Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA) 41st Annual Conference
Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico
February 19-22, 2020
Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 40th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. In addition to our regular areas, the 2020 conference will also be seeking submissions for special one-time-only areas regarding the work of Rob Thomas and the Amazon series, Good Omens. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/
The Southwest Popular/American Culture Association is pleased to welcome TV auteur Rob Thomas as a guest at our 2020 conference. In honor of Mr. Thomas’ presence, we will host special panels on his body of work. Mr. Thomas is best known for creating the WB/Hulu drama-noir series Veronica Mars (2004-2007; 2014; 2019) and co-creating the CW series iZombie (2015-2019) and the Starz series Party Down (2008-2009). He has written, directed, created/co-created, and/or executive produced several other projects for both television and film, as well as written several novels.
SWPACA will also offer 2 preconference workshops scheduled for Wednesday, February 19th, 8:30am-11:30am. Join us this year for workshops in poetry workshop pedagogy and using popular culture in the classroom!
As popular genres, Steampunk and Neo-Victorian fiction reflect a complex set of changes in contemporary society. At the same time, they link with classic traditions in science fiction and Victorian history. Submissions are welcome that address Steampunk and Neo-Victorian fiction from a variety of potential perspectives.
Some possibilities:
- Research addressing or applying theoretical or structural topics to the genre.
- Work focusing on any aspects of Steampunk such as technology, fashion, history, popularity, or anything else you deem worthy of close examination.
- Work applying theoretical perspectives to representations of characters in any particular Steampunk or Neo-Victorian book, or novel series. This might include a wide range of racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual identities.
- Work on international writers of Steampunk and/or Neo-Victorian literature
- Analysis of television and film adaptations of the genre.
- Analysis of the relevance of Steampunk to Disability studies
All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://conference.southwestpca.org/
For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Proposal Submission FAQs and Tips page at
http://southwestpca.org/conference/faqs-and-tips/proposal-submission-faqs-and-tips/
Individual proposals for 15 minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.
For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs and Tips page.
The deadline for submissions has been EXTENDED to NOVEMBER 20, 2019!
SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1. For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/
Registration and travel information for the conference is available at http://southwestpca.org/conference/registration/
In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org
If you have any questions about the [PUT YOUR AREA NAME HERE] area, please contact its Area Chair, [PUT YOUR NAME, AFFILIATION, AND EMAIL ADDRESS HERE]