cfp.english.upenn.edu

Pippi to Ripley:
The Female Figure in Fantasy and Science Fiction
May 4-5, 2013
Ithaca College

Keynote speaker: Tamora Pierce

The first day, Friday, May 4 will feature panel discussions primarily focused on using Children’s and YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, Graphic Novels/Comics and films in the classroom or for community events. We invite librarians, middle school and high school teachers, reading specialists and teacher educators to send 300-500 word presentation proposals on teaching or programming with Fantasy and Science Fiction texts to Elizabeth Bleicher (ebleicher@ithaca.edu) by February 1, 2013.

The second day, Saturday, May 5 will be a traditional academic conference, with papers submitted individually and assembled into panels by topic. We welcome paper proposals on all aspects of female representation within an imaginative context, including but not limited to:

• A discussion of the child-heroines in folktales from
multiple cultures.
• The evolution of characters such as Buffy (The Vampire
Slayer), Cat Woman, and Red Sonja as they are presented
in television, film, graphic novels/comics, or literature.
• The female characters in video games such as Tomb
Raider, Metroid, and Mass Effect.
• The female characters featured in Shonen and Shojo manga
as well as other images of female characters in anime
films and television.
• Robot , cyborg, and psychically enhanced girls and women.
• Female heroes and villains in comic books and graphic
novels.
• YA heroines in the works of Madeleine L’Engle, Tamora
Pierce, and Suzanne Collins.
• The depiction of goddesses, Amazons, and other fierce
female entities from western and non-western traditions.

Please send a 300-500 word abstract by February 1, 2013, to Katharine Kittredge, Ithaca College, Department of English, kkittredge@ithaca.edu