Call for Papers
THE GEEK AND POPULAR CULTURE
Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)
39th Annual Conference, February 7-10, 2018
Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico
http://www.southwestpca.org
Proposal submission deadline: November 15, 2017
Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 39th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/
The Geek and Popular Culture: A Love/Hate Relationship
It’s every child’s schoolyard nightmare—to be called a “nerd.” From an early age, we know that being labeled a “nerd” or a “geek” isn’t a good thing. It implies too much knowledge and too few social skills. Yet, as much as we don’t want to be labeled a “geek,” we value their knowledge and expertise, as Best Buy’s labeling their technical support “The Geek Squad” exemplifies. Furthermore, the popularity of the reigning “nerd” powerhouse The Big Bang Theory (now available nightly via syndication) or any number of other series—NBC’s Chuck and the ubiquitous “Nerd Herd,” BBC’s Doctor Who, Fox’s 24and Touch, or the Sci-Fi Channel’s Eureka—proves that America may want to watch “geeks” and use them but we “wouldn’t wanna be them.”
This area seeks to examine the relationship between popular culture and the ever-changing geek or nerd – particularly looking at the way the nerd has changed over time and what these changes can mean for the future of “nerds” of every type. Topics could include: defining the “geek,” the geek versus the nerd, female geeks or nerds, depictions of geeks, depictions of nerds, tropes surrounding nerds/geeks, Hollywood’s pseudo-nerd creations, the “babe” in nerd/geek television series or films, differences between the two terms and their depictions in television or film, the power of the nerd, the social acceptance of the term “geek,” and much more.
SUBMIT PROPOSAL
All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://conference.
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/
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 is November 15, 2017.
SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due December 1. For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/
Registration and travel information for the conference is available at http://southwestpca.org/
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 The Geek and Popular Culture area, please contact its Area Chair, Kathryn Lane, Ph.D. at KELane@nwosu.edu.
We look forward to receiving your submissions.
THE GEEK AND POPULAR CULTURE
Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)
39th Annual Conference, February 7-10, 2018
Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico
http://www.southwestpca.org
Proposal submission deadline: November 15, 2017
Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 39th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/
The Geek and Popular Culture: A Love/Hate Relationship
It’s every child’s schoolyard nightmare—to be called a “nerd.” From an early age, we know that being labeled a “nerd” or a “geek” isn’t a good thing. It implies too much knowledge and too few social skills. Yet, as much as we don’t want to be labeled a “geek,” we value their knowledge and expertise, as Best Buy’s labeling their technical support “The Geek Squad” exemplifies. Furthermore, the popularity of the reigning “nerd” powerhouse The Big Bang Theory (now available nightly via syndication) or any number of other series—NBC’s Chuck and the ubiquitous “Nerd Herd,” BBC’s Doctor Who, Fox’s 24and Touch, or the Sci-Fi Channel’s Eureka—proves that America may want to watch “geeks” and use them but we “wouldn’t wanna be them.”
This area seeks to examine the relationship between popular culture and the ever-changing geek or nerd – particularly looking at the way the nerd has changed over time and what these changes can mean for the future of “nerds” of every type. Topics could include: defining the “geek,” the geek versus the nerd, female geeks or nerds, depictions of geeks, depictions of nerds, tropes surrounding nerds/geeks, Hollywood’s pseudo-nerd creations, the “babe” in nerd/geek television series or films, differences between the two terms and their depictions in television or film, the power of the nerd, the social acceptance of the term “geek,” and much more.
SUBMIT PROPOSAL
All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://conference.
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/
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 is November 15, 2017.
SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due December 1. For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/
Registration and travel information for the conference is available at http://southwestpca.org/
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 The Geek and Popular Culture area, please contact its Area Chair, Kathryn Lane, Ph.D. at KELane@nwosu.edu.
We look forward to receiving your submissions.
