CFP: Conference on Comics

CFP: Conference on Comics
University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada)
May 2nd, 2009

Comics have become an important cultural vehicle, as can be attested by the numerous movie adaptations, the hundreds of manga titles that are translated yearly and the recent trend to consider graphic novels for literary prizes. Scholars from any discipline are invited to send proposals for papers on any matters regarding comics: Canadian identity in comics, comics for education, the psychology of super-heroes, etc.

Please submit by e-mail a 250 words proposal by January 15th, 2009, along with a request for audio-visual equipment.

Gail Chin/Sylvain Rheault
Depts. of Visual Arts/French
University of Regina
Regina, SK
Canada, S4S 0A2
Email: gail.chin@uregina.ca

CFP: Reclaiming the Comic Book Canon (NEMLA, due 9/15)

CFP: Reclaiming the Comic Book Canon (NEMLA, due 9/15)
Location: Massachusetts, United States

40th Anniversary Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association Hyatt Regency - Boston
No longer exclusively the realm of fanatic collectors, outcast misfits, or sneering speculators, the comic book is now entering art galleries, multiplexes, and book clubs. But when they become the lucrative, marketed, popularized property of all, what gets lost? Moreover, what of the authority? This panel looks to compare the late 20th century rise of the graphic novel and comic book series, particularly the new discourses being employed by the widening audience/market for the form in the present context. How have standards changed? What machinery has been put in place concerning the analysis of the comic book, and how does that now reflect back on its creation?

Submit a 500-word proposal and brief vita to panel chair A. David Lewis by 9/15/08.

Include:
Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee)


A. David Lewis
Boston University
Department of Religion
145 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
Email: adl@bu.edu
Visit the website at http://www.nemla.org

“Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books & Graphic Novels” Book Collection

“Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books & Graphic Novels” Book Collection

The success of the “Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books & Graphic Novels” conference generated publisher interest in a print book collection. The conference organizers are now inviting supplemental submissions from further individuals of 500-word abstracts.

The focus remains on English-language works over the last 60 years for the American market, though special exceptions will be made for particularly strong abstracts or international cross-over products such as Manga. Particular interest has been expressed on the following:

Works: MAUS, PERSEPOLIS, PALESTINE, TESTAMENT, Chick Tracts, Kyle Baker's KING DAVID, PREACHER, MARKED!, CAIRO, THE LONE AND LEVEL SANDS, SOME NEW KIND OF SLAUGHTER, HELLBOY, CROSSING MIDNIGHT, and Virgin Comics

Topics: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Chinese Spiritualities, the afterlife, atheism, portrayals of pious characters, historical religion, fictional practices

A. David Lewis
Boston University
Department of Religion
145 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
Email: adl@bu.edu
Visit the website at http://www.bu.edu/luce/calendar/religionincomics.html

Call for paper proposal on comic books and superheroes

Call for paper proposal on comic books and superheroes
47th Annual Meeting Florida Conference of Historians in Jacksonville, FL February 27 through March 1, 2008

From the debut of Superman in 1938 through Marvel’s Comics’ Civil War storyline this year, superhero comic books have made an indelible mark on American culture. The current popularity of stories and characters originating in comic books has expanded interest in the medium and in the superhero genre which itself incorporates a variety of other genres. Moreover, recent scholarship has striven to define the superhero’s unique relationship to American culture. Submissions that address the ways the comic book superhero represents, constructs, and distorts American culture are welcomed.

For consideration, please send the following information:
1. Paper title and abstract/proposal (300-500 words)
2. Brief vita or one-paragraph biography.
3. Complete personal information: name, department, academic affiliation, mailing address, and e-mail address. Worthwhile topics include (but are not limited to):

Race and the Superhero
Gender and the Superhero
Superheroes and Nationalism
Religion and the Superhero
The Superhero in the Media
The Superhero and Identity

Bill Svitavsky, Electronic Resources Librarian
Olin Library, Rollins College
1000 Holt Avenue - 2744
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 646-2679

Email: bsvitavsky@rollins.edu

CFP: Past Pleasures: Nostalgia and Children's Literature (South Atlantic Modern Language Association)

CFP: Past Pleasures: Nostalgia and Children's Literature (South Atlantic Modern Language Association)

Children's Literature Discussion Circle — Call For Papers
South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) Conference
November 9-11, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia
Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown.

In order to examine children's literature through the lens of nostalgia, possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following options:

*Updating comics, cartoons, or toys for a new generation of children
*Children's literature and/or cultural objects as souvenirs
*Nostalgic longing for aspects of childhood
*Recapturing or re-imagining childhood
*Historical toys/books translated into new mediums
*Selective cultural memory and amnesia
*Ascribing value to collected objects, children's museums, the role of the collector

Please submit questions, one-page abstracts, or eight-page papers by
March 13, 2007 to Julie A. Sinn at julie.sinn@gmail.com.

SAMLA Website: http://www.samla.org/convention/convention.htm

CFP: Past Pleasures: Nostalgia and Children's Literature

CFP: Past Pleasures: Nostalgia and Children's Literature
Deadline: March 13, 2007

Children's Literature Discussion Circle Call For Papers
South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) Conference
November 2007
Atlanta, Georgia

In order to examine children's literature through the lens of nostalgia, possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following options:

*Updating comics, cartoons, or toys for a new generation of children
*Children's literature and/or cultural objects as souvenirs
*Nostalgic longing for aspects of childhood
*Recapturing or re-imagining childhood
*Historical toys/books translated into new mediums
*Selective cultural memory and amnesia
*Ascribing value to collected objects, children's museums, the role of the collector

Please submit questions, one-page abstracts, or eight-page papers by March 13, 2007 to Julie A. Sinn at julie.sinn@gmail.com.

