CFP: The Far Right and Visual Politics (coll. vol.), 31.10.11

Call for Chapters
The Far Right and Visual Politics
Editor: Fabian Virchow

(University of Applied Sciences Duesseldorf, Germany)
Deadline for proposals: 31 October 2011
Deadline for article: 15 June 2012

Expose
Although far right movements and political parties in the first half of the 20th century have paid great attention to their visual performance this dimension has not gained much of researchers’ interest for the post WW II period. This volume aims at investigating the use far right protagonists make of images and drawings as a crucial resource for the symbolic definition of political events and as a means to express their world view.

Post WW II far right movements and parties have displayed and disseminated myriads of visual material amongst which Youtube videos are some of the most recent expressions. Visual imagery has for decades been used to illustrate and support written statements (e.g. on leaflets) or has been combined with relatively short verbal messages (e.g. stickers and posters). Photographs and video foo-tage, drawings and cartoons are loaded with political and psychological potential; far right protagonists might refer to a powerful visual register in order to evoke implicit or explicit associations they expect to be supportive for far right politics.

The edited volume aims at presenting various approaches to this complex and multifaceted dimen-sion of far right politics and at combining both the breadth and the depth of research and exhibition in the various disciplines concerning this issue. Following a multi-disciplinary approach, contributions from media studies, sociology, political science, history, ethnography, visual sciences, critical dis-course analysis, and rhetoric are highly welcomed. Submissions should highlight original thought and critical thinking dealing with, for example, but not limited to the following themes:

• visualizing of far right leaders/leadership
• visualizing of race relations
• visualizing of gender roles and gender relations
• use of stickers and posters and their graphical composition
• design of banners at demonstrations
• use and composition of (images in) video-clips
• creation and outline of comic strip characters
• creation of graffiti and murals
• visual registers far right protagonists refer to
• visual images of the far right in the main stream media

Review Procedures and Authors’ Guidelines
All contributions will be refereed by at least two international reviewers in a double-blind review process. Upon acceptance of your proposal, you should prepare your chapter of 8,000-10,000 words or 60,000-70,000 characters including abstract, tables, listings and references. Guidelines for preparing your paper will be sent to you upon acceptance of your proposal.

Publication
This book will be published by Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften (VS) (www.vs-verlag.de). VS is part of the Springer Science+Business Media Group (www.springer.com) and is one of the leading German-speaking publishers in the field of social sciences. VS is currently expanding its range of English-speaking titles. The book will be published in the book series »Edition Rechtsextremismus« (»Edition Right-Wing Extremism«) edited by Fabian Virchow and Alexander Häusler who are affiliated to the Research Unit on Right-Wing Extremism at the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, Germany.

Inquiries and Submissions
Authors are invited to submit a chapter proposal until October 31, 2011, clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his/her proposed chapter. The chapter proposal (circa 1,200 words or 8,400 characters) should comprise a (preliminary) title, author/s, the basic idea, theoretical assumptions, methodology approach, the empirical material and most relevant references.

Pleasesend your submission together with a short CV as a pdf-file and as a word-file e-mail attachment with [FR-VP proposal] or [FR-VP inquiry] in the subject line. Virus-infected and unreadable files will not be considered.

Proposals are to be sent to

Prof. Dr. Fabian Virchow
fabian.virchow@fh-duesseldorf.de
Head of Research Unit on Right-Wing Extremism at the University of Applied Sciences, Duesseldorf
Düsseldorf/Germany/27-04-2011

CFP: Comics and Popular Arts Conference - Dragon*Con (May 15; Sept. 2-5)

Call for Participation / Call for Abstracts
Institute for Comics Studies
Comic Book Convention Conference Series
4th ANNUAL

COMICS & POPULAR ARTS CONFERENCE

at DRAGON*CON
Atlanta, Georgia September 2-5, 2011

The Institute for Comic Studies and Dragon*Con present their fourth annual academic conference for the studies of comics and the popular arts.  The conference will take place at Dragon*Con, the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. For more info on Dragon*Con, visit http://dragoncon.org

Please submit a proposal that engages in substantial scholarly examinations of comic books, manga, graphic novels, anime, science/speculative fiction, fantasy, or other parts of popular culture. A broad range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives is being sought, including literary and art criticism, philosophy, linguistics, history, and communication. Proposals may range from discussions of the nature of the comics medium, analyses of particular works and authors, discussions of the visual language of comics and manga, comics and pop culture in the classroom, cross-cultural and cross-medium comparisons, and more.  We're open to any topics relevant to the study of comics and the popular arts.

