CFP: Illustration, Comics, and Animation Conference (March 1; May 8-10)

General Call for Papers

Illustration, Comics,

and Animation Conference

Dartmouth College

May 8-10

What is the future of illustration studies? 

What can comics scholars learn from animation studies and vice versa?\ 

Do illustrated books or graphic novels resist the supposed obsolescence of the book? What do pictures want (now)?

These and related questions will be explored at the Illustration, Comics, and Animation Conference at Dartmouth College to be held May 8-10, 2015.

Scholars interested in the illustrated image in all of its mediated guises are invited to participate in this interdisciplinary conference. Nearly all illustrated or drawn ‘texts’ are eligible for consideration:

• comics and graphic novels
• cartoons and animated films
• picture books
• illustrated books

And given the uniquely plenary nature of the conference, which brings together scholarship on static and moving illustrations, preference will be given to proposals that seek to bridge visual media. Possible topics may include:

• Individual titles by prominent practitioners in the field
• Identity, subjectivity, authority, ideology or culture in or more type of illustration media
• The future of particular schools of criticism (psychoanalysis, critical race theory, phenomenology, Marxism, feminism, queer theory, post-colonialism, formalism, aesthetic theories, etc.) and one or more type of illustration media
• The contributions of archives and libraries to the study of comics, animation, and illustration.

The location of the conference may also be a source of inspiration for prospective participants. Not only does Dartmouth College lie in close proximity to the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont, it is also the origin of Theodor Geisel, Dr. Seuss, a Dartmouth graduate of the Class of 1925.

Individual papers should be no longer than 20 minutes. Panels shall be ninety minutes long and should be comprised of three presenters and one chair. Please send 300 word abstracts and a brief bio for each proposed paper no later than March 1, 2015.

Send all proposals and inquiries to:
Michael A. Chaney <michael.chaney@dartmouth.edu>

CFP: Caricature: A Lost Origin of Animation / conference panel (Nov. 1; Apr. 19-21)

CALL FOR PAPERS:

CARICATURE:

A LOST ORIGIN OF ANIMATION

This call is for a panel proposal for the Illustration, Comics, and Animation Conference to be held at Dartmouth College, April 19-21 2013.

While most animation historians look for the origins of animation in lanterna magicae, shadow theatre and vaudeville, among others, one major influence seems to be often overlooked : caricature, or "print cartoon."

• By exploring the conditions of emergence of animation and especially the artistic backgrounds of its pioneers, this panel seeks to discover the roots of animation aesthetics in caricature and comic strips, also known at the turn of the century as "print cartoons."
• How do contemporary animated films and shorts retain the aesthetic priorities of early print cartoons?
• Are there particular animated films or shorts that demonstrate this origin in caricature more forcefully than others?
• What new understandings are forged when we accept print cartoons as a direct ancestor and still very close relative of animation?
• And how might this cross media approach encourage a more global and/or interdisciplinary study of caricature, the image, visuality, or the cartoon?
• What qualities specific to animation resist this genealogical approach to the medium rooted in caricature and print cartoon?
• What, in other words, refuses to cross-over?

Please send 300 word abstracts and a brief bio no later than November 1, 2012 to: Stéphane Collignon boul.sc@gmail.com

Inquiries about the conference should be addressed to Michael A. Chaney: michael.chaney@dartmouth.edu