CFP: Michigan State Univ Comics Forum (Dec. 1; Jan. 21-22)

The Michigan State University Comics Forum is an annual event that brings together scholars, creators, and fans in order to explore and celebrate the medium of comics, graphic storytelling, and sequential art. This year’s event is scheduled to take place January 21-22 at the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities on the campus of Michigan State University.

Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole; Eisner Award winner for Best Graphic Novel, LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and Ignatz Award winner) will be the keynote speaker on Friday (Jan. 21). Saturday (Jan. 22 ) will feature panel discussions and an artists alley.

We seek proposals for 15-20 minute presentations during the panel discussions. Comic book and graphic novel related presentations from a broad range of disciplines will be considered. Proposals are due December 1.

For more information visit comicsforum.msu.edu.

Please submit proposals to Joseph Darowski at darowski@msu.edu.

New Listserv for Academic Comics Librarians: COMIX-ACADLIBS

Here's a great new resource for the ever-expanding group of academic libraries which house comics collections. Go, PN6700! --Gene--

Columbia University is now hosting the COMIX-ACADLIBS listserv:

https://lists.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/comix-acadlibs

The goal is to create a network of academic librarians selecting and maintaining comics and graphic novels collections, whether archivally or in general circulating collections. The list will serve as an alternative to GNLIB-L, which is primarily for school and public librarians, and COMIX-SCHOLARS, which is primarily for academics working in comics studies.

Please let the librarians in your institutions know about this and urge them to sign-up at the URL above.

CFP: General Call/Manga Pioneers PCA/ACA April 20-23 2011 San Antonio

CFP: Anime and Manga

Conference: PCA/ACA 2011 National Conference

Place: San Antonio, TX

Dates: April 20-23, 2011

www.pcaaca.org

This is the national meeting of the Popular Culture Association and the American Culture Association. This submission is under the area “Asian Popular Culture.”

Submission Deadline: December 5, 2010.

This is a general call for papers on any aspect of anime/manga with any ideological approach. Preference will be given to topics that can be reasonably covered in a fifteen minute paper. (See also specific CFP to follow).

If you have any questions, please contact me at the e-mail below. Submissions should be sent in the form of a 150-word abstract outlining what you would like to discuss. Include contact information and a CV.

Submit by December 5, 2010
to Wendy Goldberg
e-mail: wdgoldbe@olemiss.edu

CFP: Manga Pioneers

Panel one: In celebration of Fantagraphic’s recent publication of a collection of short stories by Moto Hagio (A Drunken Dream and Other Stories) this panel asks for papers that explore manga by the “Fabulous 49ers” (or Year 24 Group). Only a few works have been published in English, including Keiko Takemiya’s To Terra and Andromeda Stories -- both by Vertical Inc. Though not available in English, another seminal work is Ryoko Ikeda’s Rose of Versailles. Presenters may take a variety of approaches, including an exploration of these mangaka’s influences on other writers and artists.

Panel two: In contrast to the lack of English editions of the 49ers works, Osamu Tezuka’s legacy continue to grow with Vertical publishing a variety of his texts: including Buddha, MW, Dororo, and recently Ayako (forthcoming, November 2010) and The Book of Human Insects (forthcoming, July 2011). This panel asks for papers that focus on works by the “God of Manga” and may take a variety of approaches.

Submissions should be sent in the form of a 150 word abstract outlining what you would like to discuss. Include contact information and a CV.

Submit by December 5, 2010
to Wendy Goldberg
e-mail: wdgoldbe@olemiss.edu

CFP: New England Comic Arts in the Classroom (Dec. 15; March 26)

New England Comic Arts in the Classroom

Rhode Island College, March 26, 2011

Call for Proposals

The New England Comic Arts in the Classroom Conference invites you to submit a proposal for a paper presentation, lesson demonstration, workshop or panel discussion relevant to the use and/or study of comic arts in educational settings.

This conference, sponsored by Rhode Island College, the Rhode Island College English and Art Departments, and the Rhode Island Writing Project, is designed to bring together comic art teachers, scholars and professionals who wish to engage in serious study of the comic art medium in an educational forum. We seek proposals from a broad range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, and welcome the participation of academic and independent teachers and scholars. We also welcome professionals from all areas of the comics industry, including creators, editors, publishers, retailers, and distributors.

Proposals should focus on educational contexts, theories and methods for using graphic novels, visual storytelling and/or sequential art in educational settings. Conference presentation sessions will be 55 minutes, and, in the spirit of engaging your audience no matter what your format, we ask that you make sure to leave time in your session for questions and answers. Proposals from K-16 practicing teachers are strongly encouraged.

NECAC 2011 proposals are due to michaelg@necac.net by December 15, 2010.

Proposals should include:

• The type of presentation (paper presentation, lesson demonstration, panel discussion or workshop).
• A brief description (50 words or less) of the presentation or workshop for the conference program.
• A summary (500 words or less) of the workshop, including rationale/theoretical grounding, practical application, and the benefit to participants.
• The name(s), contact information, and affiliation of presenter(s).

New Narrative IV: Image and Spectacle (March 15; May 4-6)

New Narrative IV: Image and Spectacle

University of Toronto 4-6 May 2011

Keynote speaker: Diane Obomsawin (author of Kaspar)

Human beings make display worlds to others in performances that engage and generate images. The spectacle of performance leads to many kinds of reflection—from performativity to epistemology, from theories of history to literary and aesthetic theory, from cultural criticism to palaeography. It extends ultimately to examining the role of reflection (speculation) and criticism of images and their worlds.

We are again soliciting papers on a wide range of issues that fall generally under the rubric of “image and spectacle.” The focus of the New Narrative has been graphic novels, comic art, and related visual media; but we also welcome papers from a variety of fields: English, Philosophy, History, Art, Film, Cultural Studies, and Political Science (among others). Essays may engage the following (incomplete) list:

• representation and photography
• web design and on-line comix
• historical repertoires of images
• Guy Debord and the spectacle
• images in archives
• political manipulations of images
• the speculative and the spectacular
• bande dessinée & European comix
• illustrations in (literary) novels
• illustrated and multi-media works

Proposals should be 400-500 words and must clearly indicate significance, the line of argument, principal texts considered, and relation to existing scholarship (or originality). One email copy of the proposal, and a 50 word bio note must be included, as an attachment in MS Word (in .doc or .rtf, not .docx).

Deadline for proposals is 15 March 2011 (responses by 31 March 2011)

Questions? Submissions? Email me!
Dr Andrew Lesk, Department of English, University of Toronto
E-mail: andrew.lesk@utoronto.ca

A full colour version of this CFP will be posted soon.

Feel free to distribute widely.

Prior year conferences are at http://andrewlesk.com/conferences.html

(The Toronto Comics Arts Festival takes place on May 7 and 8. See http://Torontocomics.com)

Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics, Volume 1 Issue 1 2010 - Read it For Free

The first issue of the Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics has been published, and you can read PDFs of all of the articles and reviews online for free. Get 'em while they're hot!