More information, including programs and topics from previous years can be found at the conference website:

http://utdallas.edu/~mattbrown/DragonCon.html

This conference at Dragon*Con represents the Institute for Comics Studies' mission to promote the study, understanding, and cultural legitimacy of comics and to support the discussion and dissemination of this study and understanding via public venues.

DEADLINE: May 15, 2010

Please submit your proposals at:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFlZTU5JVDFYMW1PWWVoT183LVF3N3c6MQ

Send any questions to: thehangedman@gmail.com
Participants must register for the convention.  Information can be found here:

http://dragoncon.org/members.php#DC_Memb

Prospective participants are welcome to submit a guest application to Dragon*Con in advance at the following address:

http://dragoncon.org/dc_guest_app.php

Acceptance to the academic conference is no guarantee of "guest" status at the convention. In the past, no presenters have received guest status simply for participating in the conference. Dragon*Con is a fan convention and only gives VIP status to celebrity guests. Most presenters and creators pay their own way to the convention.

Conference Coordinator: Matthew J. Brown, UT Dallas
Conference Co-coordinator: R. Scott Nokes, Troy University
Programming Chair: Damien Williams, Needcoffee.com

CFP: Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits 2011: Culture and Direction (Jun 1; Sept 29-Oct 2)

The 11th Annual Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits (SGMS) Workshop Presents:

The 1st Annual Mechademia Conference

SGMS 2011: Culture and Direction

September 29th-October 2nd, 2011

Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD)

Submission Information:

Abstracts of no more than 200 words for presentations of 20 minutes are due by 1 June 2011 via email to <sgms@mcad.edu>. Please include institutional affiliation, if applicable. Authors will be notified by 15 July 2011. Presentations may be selected for publication in the Mechademia book series.

2011 Featured Speakers:

Dr. Marc Hairston

Research Scientist, William B. Hanson Center for Space Science

The University of Texas at Dallas

Dr. Thomas LaMarre

Professor of East Asian Studies

Associate in Art History and Communications Studies

McGill University

Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh

Professor of Asian Studies and Women’s Studies, University of British Columbia Former Visiting Professor, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto

Schoolgirls and Mobilesuits (SGMS) is an internationally-recognized, three-day workshop that explores and celebrates anime and manga. Through its unique merger of academic and fan audiences, SGMS engages both anime’s and manga’s creative and cultural implications and practices.

The 11th Annual SGMS Workshop marks the beginning of our second decade with a combination of festivities, including the Otaku bazaar, the Full Fashion Panic fashion show (i.e., part of Minnesota Fashion Week), as well as anime and J-drama screenings. Since its inception in 2001, the annual SGMS Workshop has emerged as the cutting-age venue for discussions about and presentations on the global proliferation of Japanese manga and anime. Workshop topics have included foci on a wide-array of issues in manga and anime production and reception, from creative processes, cultural formations, and aesthetic implications, to fan fascination with and audience wonder at the remarkably broad range of objects and practices.

As the SGMS Workshop evolved, it spawned the critically acclaimed Mechademia book series, published by the University of Minnesota Press. The heart and soul of Mechademia is found in the work of SGMS: Its invited speakers as well as the growing wave of young scholars and creators.

This year, the SGMS Workshop announces its first annual Mechademia Conference focused on scholarly work on manga and anime. Institutionally-affiliated as well as independent scholars are encouraged to submit individual or panel proposals related to the conference theme of “Creation and Direction.” Scholars at any level, including graduate students and undergraduates, are encouraged to apply. Authors of selected proposals will be invited to present at SGMS’s Mechademia Conference, potentially as part of the popular “Mechademia Emerging Scholars” panels. Presentations may be selected for publication in the Mechademia book series.

