyle, Sam Rami, Peter Jackson, Amando de Ossorio…
  • Specific zombie films: White Zombie, King of the Zombies, Dawn of the Dead, Tombs of the Blind Dead, Dead Alive, Evil Dead, Zombies on Broadway, World War Z…..
  • Specific books/zombie literature: Zombie Bake Off, World War Z, Book of All Flesh, Case of Charles Dexter Ward…
  • Zombie writers’ fiction and non-fiction: Stephen Graham Jones, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Kirkman, Steve Niles, Max Brooks, Matt Mogk, Jovanka Vuckovic.
  • Stephen King…..
  • The Walking Dead
  • Zombie comics (any aspect: history, cultural impact, storytelling…) Zombies since 9/11
  • Zombie children’s books
  • Zombie running
  • Fast vs. slow zombies
  • Zombie gore
  • Teaching the zombie (zombie pedagogy)
  • Zombie cos-play
  • Zombie brains-food
  • Zombie video games
  • Zombie ants
  • Can a real zombie outbreak happen?
  • The voodoo zombie-the historical roots of the zombie
  • The Euro-zombie
  • Nazi–zombies
  • Viking zombies
  • Marvel zombies
  • What exactly is a zombie?
  • Humans vs. zombies
  • Zombies across the world (Ro-langs…)
  • Zombies’ roots in cinema
  • Are mummies/Frankenstein’s monster zombies?
  • What does the rise in the zombie’s popularity tell us about society?
These are just a few of the topics that could be discussed.

Please submit your title, and 100- to 250-word abstract by November 1, 2013, through our database, which can be accessed at:
http://conference2014.southwestpca.org/

A video tutorial for submissions is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSITP_57txc
Please note there are monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories.

See http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards

The organization also has a new open access peer reviewed journal that encourages you to submit your work.

See: Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy
http://journaldialogue.org/

35th Annual Conference Southwest Popular/American Culture Association February 19-22 2014at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Submission Deadline: 11/1/13
Priority Registration Deadline 12/31/13
Conference Hotel:
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
330 Tijeras NW,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102
Tel: +1 505 842 1234 or 888-421-1442

Rob Weiner
Humanities Librarian, Texas Tech University Library
rweiner5@sbcglobal.net
http://southwestpca.org