CFP: Children's/YA Culture at 2020 Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference

Diana Dominguez Announcement
Location
New Mexico, United States
Subject Fields
Childhood and Education, Cultural History / Studies, Graduate Studies, Humanities, Popular Culture Studies

Call for Papers
Children’s/YA Culture
Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

41st Annual Conference, February 19-22, 2020
Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.southwestpca.org

Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2019

Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 41st 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/conference/call-for-papers

Panels are now being formed in the Children’s / Young Adult Culture area. Scholars, researchers, professionals, teachers, graduate students and others interested in this area are encouraged to submit an abstract.

This area covers a wide variety of possible mediums: traditional book/literature culture, but also comics, graphic novels, film, television, music, video games, toys, internet environment, fan fiction, advertising, and marketing tie-ins to books and films, just to name a few.  Proposals on fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or cross-genre topics are welcome.  Interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome, as are presentations that go beyond the traditional scholarly paper format.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • The art and industry of the Picture Book – both historical and current trends (I’d love to see more presentations on picture books, including wordless picture books)
  • Diversity in children’s and YA literature (gender, race/ethnicity, disability, body image, sexual identity, language)
  • Use of innovative or “novel” formats for both children’s and YA literature
  • The next “big” thing in children’s and YA literature
  • Film adaptation issues
  • Historical approaches to and the history of children’s and YA literature and culture
  • New approaches to reading children’s and YA literature and culture
  • Re-imaginings of myth, fairy tale, and other traditional stories
  • Explorations of specific authors in the children’s and YA areas
  • Fan fiction and fan followings of books, films, and authors
  • Beyond books and films
  • The pedagogy of children’s/YA culture (K-12 and college)

Proposals on other topics related to Children’s and YA Culture will be read with interest.

NEW for 2020 conference: As this area enters its third decade, the area chair would like to expand its scope just a bit by adding two (2) creative writing panels (one for younger readers; one for YA). The Creative Writing area of this conference generally does not feature writing for children or adolescents, but over the years this area has featured presenters who do both scholarly and creative work in the Children’s/YA field, and it is high time we hear from the creative side. So, we’ll give this a first shot and see where it goes; the area chair will be accepting only four (4) works per panel for this first time. Depending on the interest and submissions, we can increase the number of panels in the future.

Please note: works must fit into the traditional 15-minute presentation timeframe (about 6-7 traditional double-spaced pages). For these panels, please submit a synopsis (up to 500 words) of works that can be read in the 15-minute time slot. Submissions of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry are welcome, and can be for picture books, graphic literature/comics, middle grade stories/chapter books, or older YA material. Please make sure to identify what category (Children’s or YA) your submission is more suited to so for appropriate panel assignment.

(Note: those submitting a creative proposal can also submit a scholarly presentation proposal; however, because the conference database is limited to one submission per person, you will have to email me or Kathleen Lacey (klacey@southwestpca.org) with a request for your 2nd proposal to be submitted to the appropriate Area Chair.)

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca

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/

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 October 31, 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, 2020.  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/conference-registration-information/

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 Children’s/YA Culture area, please contact its Area Chair, Diana Dominguez, diana.dominguez@utrgv.edu 

We look forward to receiving your submissions!  

Contact Information

Diana Dominguez, PhD
Area Chair, Children's/YA Culture
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
One West University Blvd.
Brownsville, Texas 78520

Contact Email
diana.dominguez@utrgv.edu