CALL FOR PAPERS, ABSTRACTS, AND PANEL PROPOSALS

Midwest Popular Culture Association/Midwest American Culture Association Annual Conference

Friday-Sunday, 6-8 October 2023

DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Address: DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604 Phone: (312) 362-8000

Conference participants will be responsible for securing their own lodging. 

Submit paper, abstract, or panel proposals (including the title of the presentation) to the appropriate Area on the Submissions website at https://form.jotform.com/220165367462152

Individuals may only submit one paper, and please do not submit the same paper to more than one Area.

Deadline for receipt of proposals is May 15, 2023.

 Please include name, affiliation, and e-mail address of each author/participant. A preliminary version of the schedule will be posted on our website around August 2023.

Special Notes Regarding Proposal Submissions: (1) AV equipment will be provided. The Association does not provide laptops, cords, or speakers.  (2) If necessary, indicate and submit potential scheduling conflicts along with your proposal. (3) If you wish your presentation to be listed as MACA (rather than MPCA), please include this request with your proposal.

The American, British, and Canadian Literature: 1800-1999  area of the Midwest Popular Culture Association/Midwest American Culture Association is now accepting proposals for its 2023 conference Chicago, IL. We are looking for papers that examine any aspect of literature from any the countries, from any time period, and using any number of methods.   It would be especially exciting to see papers/panels that address more than one country.  Potential topics for paper or panel proposals include, but are not limited to:

• Cross fertilization of themes, plots, tropes between American, British, and Canadian literature
• The impact of the Victorians on literature
• The intersections between high society or really any society and sex work
• The representations of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and class and economics in the literature
• What is the “canon” versus what was actually popular during the time period; alternatively, any discussion of the canon
• Forgotten or semi-forgotten ­--­­authors or works of literature that warrant a new investigation in the 21st century
• Depictions of “frontier” and frontier life
• Literature that explores the burgeoning fields of psychology and advertising
• Literature that explores the themes of “the criminal” and/or “the prison”
• The rise of the memoir, especially those by women or people of color
• Examinations of the Industrial Revolution and/or the Frontier
• Exploration of the shrinking world, especially as it relates to Imperialism

Please submit a paper abstract of 250-300 words or a panel proposal including short abstracts and titles of each prospective paper to the "American, British, and Canadian Literature: 1800-1999" area on the MPCA/ACA Submission website (submissions.mpcaaca.org). We strongly encourage pre-constituted panel submissions.

Please plan to attend the entire conference. Panels will run at the following approximate times: Friday 9:00 am-6:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am -5:30 pm, and Sunday 9:00 am-2:00 pm.  Special events may include game night on Thursday evening, featured speakers and awards ceremony on Friday evening, and a keynote speaker on Saturday evening. These events will be free for conference registrants. Area Chairs are strongly encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting.

MEMBERSHIP DUES & REGISTRATION FEES: Membership renewal forms for the 2023 calendar year and 2023 conference registration forms will be available on the website in the coming weeks. All participants must register for the conference.  Registration is $100 for undergraduate students with ID, $150 for reduced rate members (graduate students with ID, retirees, and unemployed), and $180 for regular members. There will be a $15 late fee for registration on-site or postmarked after September 15, 2022. (This fee is waived for residents of countries other than the USA or Canada.) Payment on-site will be by cash, check, or via credit card on Square. To preregister, send a check anytime to Malynnda Johnson, 200 North Seventh Street Terre Haute, Indiana, USA 47809. Make check payable to Midwest Popular Culture Association. A registration-membership form may be printed from our website at <http://www.mpcaaca.org>.

Day passes will be available for guests of the conference who are not presenting a paper.

Attendees are financially responsible for all costs related to their participation in the conference, e.g., transportation, lodging, meals, registration, membership, etc. Graduate students are invited to apply for competitively awarded travel grants from MPCA/MACA. Details on these grants are available here.

Cancellation Policy: If you submit a proposal (or if you accept an invitation to appear on a panel), you are promising to attend the conference if your proposal is accepted, and you are promising to pay the conference registration fee, the Association membership fee, and a late fee of $15 if applicable. If your proposal is accepted and you do not attend the conference, it is expected that you will (1) notify all members of your panel, your Area Chair, and the MPCA/MACA Executive Secretary (Malynnda Johnson) of your cancellation; (2) provide such notification as early as possible; (3) arrange to have your paper distributed at the panel; (4) arrange for somebody else to carry out any other duties you may have; and (5) pay your membership and registration fees (plus late fee if applicable). If conditions 1-5 are met, you may file a written request, after the conference, for a refund of half your registration fee. For co-authored papers, all authors are welcome and encouraged to attend, but only one author is required to attend.

COVID-19: The Midwest Popular Culture Association continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely.  In the event that the conference is moved into a virtual setting, postponed, or canceled, we will notify you and provide you with information as to how the organization will respond as soon as possible. Please check the MPCA website or follow MPCA on Twitter or Facebook for the latest information.