The 2025 Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) will host its annual conference this fall as a virtual conference from Thursday, October 9th – Saturday, October 11th. We are seeking proposals for panels and presentations for this year’s conference, including proposals for the Philosophy, Belief, and Pop Culture Area.

Philosophy questions general and fundamental concepts of our world and reality, such as reason, values, language, knowledge, existence, and the mind, body and soul. It functions as one of our oldest means of studying, understanding, and explaining, and prominent practitioners feature across time and cultures (e.g., Plato, Nietzsche, Confucius, Laozi, Ibn Rushd, Ptahhotep, Adi Shankara, Anthony William Amo, Nezahualcoyotl, etc.). This area welcomes proposals from all academic and methodological perspectives that either use philosophic principles to engage with/analyze examples of pop culture or explore depictions of philosophy within pop culture. Some specific potential topics include but are not limited to:

• The portrayal of philosophy, belief systems, religions, and mythologies across any medium (e.g., literature, film, television, comics/graphic novels, poetry, anime and manga, video games, tabletop role-playing games, etc.)
• The depiction of historic philosophers and religious leaders in pop culture and media
• The evolution of philosophical principles, belief systems, religions, and mythologies in pop culture and media
• The application of philosophic principles and religious teachings in American politics and news media
• The development of new philosophical principles, belief systems, religions, and mythologies through fiction

NEPCA’s call-for-papers will be open until July 15 by 11:59p.m. (EST). Details about submission can be found here - Call for Papers | NEPCA - Northeastpca