Popular Culture Association: British Popular Culture 

Call for Papers

The British Popular Culture area of the Popular Culture/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) is now accepting submissions for the 2025 national conference to be held April 16-19, 2025, in New Orleans, LA!

Academics at all stages in their careers, as well as independent scholars, are encouraged to apply. We particularly encourage submissions by graduate students. 

We welcome presentations about any aspect of British Pop Culture, which includes not only the United Kingdom but may also include the Commonwealth, Canada, and Australia as well as any adaptations of works originating in these areas but translated/set outside of these countries. (For example, Hulu’s 2022 Fire Island is set in modern-day New York but is adapted from Jane Austen’s 18th century novel Pride and Prejudice). 

While other PCA areas have a more narrowed focus on aspects of British Popular Culture, our area encourages breadth and variety of medium and genre.  We consider popular culture to include films, documentaries, TV series, social media, literature, music, plays, comics, mythology/folklore, sociopolitical issues, food, clothing, etc. We are particularly interested in adaptations, franchises, and popular culture texts that mix historical settings and contemporary concerns. If you have an idea for something you aren’t sure will fit or that might be too niche, please feel free to email the area chair to ask!

In recent years, there have been presentations about Sanditon, Bridgerton, Emma, Frankenstein, Shelley, Home Fires, The Crown, Spencer, Downton Abbey, The Wicker Man, The Tempest, A Place to Call Home, James Bond, The Essex Serpent, The Streets, Jonny Greenwood, Shakespeare, King Arthur, and Merlin. 

We welcome papers on the following new British Pop Culture pieces (which is not remotely exhaustive): Rivals, Tom Jones, Lockwood & Co., Great Expectations, Becoming Elizabeth, Noelle, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, Hulu’s Fire Island, Netflix’s Persuasion, Mr. Malcolm’s List, The Nevers, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Operation Mincemeat, Last Night in Soho, Together, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Duke, Belfast, Death on the Nile, Dig, Gentleman Jack, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, and Pursuit of Love (just to name a few).

We are seeking 15-20 minute presentations.

For individual presentations, please submit a title and 150-200 word abstracts. Please consult the Submission Guidelines page for more information. For panels or themed session proposals, each presenter should enter their own proposal; the chair should contact the area chair with the title of the panel and the names of the presenters.

Important Dates to Remember

September 1, 2024 -- Submissions Open

October 1, 2024 -- Early Bird Registration Begins

November 30, 2024 -- Deadline for Paper Proposals

December 15, 2024 -- Travel Grant Applications Due

December 31, 2024 -- Early Bird Registration Ends for Presenters

January 15, 2025 -- Travel Grant Decisions / Notifications

January 31, 2025 -- Regular Registration Ends for Presenters

February 15, 2025 -- Late Registration Ends for Presenters

*Those Presenters Not Registered by Feb. 15 Will Be Dropped From the Program

CONFERENCE IN NEW ORLEANS, IL, April 16-19, 2025

Further inquiries can be sent to 

Dr. Kevin M. Flanagan (new Area Chair for 2024/2025)

Term Associate Professor, Department of English, George Mason University

kflanag AT gmu.edu

https://english.gmu.edu/people/kflanag