The theme, “Culture and Direction,” provides for a play of ambiguous “directions,” and the Mechademia Conference organizers welcome paper or panel submissions on any of the following themes, as well as on related themes not directly indicated:

• Analyses of specific artifacts, creators, or directors

• Future directions of manga and anime

• New technologies and influences, such as keitai novels

• Historical directions of mange and anime

• Cultural implications of manga and anime

• New directions in fan cultures

• Structural directions in historical and contemporary work

• Old and new narrative and visual directions in manga and anime

• Emerging topics in manga and anime

Submissions: Abstracts of no more than 200 words for presentations of 20 minutes are due by 1 June 2011 via email to <liberal_arts@mcad.edu>. Abstracts can be for individual speakers or for prearranged panels of 3-4 speakers (i.e., if proposing a prearranged panel, include a 200 word abstract for each paper as well as a 200 word abstract for the panel in its entirety). Please indicate “Mechademia Conference Submission” in the email subject line. Accepted authors will be notified by 15 July 2011. Panelists accepted for the conference must confirm and pay the conference registration fee by 15 August 2011.

Conference Registration: Conference registration is available online at <http://mcad.edu/sgms>. Conference registration includes entrance to all SGMS events, festivities, and refreshments. The conference registration fee of $85 for presenters, and $100 in advance or on site for non-presenters. The student registration fee is $50 (i.e., MCAD students pay a reduced registration fee of $25). A valid student identification is required for the reduced student rate. Panelists accepted for the conference must confirm their intent to present, and pay the conference registration fee, by 15 August 2011. Non-presenters can register online in advance, or on-site during the conference.

Accommodations: The conference organizers have reserved rooms at a reduced rate at the Millennium Hotel in downtown Minneapolis and in close proximity to the campus of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Confirmed SGMS 2011 Invited Speakers:

Dr. Thomas LaMarre is Professor of East Asian Studies and Associate in Art History and Communications Studies at McGill University. His books include Shadows on the Screen: Tanizaki Jun’ichirô on Cinema and Oriental Aesthetics (2005); Uncovering Heian Japan: An Archaeology of Sensation and Inscription (2000); Impacts of Modernity (co-edited with Kang Nae-hui, 2003), a book on anime and media entitled Difference in Motion. LaMarre works on the editorial boards of positions, Traces, transtextes/transcultures, and is an Associate Editor for Mechademia. His latest book is The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation (University of Minnesota Press, 2009).

Dr. Marc Hairston is a Research Scientist at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he investigates space weather and the study of the Earth’s upper atmosphere, its magnetic field, and the aurora using satellite data from NASA and the Air Force. He has written numerous articles for Animerica, and is a long time favorite speaker at SGMS. As part of the public outreach to middle and high school science students, Hairston developed the comic character “Cindi,” an android space girl. Cindi has starred in two manga-styled comic books, and is part of the only manga series paid for by NASA. In 1999, Hairston and Dr. Pamela Gossin co-taught the first mainstream literature course at a U.S. college that included anime and manga as part of its required texts. Hairston serves currently as editorial board member and reviewer for Mechademia.

Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh is Professor with appointments in both Asian Studies and Women’s Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is former Visiting Professor at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. Her publications include among many others “Sex and the Single Cyborg: Japanese Popular Culture Experiments in Subjectivity," currently under review at the University of Minnesota Press; guest editing a special issue on manga for the U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal; and “Creativity and Constraint in Amateur Manga Production” and “Busty Battlin’ Babes: the Evolution of the Shôjo in 1990s Visual Culture” in Gender and Power in the Japanese Visual Field (Hawai’i University Press, 2003) .

Past SGMS Workshop participants have inclued ABe Yoshitoshi, Tomoko Taniguchi, Sean Michael Wilson, Paul Benjamin, Helen McCarthy, Maki Isaka, Susan Napier, Patrick Drazen, Christopher Bolton, Thomas LaMarre, Sharon Kinsella, Masami Toku, Antonia Levi, Gilles Poitras, Brent Allison, Brian Ruh, Marc Hairston, Udon, Tania del Rio, Theresa Winge, Trina Robbins, Peter Paik, Crispin Freeman, C.B. Cebulski, Jeremy Ross, Wendy Siuyi Wong, Tim Lehman, Dennis Lo, Christopher Schons, Robert Ten Pas, Phil Anderson, Ke Jiang, Erik Lervold, Jeana Jorgensen, Lea Hernandez, Frenchy Lunning, Samantha Rei, and Verssen Werks.

