CFP: Comics, Multimodality, and Composition / Special Issue of Composition Studies (Aug 1, 2014)

CFP for Special Issue of Composition Studies
Theme: Comics, Multimodality, and Composition
For 43.1 (Spring 2015)
Guest Editor: Dale Jacobs, University of Windsor

DESCRIPTION
Over the past ten years, composition has increasingly embraced writing and reading in multiple modes (words, but also images, sounds, video, spatial relationships, gestures, and other sign systems). In this movement towards multimodality, comics have been largely ignored. Comics, however, provide rich ground for exploration in relation to multimodality and composition. This special issue begins with the idea that comics are a valuable space of practice for multimodal literacies, both inside and outside the classroom.

Like other multimodal texts, comics form a multifaceted environment in which meaning is negotiated between creators and readers. Comics add another dimension to multimodality, which has often focused on digital texts, and can be used to link traditional alphabetic literacies with newer digital ones. Furthermore, as Michael Bitz argues in When Commas Meet Kryptonite: Classroom Lessons from the Comic Book Project, "In the context of new media and literacies, comics are a rare bridge between the canon of reading skills that children are expected to master in school and the literacies that they embrace on their own and out of school" (11). Not only are comics important multimodal texts in their own right, but they can also function as an important bridge to other literacies.

This special issue of Composition Studies will explore how comics can be productively used in writing theory and practice. Articles, sequential narratives, short reflective essays, and Course Designs are all welcome, as are pieces on comics aimed at the "Composing With" section of the journal. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• Comics as a way to connect reading and composing multimodal texts.
• Comics literacies and digital literacies.
• Comics in relation to the NCTE Position Statement on Multimodal Literacies, the WPA Outcomes Statement, and/or the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing.
• Comics and/as collaboration.
• Comics, rhetoric, and the teaching of writing.
• Comics theory and the teaching of writing.
• Comics as a way to examine how students conceive and experience literacies outside of school and possible connections to school literacies.
• Specific ways to use comics in the composition classroom.
• Examinations of how Comics Studies can inform Composition Studies and vice versa.

TIMELINE

• Full-length submissions due August 1, 2014
• Submission determinations sent by November 1, 2014
• Revised manuscripts due February 13, 2015

CONTACT
Direct queries about the special issue and full-length manuscripts in .doc or .docx formats to Dale Jacobs at djacobs@uwindsor.ca. Direct general questions about Composition Studies to compstudies@uc.edu. Visit our website for more information: http://www.uc.edu/journals/composition-studies.html.

CFP: Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels, June 13-15, 2012

As announced on the Comics Scholars Discussion List...

CFP:

Rocky Mountain Conference

on Comics and Graphic Novels

June 13-15, 2012

Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels, June 13-15, 2012, is a new literary conference devoted solely to the scholarly study and teaching of the sequential arts. What sets this conference apart from others is its unique mission to combine an educational classroom initiative with the benefits of theoretical and critical discourse. RMCCGN is being held in conjunction with the newly-emerging Denver Comic Con at the top-rated Colorado Convention Center, June 15-17 2012. All profits from both events directly benefit Comic Book Classroom, a nonprofit free after-school program for children, whose focus is raising literacy through comic books and graphic storytelling.

The conference is designed to bring together a wide range of theoretical, pedagogical, and disciplinary perspectives, and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as academic, independent, and fan scholars. Any topics in the field of comics and graphic novels are welcome.

We seek proposals of 200-300 words for talks of 15-20 minutes in length and should be sent along with a brief, 100-word biography to Christina Angel at christina@comicbookclassroom.org. Deadline for submission is January 15, 2012 and notification of acceptance or rejection will be emailed by or before March 1, 2012.

Please visit our websites: www.comicbookclassroom.org and www.denvercomiccon.com for more information about these events.

Exciting guest announcements are coming soon – stay tuned!

UPDATE - CFP: "Visual Literatures," Special Issue of College Literature (now April 2010)

As we posted earlier this month, College Literature is looking for some more contributors for their forthcoming "visual literatures" issue. Please note that the new deadline for submissions is April 2010. For more information, see our origianl post.

Image Credit: College Literature website.

CFP: "Visual Literatures," Special Issue of College Literature (November 2009)

(CORRECTION: In the initial version of this post I confused the journal College Literature with College English. My apologies to both journals, and also to Dale Jacobs who most cordially pointed out my error.)

The journal College Literature is looking for some more contributors for their forthcoming "visual literatures" issue. A few days ago, Dr. James Bucky Carter (editor of Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels) sent a brief note to the Comics Scholars discussion list about the matter. I wrote to the journal for some additional information, and here 'tis.

This is the information I have been sending to those interested in submitting an essay for the special issue.

Essays should deal with approaches to reading, teaching, and/or appreciating visual literatures, which can include graphic novels, film, photography, or any other medium in which the visual is dominant. The expected length is 20 to 30 pages, double spaced, with works cited list and notes.

Originally the issue was to be published late 2010 but I think that may be pushed to early 2011. The current deadline is Nov. 2009, but again, I think the time may be extended. The deadline for submission has been extended to April 2010 with an anticipated publication date of July 2010. The essay must be original and not one previously published. The editor is currently out of the country and I will talk to him about the issue when he returns the end of August.

FYI, here's College Literature's statement of editorial policy:

College Literature is a quarterly journal of scholarly criticism dedicated to serving the needs of college/university teachers by providing them with access to innovative ways of studying and teaching new bodies of literature and experiencing old literatures in new ways.

The journal provides usable, readable, and timely material designed to keep its readers abreast of new developments and shifts in the theory and practice of literature by covering the full range of what is presently being read and taught as well as what should be read and taught in the college literature classroom.

It encourages a variety of approaches to textual analysis and criticism (including political, feminist, and poststructuralist) on English, American, and European literature in addition to Eastern literatures, minority and Third World literatures, oral literature, and interdisciplinary/comparative studies (such as anthropology and literature, computers and literature, literature and film, and so on).

If you're interested in contributing to this special issue (or to CL in general), please contact:

Elizabeth Alex Lukens
Editorial Assistant
College Literature
210 E. Rosedale Ave.
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383
elukens [at] wcupa.edu

And tell her Comics Research & Such sent you!

Image Credit: College Literature website.