cfp.english.upenn.edu

GAY, LESBIAN, AND QUEER STUDIES

Call For Proposals: Sessions, Panels, Papers

POPULAR CULTURE ASSOCIATION & AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION
2010 JOINT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis
Wednesday, March 31, through Saturday, April 3
For information on PCA/ACA, please go to http://www.pcaaca.org
For information on the conference, please go to http://www.pcaaca.org/conference/
national.php

DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2009

We are considering proposals for sessions organized around a theme, special panels, and/or individual papers. Sessions are scheduled in 1½ hour slots, typically with four papers or speakers per standard session.

Among the topics/themes we may highlight: representations of queers on TV; queer cinema; indicators of a gay/post-gay culture; queers in emerging media; queer youth culture; literary themes/genres; and critique of queer-centered media (e.g., Logo, Curve). Please note the special call for proposals addressing HIV/AIDS in Popular Culture on the following page. As always, proposals addressing any topic at the intersection of popular culture and queerness are welcome.

Should you or any of your colleagues be interested in submitting a proposal or have any questions, please contact:

Bruce E. Drushel, Ph.D.
Mass Communication Area
Department of Communication
Miami University
Oxford OH 45056
(513) 529-3526
drushebe@muohio.edu

For individual papers, please submit a title and 100-word abstract. For sessions and panels, please submit paper/presentation titles and abstracts, along with a paragraph describing the central theme, and the names of chairs and respondents (if any).

For each participant, please provide a mailing address, institution name, and e-mail address.

SPECIAL FOCUS: HIV/AIDS IN POPULAR CULTURE

Nearly fifteen years after the release of Saquinavir, the first protease inhibitor to receive FDA approval, the depiction of HIV/AIDS in popular culture has greatly changed, but it has not disappeared. The GL&Q Studies Area this year especially is interested in papers and panels that will explore the changing nature of HIV/AIDS in popular culture to tease out the contemporary contradiction of the AIDS epidemic as it has receded from mainstream consciousness yet continues to appear in popular culture. Although this is not an exhaustive list, proposals might explore the visibility/viability of (RED) Products, the persistence of Keith Haring’s art via the recent retrospective of his work or its use in Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet tour, the changing visual representation of the HIV positive body from Benetton advertisements to more recent pharmaceutical ads for HIV medications, the appearance of HIV in South Park and other television programming, the continued use of music to raise AIDS awareness and funding from Annie Lennox’s collaborative “Sing” to dance4life, or MTV’s recent movie on the life of Real World star Pedro Zamora.

Selected papers may be considered for inclusion in a planned edited collection to be published in 2011.