Inaugural Issue Call for Papers

The International Journal of Disney Studies is now accepting article submissions!

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds#call-for-papers

IJDS is the first journal of the emerging field of Disney Studies. It is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of Disney, an international media conglomerate that permeates our global culture and understanding of wider societal issues and processes. The journal publishes empirical and theoretical research that critically examines and analyses the Walt Disney Company, its intellectual properties and products thereof and their relationship with culture and society. Whilst the study of Disney has been trivialized, the rise of the Walt Disney Company and its permeation within society has continued to have a place within public discourse and contributes to our understanding and shaping of cultures all over the world. This journal provides much needed dialogue on the study of Disney in all its forms. A key aim of this journal is to continue to advance Disney studies as an interdisciplinary field and be a cornerstone for Disney scholarship as the field continues to progress. 

We are particularly interested in papers that discuss a wide range of topics that relate to Disney and its intellectual properties, including but not limited to: history; industry; music; animation; live action films; television; the Disney Channel; Pixar; Lucasfilm; Marvel; Disney Princesses; Disney Villains; Disney+; Disney theatre productions; tourism; theme parks; merchandising; literature; fairy tales; food; Disney audiences; Disney fandom; Disney art; representation and Disney’s relationships with and representation of identity; ethnicity; disability; race; gender; sexuality; and queerness. We welcome articles from academics, students, independent scholars, practitioners and industry professionals from all over the world.

We invite three types of scholarly work:

• Original scholarly articles (approximately 6000–8000 words long) are traditional peer-reviewed articles with a focus on theory, case studies and/or empirical research.

• Book reviews (approximately 1000 words long) review relevant scholarly and non-fiction books released in the previous years. The goal for this section is to elucidate the broader research happening in the field beyond the scope of this journal.

• Commentaries (approximately 2000–3000 words long) review various aspects of Disney, such as new films, additions to the theme parks, corporate strategies, archival findings, Disney events and more. The purpose of these pieces is to allow scholars to give less formal information regarding major changes to the Disney company. These pieces will thus serve to keep Disney scholars apprised of any major changes to our conglomerate of study.

For more information, or to submit to the journal, please see our website (https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds) or contact the editors: Robyn Muir (r.muir@surrey.ac.uk) and Rebecca Rowe (rebecca.rowe@tamuc.edu).

If you would like to be considered for the inaugural issue, please submit by 15 January 2024. Submissions will remain open for later issues, and we welcome work any time moving forward.