cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Papers: Popular Culture & The Classroom
Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations Joint Conference
February 13-16, 2013
Albuquerque, NM
http://www.swtxpca.org

Proposal submission deadline: November 16, 2012

Conference hotel:
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
330 Tijeras Avenue NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
505-842-1234

Here’s a quick test for today’s educators:
The Hunger Games, 50 Shades of Gray, Election 2012, Glee, Facebook, “The X-Factor,” “American Idol,” “Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, “Once Upon a Time,” “Grimm,” “Downton Abbey,” “Call Me Maybe,” Ipod, Ipads, Iphone, Celebrity Weddings and Break-ups, Katy Perry, “Twilight,” Twitter, Adele, Instant Messaging, Reality Television, Taylor Swift, Superhero Films, Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Kindle, X-Box. “LOL and IM Speak,” Cell phones, Text messaging, Advertising and Stereotypes.

The list may cause some teachers and professors to scratch their heads, but to our students, these entries would be part of their daily vocabulary and awareness of the world.

From Facebook to instant messages discussing homework to ipad “Paperless Research Papers,” high schools and colleges are constantly adapting in how we view and see culture and use it to connect to students—teach our lessons—and shape meaning. As educators, it’s increasingly important we embrace popular culture whenever possible to create meaningful lessons that help students link the curriculum we teach with the world they live in and understand.

Whether a single lesson idea, a scholarly paper on popular culture theory, or a practical theme for a course you’ve set up that you’d like to discuss, the “Popular Culture and the Classroom” section of this conference seeks teachers with new ideas of how to use popular culture effectively in the classroom. We have had presentations in English, Composition, Social Studies/History, Communications, Journalism/Media Studies, Library Science, Math, ESL, Deaf/Sign Language Classrooms, and Culinary Arts over the past years and area always expanding. Whether you teach at a middle school, high schools, or college/university, please share in our academic (yet practical) discussion of the role popular culture plays in education today.

Graduate students should note that there is a new award this year specifically related to this (and a few other) sections of the conference, The Phil Heldrich Award for Popular Culture Pedagogy. See Below:

In honor of the organization's late Executive Director, a writer/professor with a passion for teaching the Phil Heldrich Award for Popular Culture Pedagogy is given to an outstanding graduate student paper that addresses the teaching of popular culture in a classroom setting. The essay can address an issue in the application of a new, engaging popular culture teaching strategy in a specific area of Popular or American culture. Papers can address the application of popular culture at any levels - primary, secondary, or college classrooms - and any disciplines. The award includes a prize of $300.
The deadline for receipt of papers is January 1, 2013
Papers should be 12 - 15 pages long and in MLA style. Email the papers as Word attachments to both judges: Erik Walker, ErikMWalker@aol.com and Kurt Depner, kudepner@nmsu.edu

To submit to this area of the conference:
Submit all proposals and/or abstracts of no more than 250 words to our new database at http://conference2013.swtxpca.org by November 16, 2012. If you have any questions about this area of the conference, please email your questions to Erik Walker at ErikMWalker@aol.com

Earlier proposals are welcomed and will be responded to with within a week.

Erik Walker
Area Chair, Popular Culture & The Classroom
English Department Head
Plymouth South High School
490 Long Pond Road
Plymouth, MA 02360
(508) 224-7512
Fax (508) 224-6765
Email: ErikMWalker@aol.com