Call for Papers

Taylor Swift & Swiftie Studies 

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

2025 SWPACA Summer Salon

June 26-28, 2025

Virtual Conference

https://swpaca.org/ 

Submissions open on March 25, 2025

Proposal submission deadline: April 15, 2025

Proposals for papers are now being accepted for the SWPACA Summer Salon. SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas in a variety of categories encompassing the following: Film, Television, Music, & Visual Media; Historic & Contemporary Cultures; Identities & Cultures; Language & Literature; Science Fiction & Fantasy; and Pedagogy & Popular Culture. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/ 

The Taylor Swift & Swiftie Studies area invites paper proposals on topics related to Taylor Swift and/or Swifties from multiple vantage points. Since her debut in 2006, Taylor Swift has become a fixture of popular culture. Her career has been marked by incredible record-breaking highs and infamous tabloid-fodder lows. Known for her sharp lyrics, her evolving cross-genre musical styles, and her dedicated, creative fanbase (the Swifties), Swift’s influence has been noted within music, fashion, economics, politics, and other cultural spheres of power.

As an interdisciplinary area, we invite papers from multiple perspectives and disciplines. Topics might include, but are not limited to:

• Critical interpretations of Swift’s lyrics, eras, and/or personas

• Considerations of Taylor Swift and politics, feminisms, activism and social justice

• Interrogations of Swift and gender, race, class, and other identities/identifications

• Analyses of Swift’s connections to business, law, psychology, philosophy or other academic disciplines

• Arguments about fandom, belonging, relating, creating and other Swiftie concerns

• Examples of Taylor Swift’s pedagogical relevancy

All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app 

For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Summer Salon FAQs and Tips page at https://swpaca.org/faq-summer-salon/ 

Registration information for the conference will be available at https://swpaca.org/summer-salon/ 

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer any financial assistance for the Summer Salon.

Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Only one proposal per person, please; unfortunately, we cannot accommodate roundtables for the Summer Salon.  

If you have any questions about the Taylor Swift and Swiftie Studies area, please contact its Area Chair, Juliette Holder at jholder5@twu.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@southwestpca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!