CFP: International Comic Arts Forum 2007

CFP: International Comic Arts Forum 2007
Location: Washington, D.C.
Deadline: March 15, 2007
Conference Dates: October 18-20, 2007

Visit the website at http://go.to/icaf

The International Comic Arts Forum (formerly International Comic Arts Festival) invites scholarly paper presentations for its twelfth annual meeting, to be held at the Madison Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., from Thursday, October 18, through Saturday, October 20, 2007. We welcome original proposals from a variety of disciplines and theoretical perspectives on any aspect of comics (including comic strips, comic books, albums, manga, graphic novels, political cartoons, other panel cartoons, caricature, or comics in electronic media), with a special interest in international comics. Proposals will be refereed via blind review.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
For its scholarly presentations, ICAF prefers argumentative, thesis-driven papers, clearly linked to larger critical, artistic, or cultural issues; we strive to avoid presentations that are merely summative or survey-like in character. We can only accept original papers that have not been presented or accepted for publication elsewhere. Presenters should assume an audience versed in comics and the fundamentals of comics studies. Where possible, papers should be illustrated by relevant images. In all cases, presentations should be timed to finish within the strict limit of TWENTY (20) MINUTES (roughly eight to nine typed, double-spaced pages).

Proposals should not exceed 300 WORDS. At the bottom of the proposal, the author should precisely state her/his audiovisual equipment needs.

AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT: Our preferred format for the display of images is MS PowerPoint. Regretfully we cannot accommodate non-digital media such as transparencies, slides, or VHS tapes. Presenters should bring their PowerPoint or other electronic files on a CD or a USB key, not just on the hard drive of a portable computer. We cannot guarantee the compatibility of our equipment with presenters' individual laptops.

REVIEW PROCESS: All proposals will be subject to blind review by the ICAF Executive Committee, with preference given to proposals that observe the above standards. The final number of papers accepted will depend on the needs of the conference program. Due to increasing interest in the conference, in recent years ICAF has typically accepted only one third to one half of the proposals it has received.

SEND ABSTRACTS (with COMPLETE contact information) by March 15, 2007, to Prof. Cécile Danehy, ICAF Academic Coordinator, via email at cdanehy@wheatoncollege.edu.

Receipt of proposals is acknowledged immediately; if you do not receive acknowledgement within a few days of sending your proposal, please resubmit. Applicants should expect to receive confirmation of acceptance or rejection by May 15, 2007.

Prof. Cécile Danehy
ICAF Academic Coordinator
Email: cdanehy@wheatoncollege.edu
Visit the website at http://go.to/icaf

Outreach Panel Session on Classics and Comics at the American Philological Association

Outreach Panel Session on Classics and Comics at the American Philological Association
January 3-6, 2008; Chicago, Illinois

Proposals are invited for a special outreach panel on the topic of “Classics and Comics,” to be held at the annual meeting of the American Philological Association (APA) in January 2008. There are many examples of comics appropriating the classics for serious or comic purposes,
including Frank Miller's /300/, Neil Gaiman's /Sandman/, Messner-Loebs' /Epicurus the Sage/, van Lente's /Action Philosophers/, Shanower's /Age of Bronze/, Goscinny and derzo's /Asterix/ series. Since Classics Illustrated Comics' /The Last Days of Pompeii /in 1947, comics have been
drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection was cosmetic—as perhaps with Wonder Woman’s Amazonian heritage—and at times it was almost irrelevant—as with Hercules’ starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of Classics in modern literary culture.

The APA's committee on Outreach is dedicated to promoting a wider understanding and appreciation of Classics – Greek and Roman culture of the ancient world. Each year the Outreach Committee hosts one panel on a topic designed to attract an audience from outside the APA's traditional audience (students and faculty of Classics Departments in North America). This panel is open both to members of the APA and the general public and will be advertised in the Chicago area.

The comic book has been a major element of North American popular culture for over a century and has been increasingly regarded as a legitimate artistic and literary medium. This legitimization has happened on at least two fronts: through the emergence of the 'graphic
novel' and through scholar/practitioners such as Scott McCloud and Will Eisner attempting to define the relationship of the comic book to audience, artist and other artistic media. Yet to date there has been very little work attempting to integrate the medium into a larger understanding of Western artistic and literary culture.

The following is a list of possible topics that contributors might explore, though the organizers invite proposals for exciting and engaged papers that will reveal aspects of comics and their Classical sources from any disciplinary perspective that might be relevant to the overall
theme:
- the depiction of myth or ancient history in comics
- visual representations of myth or history in ancient sources and in the comics format
- discussions of any specific use of the Classics in the comics medium
- the transformation of narrative structure between ancient source material and comics
- the appropriation of motif or character typology from Classical literature
- the synthesis of visual art and text in the ancient and modern worlds
- the effect of comics on modern perceptions of Greek and Roman material
- the influence of comics on other artistic media depicting Greek and Roman material
- the legitimization of comics as literature through the use of Classical material
- Classical narratives in Manga
- comparison of comics with other forms of 'low' culture in the ancient world

The organizers are also welcoming the participation of comics writers and artists.

Contingent to the success of the panel, the organizers may wish further to develop and publish the proceedings.

Papers will be 20 minutes in length; use of visuals (through power
point) is expected.

Please forward a 400-word abstract, along with a brief biographical
statement or CV, as email attachments in Word or Rich Text Format to
both of the organizers:

George Kovacs (george.kovacs_at_utoronto.ca)
C.W. Marshall (toph_at_interchange.ubc.ca)

Further questions may also be addressed to either of the organizers.

Abstracts will be considered beginning February 5, 2007, until the panel
is filled. Submissions are encouraged before that date.