Dear Scholars and Creatives,

We are excited to announce the call for papers for The Liminal Age; the 26th Annual Graduate Conference hosted by San Francisco State University’s CINE Colloquium. Submit your work and join us on October 25th & 26th for a multidisciplinary exploration of the unique cultures, genres, and relationships fostered by the ever-shifting terrain of the online world. See the information below for a description of this year’s theme and instructions to submit your proposal.

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Liminality lies in the position at, or on both sides of, boundaries and thresholds. It branches us from one mode of transience to another, generating connections, genres, and previously unseen and unknown identities. Our modern digital landscape is a liminal world; a space between physical spaces and linear time. The Internet and other digital terrains allow us to explore a variety of genres, participate in the most niche of cultures, and develop relationships and bonds that extend beyond physicality. Content, communities, and cultures today are accessible in many different ways—from social media apps to fandom blogs, to reaction videos on YouTube—and we aim to explore the boundaries and interconnected nature between these different forms, and how they exist in the liminal age of the internet and beyond. 

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Papers are welcome to explore topics from our main categories; Genre, Culture, and Relationships. These topics include but are not limited to:

Genre 

Creepypasta, Nostalgic Aesthetics, Liminal Spaces, Internet Folklore/Mythos, Hardware and the Physical Internet, Analog Horror, Cringe Content, Shitposting, YouTube Poop and Virtual Collage, Reaction Content, Media Archaeology, MMOs and RPGs, ASMR 

Culture

Fandoms, Podcasting Ecosystems, Online Consumerism, Furries, Fan/Stan Culture, Mental Health Ecosystems, Online Gaming, Memes and Memetics, Digital Blackface, Platform-Specific Studies (Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, Instagram, TikTok, etc.)

Relationships

Parasocial Relationships, Types of Discourse (Academic, Moral, Fandom), VTubers, Influencers, Microcelebrities, Livestreaming/Streamers (Mukbang, LetsPlays), Online Dating, Roleplay Blogs

To submit your work for showcase at this year’s conference, please send an email to ‘sfsuconference@gmail.com’ by June 8th that includes the following: 

· A brief (~100 words) author bio that states your name, institution, and your connection to this year’s topic

· An abstract (~300-400 words) for the work that you would like to present, offering a summary of your aims, methodology, and analysis

· Whether you can present on-site or will request to present remotely (this is logistical and is not taken into consideration when deciding the eligibility of submissions)

· A list of relevant topics that might apply to your work, selected from the list provided above

Authors of selected papers will be notified via email by June 30th and asked to submit a finalized version of their work by September 1st. Please note that your final work is not limited to paper format and may also be completed as a video essay or a relevant analytical creative project.

We look forward to reading your submissions and hope to see you at this year’s conference!

- The CINE Colloquium at SFSU