interdisciplinary

War has been one of the few constants in human history, waged by nations, tribes, and other factions for numerous reasons--some valid and noble, some questionable. This area seeks to explore the ways that
wars--declared and undeclared, just and unjust, sacred and profane, fictional and "real"--have impacted the social, economic, technological, ideological, and other aspects of culture.

We invite submissions for several sessions on Violence and Society. As an area of study, "Violence and Society" includes the verbal, physical, mental, emotional, and/or implied abuse directed towards any individual or group of individuals. Areas of examination may include, but are not limited to, "abuse" (objectional or demeaning portrayal) of women, children, gays, or any other targeted population/individuals/race through the media, advertisement, music and/or music television videos, literature, television, movies, societal behavior, human interaction, communication, education, religion, and any other societal dimension.

Travel and Tourism Studies continues to gain popularity as an academic field, in part because of its inter-disciplinary nature. The Travel and Tourism area seeks papers that explore and discuss any aspect of travel and tourism. Topics for this area include, but are not limited to, the
following:
- heritage tourism
- travel and gender/race/class
- material culture and tourism
- writing travel
- spatial relations and tourism
- politics and tourism
- personal travel narratives

The Sports category welcomes a broad range of scholarship that is well researched and contains sports-related themes. Scholarship could relate to routines and procedures in sports, the sociology of sports, representational issues in sports, commercialism in sports, sports history, media and sports, and/or sports performance issues. Previously unexamined alternative topics may also be offered. Presentations should offer scholarly rigor, yet be understandable not only to sports scholars, but also to generalists who may have an interest in sports. Proposals should offer a short abstract, a one to three page description of your goals/methods, and a brief bibliography.

Science Fiction and Fantasy welcomes papers/presentations in any critical, theoretical, or (inter)disciplinary approach to any topic related to SF/F : art; literature; radio; film; television; video, role-playing, and multi-player online games. Though not an exhaustive list, potential presenters may wish to consider the following:

The Popular Literary Landscapes panel of the Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association Conference seeks abstracts of
papers (250 words) that address landscape descriptions which serve to identify and define important aspects of the human condition. The descriptions may be of fictional or actual places in verse or prose. The aim of the panel is to explore the presence of important cultural values/ideals/concerns/debates which traditionally inform the descriptions of popular literary landscapes.

Hard copies of abstracts should be
posted to the following address:
English Department
PSU Abington1600 Woodland Road
Abington, PA 19001

This area explores the ways that we shape and are shaped by the built
environment, individual structures, and architecture culture. It seeks
papers treating the theories, personalities, styles, and technologies that
influence buildings, city planning, and community design. The material
under consideration may be hypothetical or realized, fantastic or
practical, controversial or traditional, political or personal or any
combination of these. Topics from any time period and any culture are
welcome.

Proposals focusing on any issue pertaining to the experience, literature, representation, or history of Native Americans, especially in the 500 years snce the conquest, are welcome. Some questions to consider: How have Native Americans been portrayed in mainstream popular culture through the centuries--in various media such as fiction, poetry, film, television, painting, and advertising, or as sports mascots and in educational institutions--and how have Native Americans themselves resisted or subverted such representations? What can such language and images tell us about the cultural and political dynamics of the relationship between the first peoples of and latecomers to North America?

The LGBT Studies Area of MAP/ACA welcomes proposals that are of
relevance to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
Proposals are encouraged that focus on any medium of popular or
American culture, such as novels, nonfiction, comics/graphic novels,
theatre, television, movies, advertising, new media, or politics and
agitprop.

Proposals of interest for next year's conference might include:
*The Violet Quill writers
*HIV/AIDS in art, literature, or popular culture
*LGBT Television (The L Word, Queer as Folk, Logo, Here)
*Popular gay romance novels
*LGBT comics/graphic novels
*Visual and verbal narratives from the gay marriage debates.

The Internet Culture area is an eclectic category which invites submissions in the areas of identity construction via the Internet, art forms and social forms on the Internet, convergent media and new media creations on the Internet, Internet symbolism, and examinations
of the ways in which the Internet is used artistically, commercially, socially, and politically.

Myriad factors shape our relationship with food. What we choose to eat (or not eat), how we acquire it, whom we eat it with, and how we consume it is influenced by technology, economics, politics, fashion, religion, and other aspects of culture. MAPACA's Food and Culture sessions invite scholars from all disciplines to address the intersections of food and the human experience.

Fashion, Appearance, & Consumer Identity is concerned with the areas of clothing, historical costume, fashion aesthetics, fashion and appearance, fashion marketing, merchandising, retailing, the psychological/ sociological aspects of dress and cultural appearances,as well as any areas relating to consumption and consumer identity. Papers from all disciplines are welcome. Innovative and new research in the areas of fashion and consumerism are encouraged!

Disability Studies is a recent and growing discipline that draws on work done in fields as diverse as history, health sciences, English, anthropology, women's studies, and education. Papers interested in exploring the lived experience of disability, social constructions of disability, or disability studies itself are all equally welcome. Following are some possible questions to consider: What gives a human life value? How does a culture's attitudes about disability reveal its most basic assumptions and ideologies? How does the lived experience of disability vary according to class, gender, race, sexuality, or culture? How have our definitions of disability changed over time? How does the media (mis?)represent people with disabilities?

Papers are welcome on any aspect of American cultural responses to death. Paper proposals may be from any appropriate discipline and cover any historical period. General topic areas include but are not limited to the following:

1. Attitudes toward and practices relating to death, including the medicalization of death, the social construction of death, death in art and literature, funeral customs, the evolution of the funeral business and the cemetery, changing attitudes toward the dead body and its disposal, and burial and mourning practices.

2. Memorialization, including the history, iconography, and rhetoric of gravemarkers and memorials; regional and ethnic practices; and gender, class, and race in the cemetery.