Call for Workshops: Zine Librarians (un)Conference (no deadline listed; July 8-9)

From http://zines.barnard.edu/zluc/2011/call-for-presentations

Call for Workshops:

Zine Librarians (un)Conference, ZL(u)C 2011

Milwaukee, Wisconsin July 8-9, 2011

Calling all zine collectors, information activists, underground bibliographers and barefoot librarians! We’re seeking librarians of all stripes to lead a workshop or discussion at the 2nd bi-annual (un)conference of zine librarians!

We are interested in hosting informational skillshares that might include hands-on activities, or showcase what your library has accomplished. Your workshop could describe a task, approach, or scheme that would be of interest to fellow zine librarians. We are open to new ways of approaching zine librarianship, whether your collection is housed in an institutional, public, or community library or archive.

Workshops will be scheduled into the rest of the events that will occur on July 8 and 9, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Facilitated discussions and other events will also be worked into the schedule of events by participants at the conference, in the style of bar camp and other unconferences.

Scheduled events will include a zine reading (the culmination of the Orderly Disorder: Librarian Zinesters in Circulation Tour and tours of local zine libraries, including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Special Collections and the Queer Zine Archive Project.

The first Zine Librarians (un)Conference was held in Seattle, Washington in March 2009 at Zine Archive and Publishing Project (ZAPP), to great success. A mini zine librarians conference was held last summer at the Portland Zine Symposium. The second bi-annual (un)conference is to be held July 8-9, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For more information, or to propose a workshop, visit http://mkezluc.wikispaces.com

Join the Zine Librarians discussion list to discuss!

CFP: Audiences and Readership (May 1; Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics)

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics

Special Issue Call for Papers

Audiences and Readership

Final Deadline: 1 May

At the Graphic Novels and Comics Conference 2010, a major issue identified by the plenary panel as crucial for future directions regarding comics research was that of audiences and readership. Martin Barker, who pioneered and championed comics research when it was unfashionable, reinforced this issue when reviewing the conference in the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics noting, ‘it is striking to me…that no-one is currently following through to ask any of the questions we can and should, about readers, collectors, reviewers, circuits of reception, or even the longer-term shifting public status of comics.’ Whilst there has been some excellent work researching comics audiences and readership, this is currently, as Martin suggests, a largely neglected area. In summarising work in this area, Barker’s works on ideology (1989) readers (1993, 1997) and censorship (1984) examine the ways audiences consume such texts. Gibson’s work on female comics readers (2003a&b) demonstrates the ways comics influence identity construction and the transgressive reading practices of some female fans. She has also written on historical children’s comic collecting in Britain (2008) and tentatively begun work on British manga audiences (2007). In addition, Wright’s work on the development of the comics industry and distribution practices shows how audiences are influenced by but also influence comics creation and production (2001). However, as Martin suggested there is scope for many more sustained explorations of comics audiences and readership.

This issue aims to open up debates in comics audiences and readership. Accordingly we are looking for papers about (but not confined to) the following areas surrounding audiences and readership:

• Fandom, niche markets and subcultures

• Censorship

• Globalization, localities

• Readership.

 
Read the full call for papers for more information: http://bit.ly/Audiences

CFP: Time, Sequence & Technology: Book Art in the 21st Century (CBAA; June 1)

Time, Sequence & Technology:

Book Art in the 21st Century

We invite papers on on the use of time and sequence in the form and content of both contemporary and historical books, including explorations of the boundaries of what a book can be, or may become, in today's digital landscape. Issues of materiality, concept, theory and criticism in studio practice, curatorial practice, book history and pedagogy are all welcome. We also invite papers that focus on various technologies used in the studio practices of printing and assembling of books, from traditional methods through cutting edge digital design and production.

Proposals for panel presentations by groups who wish to explore a specific topic in a more organized fashion are also welcome. All presenters need to be members of CBAA by the date of their conference registrations.

