Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence  (2001) was not a blockbuster in the sense of Jaws, E.T or Jurassic Park (the other films covered in this book series) – it did however make a heavy return on its near $100 million budget and received critical praise in the media. The film is the product of several authors: science fiction writer Brian Aldiss on whose short story ‘Supertoys Last All Summer Long’ (1969) the film was based; Stanley Kubrick, whose project it had been initially before passing it over to Spielberg in the wake of Jurassic park, Spielberg made and released the film two years after Kubrick’s death.

Since the late 1990s the British gangster film (whose popularity peaked during the 1970s and again in the early 1980s with films such as Get Carter (1971) and The Long Good Friday (1980)) has undergone a series of re-inventions and re-appraisals. Two films are largely responsible for the cultural renaissance of the genre: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Ritchie, 1998) which turned 25 in 2023 and Sexy Beast, which turns 25 in 2025.

“I canna’ change the laws of physics”: Depictions of Science in Popular Culture

PopCRN (the Popular Culture Network) is back with a free virtual symposium exploring science in popular culture. To be held online on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th of October 2024.

PopCRN (the Popular Culture Network) is back with a virtual symposium exploring the criminal in popular culture. To be held online on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd of May 2024.

Crime is one of the most popular genres across the popular culture spectrum. Celebrated detectives, true crime podcasts, police procedurals, the fashion of crime and deviancy, spy, war, political and corporate crimes in film, sport cheats, pickpockets and con artists, glamourous lawyers, innocent victims, and grumpy Judges are just some of the ways crime is represented in popular culture. This conference aims to examine the crime genre in popular culture.

Keynote Speaker

Dr Lisa J Hackett

We are looking to round out our collected volume of critical essays in American popular culture from 1865-1940,  that examine how women vigilantes, anti-heroines and outlaws of this era were represented in movie serials, radio dramas, films, comics, theater, and pulp fiction.  We are seeking at least one additional chapter. The majority of the book is set, and we are in contract with a peer-review publisher.  We are on a tight deadline, so preference will be given to papers that are already in progress that are a good fit for this collection. 

CFP: Medievalism in Popular Culture

PCA/ACA 2024 National Conference

March 27-30, Chicago, IL (In-Person)

The Medievalism in Popular Culture Area (including Early to Later Middle Ages, Robin Hood, Arthurian Legend, Chaucer, Norse, and other materials connected to medieval studies) accepts papers on all topics that explore either popular culture during the Middle Ages or transcribe some aspect of the Middle Ages into the popular culture of later periods. These representations can occur in any genre, including film, television, novels, graphic novels, gaming, advertising, art, etc. For this year’s conference, I would like to encourage submissions on some of the following topics:

Call for Papers, CEA 2024: Atlanta

53rd Annual Conference | March 21–23, 2024

Westin Buckhead Atlanta

TRANSFORMATIONS

ABSTRACTS DUE: NOVEMBER 1, 2023

JOIN CEA IN ATLANTA!

Ninth Annual Post45 Graduate Symposium

Concordia University and McGill University

March 22nd-23rd, 2024

Submission deadline: December 1st, 2023

Keynote Faculty: Mary Esteve (Concordia) and Alexander Manshel (McGill)

Call for Papers

Cormac McCarthy Society

American Literature Association 35th Annual

Conference

May 23-26, 2024

The Palmer House Hilton
17 East Monroe Street
Chicago, IL   60603

The Cormac McCarthy Society welcomes proposals for papers on any topic related to Cormac McCarthy’s works

Due Date: January 1, 2024

Please send abstracts to Steven Frye at sfrye@csub.edu

Spanish Sapphic Modernity

Edited by Angela Acosta (Davidson College) and Rebecca Haidt (The Ohio State University)

CFP: The Profession at CEA 2024

deadline for submissions: 

November 1, 2023

full name / name of organization: 

College English Association

contact email: 

eja12@psu.edu

Call for Papers, The Profession at CEA 2024

March 21-23, 2024 | Atlanta, Georgia

The Westin Buckhead Atlanta

The College English Association, a gathering of scholar-teachers in English studies, welcomes proposals for presentations on “The Profession” for our 54th annual conference. Submit your proposal at www.cea-web.org.

CFP: Visual and Material Culture at CEA 2024

deadline for submissions: 

November 1, 2023

full name / name of organization: 

College English Association

contact email: 

eja12@psu.edu

Call for Papers, Visual and Material Culture at CEA 2024

March 21-23, 2024 | Atlanta, Georgia

The Westin Buckhead Atlanta

The Department of Childhood Studies at Rutgers University-Camden seeks proposals for a multidisciplinary conference on Visions of Racial Justice and Childhood to be held in Camden, NJ, USA, on June 6 to June 8, 2024. This conference invites presentations that consider how different social actors and entities, including (but not limited to) governments, corporations, non- governmental organizations, and activist groups, have envisioned racial justice in relation to childhood and youth. What visions of racial justice are sustained, contested, and otherwise engaged across children’s literature, media, and popular culture?