Late submissions being accepted until 15 December 2024.

Call for Paper for the Monsters, Monstrosities, & the Monstrous area of the PCA for the 2025 PCA Conference in New Orleans

Please join us in exploring the themes, influences, and impact of the monster as a cultural and historical touchstone. Across the globe and throughout the centuries, the label of monster has been invoked to separate the “natural” from the “unnatural” and the acceptable from the socially unacceptable. Whether referring to mythological creatures, the Victorian creations that have become standards through Universal film adaptations, or as a shorthand to denigrate othered peoples, the monster has no shortage of applications and, sometimes, reevaluations.

We specifically welcome papers or presentations that focus on the use of the monster as a teaching tool or educational lens.

As the term monster has a wide application, topics can be anything from the inhabitants of Sesame Street to medieval studies to medical oddities. Potential paper topics include:

• Children’s books, toys, or related media
• Film and television including remediations
• Literary texts
• Board games, RPGs, video games, and pinball
• Monsters queering societal norms and the monster as “other”
• Propaganda materials
• Freakshows and oddities

As part of our “Emerging Monster Scholars” initiative, we are accepting a limited number of papers from undergraduates to showcase and support these future researchers in the field of monster studies. We will be asking applicants for these slots to provide information about an instructor who can attest to the strength of the proposed material and who will help prepare them for a national conference presentation.

Please note: Anyone interested in presenting specifically on the vampire is heartily encouraged to apply to our sister section, Vampire Studies. They provide a space to discuss and share aspects of the global vampire, while we are here to give their monstrous kith and kin a home of their own.

Scope of the paper topics accepted under this area: From Grendel to Grover and Hannibal Lecter to high rises, topics in this area span the monstrous in form, behavior, and theory. 

List of example paper titles: “Using Cohen’s Seven Monster Theses When Teaching Frankenstein,” “Monsters Helping Children Understand Death in A Monster Calls,” “Monstrifying the Other for Entertainment: From Freak Shows to B-Movies,” “The Monster and his Monstrosity: H. H. Holmes’ Murder Hotel,” and “Deromanticizing the Monster in What We Do in the Shadows.”

Suggested Panels: We are hoping to get enough papers on the following topics to create at least one panel per topic:

• Monsters, Monstrosities, and the Monstrous of New Orleans
• Jaws - it will be the 50th anniversary of the film; Jaws, the shark, is a monstrous being; Jaws has a monstrous fandom

Submission requirements: Please submit an abstract (maximum of 300 words) to the Submission Portal.

Contact: Colleen Karn: colleen.karn@gmail.com or David Hansen: hansend@baycollege.edu