College Book Art Association is a non-profit organization committed to the teaching of book art at the college and university level. The Association strives to support education about book art, and is also concerned with both the practice and analysis of the medium. It welcomes as members everyone involved in such teaching and all others who have similar goals and interests. The association aims to engage in a continuing reappraisal of the nature and meaning of the teaching of book art.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Proposal submissions must be submitted via the online submission manager <http://cbaa.submishmash.com/Submit/4380/Submission
Your proposal may come in the form of either a pdf, or a word document. Please do not include name or contact information on the proposal itself as all submissions will be subject to blind review. Detailed submission instructions can be downloaded here <http://www.collegebookart.org/Resources/CBAA%20Conferences/2012/Instructions%20for%20Uploading%20Your%20CALL%20FOR%20PAPER%20Submission.pdf

Individual proposals: Proposal should take the form of a 200-250 word abstract for a 20-minute talk or artist presentation. Accepted proposals will be grouped into panels of talks with compatible themes or approaches.

Pre-formed Panel proposals: Pre-formed panels should have a designated moderator and 3 presenters giving 20 minute talks or 3-4 presenters for a roundtable discussion. The proposal should take the form of a 200-250 word overview from the moderator plus individual
200-250 word abstracts from each of the participants. All abstracts must be submitted in one PDF or Word document.

Student Proposals: <http://www.collegebookart.org/Default.aspx?pageId=952104 Students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are encouraged to submit proposals for individual presentations or pre-formed panels by following the guidelines for individual or pre-formed panels above. In addition, student members have the option of submitting a proposal for the student panel of Lightning Talks (see below). While students are welcome to submit proposals for both an individual presentation and a lightning talk, only one proposal will be accepted for inclusion in the conference. Student members will need to submit a copy of their current student dated I.D. or a letter from their institution stating that they are currently enrolled in order to be eligible to be on the student panel.


In an effort to promote original scholarship in the field of academic book art, abstracts submitted to CBAA should not be concurrently submitted for consideration to another conference.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:

Abstracts must be received no later than June 1st, 2011. Submissions received after this date
will not be considered for acceptance.

June 1, 2011: Deadline for submission of proposals

August 1, 2011: Notification of acceptance or rejection of proposals

September 1, 2011: Deadline for confirmation of acceptance by presenters.

CONTACT

Julie Chen, CBAA 2012 Conference Programs Chair
Email:jchen@mills.edu

CFP: Anime and Manga Studies Symposium (May 20; July 1-4)

Call for Papers / Call for Speakers:
Anime Expo

Anime and Manga Studies Symposium
(July 1 – July 4, Los Angeles, CA)
DEADLINE: May 20, 2011

The continuing popularity of Japanese comics and animation outside Japan has been a topic of interest to scholars across a wide range of disciplines, fields and approaches. However, much of the English-language research and writing on anime and manga has taken place on an ad-hoc basis, and until recently, there has been relatively little sense of a persistent community of anime/manga scholars.

Capitalizing on the growing prominence of scholarly approaches to Japanese popular culture, Anime Expo, the largest and most popular gathering for fans of Japanese visual culture in the U.S. will be hosting a track of themed sessions exploring how anime and manga can have a place in scholarly discussion. AX 2011 will be held from July 1 to July 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (Los Angeles, CA).

The track will present a unique opportunity for scholars at all levels to share their research and thinking directly with a general, non-academic audience while also interacting with other academic speakers from across a range of disciplines. It will consist of three themed roundtable discussions and three sessions for individual papers.

Roundtable discussions

Roundtable session 1:
Theoretical perspectives on Japanese visual culture

The complex, complicated world of Japanese animation and comics yields itself to many different approaches. Fairly straight-forward close readings, modes of analysis based in particular schools of thought, examinations of the roles of authors and creators, producers, distributors and the global audience all have a part in anime and manga studies

• How do anime/manga studies fit into existing theoretical approaches to studying visual
  culture?
• What is the relationship between particular theoretical approaches and the kinds of questions that anime/manga scholars can ask?
• Are some modes of inquiry in anime/manga studies overused – and are there others that are underutilized?
• Does anime/manga studies in the U.S. differ markedly from how these topics are approached in Japan and elsewhere in the world?

Roundtable session 2:
Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli: Anime's contribution to world cinema

Hayao Miyazaki is likely the only anime creator to have achieved a measure of real worldwide recognition and acclaim. In many people’s minds, his films are essentially synonymous with Japanese animation as a whole. Not coincidentally, Miyazaki is also the anime director whose work has been examined the most thoroughly and intensively by Western film, media and animation scholars.

