JOSF Special Issue on Disability Studies (Deadline Extended)
The Journal of Science Fiction is accepting submissions for a special issue on disability studies and science fiction, to be released on January 31, 2019.
Following the highly successful publication of our first special issue on Afrofuturism earlier this year (V2N2), the Journal of Science Fiction has decided to dedicate one issue per year to interdisciplinary research on a special topic, sub-genre, and/or social area of interest relevant to the JOSF team and our publication’s readers. Disability studies, like Afrofuturism and other similarly diverse contextual and sociopolitical approaches to science fiction, highlights the significance of minority representation and inclusion in science and speculative fiction literature, film, comics, and popular culture. By increasing scholarly visibility into the critical discourses surrounding representations and interpretations of disability in SF media and scholarship, the Journal of Science Fiction aims to highlight the fruitful insights resulting from such intersectional analysis, both direct and indirect, which can further advance our understanding of the genre’s capacity to teach us about ourselves and one another.
Accordingly, the Museum of Science Fiction’s annual convention, Escape Velocity, will be hosting literary programming on the subject at next year’s event (May 24th – May 26th, 2019) as well. https://escapevelocity.events/
We are seeking academic articles of 5,000 to 8,000 words, short reflection pieces of 500 to 1,000 words, and book reviews of 500-750 words by Friday, November 2nd.
We welcome submissions focusing on any and all aspects of disability studies and science fiction, including but not limited to:
- Disability and biotechnology
- Posthumanism
- Social, medical, and other models of disability studies
- Mental illness
- Ability and super-ability
- Prosthesis and/or “the cure”
- Deafness and deaf culture
- Mobility impairments
- Disability in the future
- The critical intersections of race theory, gender, and/or sexuality with science fiction and disability
- Disabled characters and disabled visibility/representation
- Disability in SF spaces – cosplay, fandom, conferences, and scholarship
- Disability stereotypes and archetypes in SF
- Disability metaphors
- Non-Fiction
- Artwork
- Music
- Book Reviews
- Interviews
Special consideration will be given to essays addressing literature, theory, and contemporary texts and trends.
Please submit completed essays through the MOSF Journal of Science Fiction website, http://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/index. To submit your work, click "About" > "Submissions: Online Submissions", create an account, and follow the submission prompts.
OR
Email to: aisha.matthews@museumofsciencefiction.org
Remember to include the following as separate documents:
1) Your demographic information (can be contained in email)
- Name, Affiliations, Contact Information
2) Abstract (up to 300 words) & Keywords
3) Essay containing no identifying markers (to ensure double-blind peer review)