cfp.english.upenn.edu

Mental Health and Mental Illness
In Popular Culture

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: SESSIONS, PANELS, PAPERS
2011 Popular PCA/ACA Conference, April 20-23, San Antonio, Texas

Welcome to one of the newest and hopefully one of the most stimulating and provocative Areas of the Popular Culture Association. Throughout recorded history, those regarded as mentally ill have frightened, fascinated and challenged us to look deep within the human experience for answers to the most fundamental of questions about ourselves and each other. The study of Psychology which is rooted in Philosophy has offered many fascinating explanations for our behavior, both normal and deviant. However, it has only been within the recent past that Psychology and Popular Culture Studies have come together in attempts to answer some of these age-old questions.

Please consider submitting an electronic abstract of 150-250 words on a topic that intersects psychology, mental health/illness and popular culture. Deadline is 12/15/2010. Suggested topics include:

Depictions of mental health and mental illness in
• Movies, television or animation
• Literature, comics or graphic novels
• Music and musicals
• Advertising
• Sports
• Religion
• Media representations of psychotherapy, counseling or psychiatry
• Political Movements
• Education
The role of psychology and psychiatry in deepening our understanding of mental health and mental illness through
• Social Media (Facebook, You Tube, Twitter) or technology
• Fashion or architecture
• Social, religious or political movements
• Entertainment, sports or gaming
• Consumerism, food/eating practices or pornography
• Poverty, racism, discrimination or terrorism
Famous cultural and historical figures that have impacted the confluence of mental health and mental illness through
• Social movements and social reform
• Electronic media
• Scientific study
• Business
• Religion

Lawrence C. Rubin, Ph.D.
Professor of Counselor Education
St. Thomas University
Miami, FL 33054 USA
305-628-6585 lrubin@stu.edu