• Common themes, issues and tropes in the works of Hayao Miyazaki: Their meanings
  and purposes
• Why has Studio Ghibli achieved such an extraordinary degree of global success?
• Miyazaki and commentary on relationships between the natural and human worlds in contemporary Japan?
• “Anime because of, or in spite of Ghibli”: What is the relationship between Studio Ghibli and the rest of the Japanese animation industry?

Roundtable session 3:
Teaching, writing and thinking about anime/manga: New directions, new opportunities.

Japanese animation and comics have been common in American high school classes and college programs throughout the last decade, if not more. “Teaching” anime and manga has unique challenges, but also a potentially wide range of results and goals. For its own part, anime and manga studies is an emerging field that must win a place for itself in a disciplinary landscape that is already crowded with fields, directions, and approaches.

• How to introduce anime and manga into the classroom at all levels, from high school to graduate
• “Studying anime” vs. “anime studies”: Does the field need a label, and what does the
  label mean?
• Where does “anime studies” take place: Existing, new and prospective areas of research in Japanese visual culture?
• Where to next? The real and possible goals of scholarly approaches to Japanese visual culture

The topics listed under each of the roundtable session titles are suggested, not exhaustive, and other approaches and views are welcome!

Individual papers

Speakers are invited to submit proposals for individual 20-minute paper presentations on any topic related to Japanese comics and animation, the anime/manga industry both in Japan and worldwide, and the global anime and manga fandom.

Some of the possible themes and topics can include:

• Close readings of particular individual anime and manga texts
• Specific reasons for the global popularity of anime and manga
• Relationships between anime/manga and other Japanese film and literature
• Japanese animation and comics in historical perspective: anime and manga before Tezuka
• The role of the creator and director (and individual creators/directors) in the development of anime and manga
• Anime/manga promotion, marketing, international licensing and distribution, translation and sales
• The activities of anime/manga fans: Fanfiction, cosplay, anime music videos, website development, etc.
• A global conversation with Japanese popular culture – Western uses of anime and manga (Animatrix, Batman, Iron Man, Supernatural, etc.)
• Beyond anime and manga as we know them: Experimental and non-mainstream Japanese animation and comics
• Popular culture responds to reality: The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and future directions in Japanese visual culture

To participate in one of the panel discussions, or to present an individual paper, please contact Mikhail Koulikov [contact information follows] with your name, and CV. Please provide a brief, 250-word explanation of your viewpoint as a panelist or an abstract for your paper.

All entries must be received by May 18. All speakers will receive complimentary admission to Anime Expo.

- Mikhail Koulikov - mkoulikov@gmail.com

Producer, AX Anime and Manga Studies Symposium
Editor, Online Bibliography of Anime and Manga Research
Co-Moderator, Anime and Manga Research Circle Mailing List

CFP: Northeast PCA - Comics & GN Area (Jun. 1; Nov. 11-12)

The Northeast Popular/American Culture Association (NEPCA) is pleased to issue a call for papers for its fall conference. NEPCA invites proposals on a wide array of topics pertaining to popular and American culture, broadly construed.

The 2010 NEPCA conference will take place Friday November 11 and Saturday November 12, 2011 on the campus of Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT.  

Since 1974 NEPCA has invited scholars from New England and New York to be part of an expanding intellectual community. Our annual conferences strive to obtain a balance of graduate students, independent scholars, and full-time faculty members. They are designed to be nurturing conferences where works in progress share intellectual space with established scholarship. NEPCA conferences are also affordable for all.

Email one copy of your proposal (maximum 250 words) and a one page vita to David Program Chair Don Gagnon (gagnond@wcsu.edu). A second copy may also be emailed to the appropriate area chair (Comics and Graphic Novels Area Chair:  Lance Eaton lance.eaton@gmail.com).   Area chairs and other conference information can be found on the NEPCA Website: http://users.wpi.edu/~jphanlan/NEPCA.html The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2011.

Now Available Online: Comic Strips and Consumer Culture, 1890-1945

Scholar Ian Gordon has generously placed the entire contents of his book Comic Strips and Consumer Culture, 1890-1945 online for free. Go to Ian's page on Academia.edu to view the book, and sign in to download a PDF of the entire contents. Thank you, Ian!!!