Addressing Precarity: Semiotics, Semiosis, and Semioethics

Semiotic Society of America

45th Annual Conference (Virtual)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, October 20-23, 2021

The theme for this year’s conference is Addressing Precarity: Semiotics, Semiosis, and Semioethics. The conference centers on considering precarity through the framework of semiotics. Presenters are encouraged to develop panels and submissions that consider semiosis, semioethics, and precarity. As always, we welcome abstracts on any subject with a connection to semiotics (both theoretical and applied), not solely those inspired by this year’s theme.

Afrosouthernfuturism and the Black Speculative Arts

In her 2014 text, All Joking Aside, Rebecca Krefting argued that “Jokesters unmask inequality by identifying the legal arrangements and cultural attitudes and beliefs contributing to their subordinated status—joking about it, challenging that which has become normalized and compulsory, and offering new solutions and strategies” (2). Humor has long been a tool for upsetting the status quo, for questioning the social institutions that exalt some, while leaving so many others behind. But does this comedic approach succeed in effecting change? What are the tangible results of challenging the existing situation?

PAMLA 2021 LAS VEGAS: "CITY OF GOD, CITY OF DESTRUCTION" (Thursday, November 11 - Sunday, November 14, 2021 at Sahara Las Vegas Hotel, hosted by University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Session: American Literature 1945 to the Present

Contacts: Marc Malandra, Biola University (marc.malandra@biola.edu)

PAMLA 2021 LAS VEGAS: "CITY OF GOD, CITY OF DESTRUCTION" (Thursday, November 11 - Sunday, November 14, 2021 at Sahara Las Vegas Hotel, hosted by University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Session: Latinx Literature and Culture

Contacts: Lisette Lasater, Palomar College (lisette.lasater@gmail.com)

Turkish Review of Communication Studies (TURCOM) is a peer-reviewed and open-access journal that publishes articles, commentaries, and reviews in the fields of media, communication, and cultural studies. Based in Marmara University Faculty of Communication, Istanbul, the journal is published biannually in June and December and is currently indexed by Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), DOAJ, and EBSCOhost.

This panel explores the ways educators are engaging with anti-racist practices in their classrooms, institutions, and communities as we re-invision the future of our profession.

The Modern Language Association will take place January 6-9 2022 in Washington D.C., and should include some hybrid components.

Edited collection: Call for essay proposals

Interminable Rhetorics: Women and Gendered Labor in a Post-2020 Economy

Editors: Lynée Lewis Gaillet and Jessie McCrary, Georgia State University

lgaillet@gsu.edu and jmccrary@gsu.edu

We seek articles that explore how the conflation of 2020 events played out in the lives of women.

In this special issue on Kashmir, we look at the dramatic change in the status of Kashmir that was effected with the reading down/abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 and the aftermath of this moment. While Kashmir has been violated for decades, the removal of all special status with the abrogation was more than a symbolic change and not just because of the escalation in violence, the most dramatic internet shutdown in any modern nation. What has changed with this abrogation? What did that moment mean for Kashmir and what does it mean for its future?

Hello, everyone. I'm editing a series with Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington on a line of academic books critically analyzing elements of Jewish science fiction and fantasy (that's the series title). https://rowman.com/action/series/les/lexjsf As such, I’d love some authors with concepts to write about.

At this stage, a paragraph-long proposal emailed to valerie@calithwain.com with a subject of JEWISH SPEC-FIC would be great. Here are some examples:

The Secret Jewish Roots of Star Wars (or some other top franchise)

The Marxist Literary Group is seeking proposals for its guaranteed session at MLA 2022, which is currently scheduled to be held in Washington D.C. from January 6th - 9th, 2022. 

How is our understanding of particular genres, or even the concept of genre itself, shaped by Marxist thought? We welcome discussions of popular film, television, or literature. Please submit 300-word abstracts and bio to mmacer2@uic.edu and ahbrown@sas.upenn.edu by March 15th, 2021.

In view of recent and current global events, the phone camera has emerged as an important and effective political apparatus. The centrality, proliferation, and prominence of phone footage across contemporary screen media and media platforms suggests that the phone camera is no longer just an indulgent phone fixture, but rather, an invaluable truth-telling tool. Practical, accessible, and autonomously used, the phone camera has been an essential technology to the present-day exposures of injustice, violence, and corruption around the world.

It is said that sometimes words get in the way of a good story.

If that is the case, let’s write a story with as few words as possible. In fact, tell us a story in 12 words exactly.

The ABC’s of our Keep It Short and Simple 12-word contest can be explained in, well, 12-words: 

Articulate a story or concept with
Brevity in an interesting
Creative way.

Even small words count (we believe in the power of the little guys) and contractions count as one word (because working together makes us better).

This is a chance to challenge yourself to try something a little different and have some fun doing it!

Learn More and Register at TheWriteContest.com

We are now accepting entries for our Short Story contest. Writers of any kind any are welcome to enter.

Early Registration ($25) Ends April 1st / Registration ($35) Ends April 22nd

Prizes:
1st place wins $500, an “Ask the author?” Zoom session, and books from our judges in your chosen format.
2nd place wins $350.
3rd place wins $150.

In the Short Story Contest we give you a genre, a character prompt, and a location prompt. You write the best story you can, within the word count given.

All submissions are reviewed by our professional team and winners are chosen by our featured judging panel.