PCA/ACA Fat Studies 2026 Call for Papers/Presentations/Panels 

Deadline: 11.30.25 

PCA Fat Studies Area Call for Papers 

Fat Studies is an interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary field of study that confronts and critiques cultural constraints against notions of “fatness” and “the fat body”; explores fat bodies as they live in, are shaped by, and remake the world; and creates paradigms for the development of fat acceptance or celebration within mass culture. Fat Studies uses body size as the starting point for a wide-ranging theorization and explication of how societies and cultures, past and present, have conceptualized all bodies and the political/cultural meanings ascribed to every body. Fat Studies reminds us that all bodies are inscribed with the fears and hopes of the particular culture they reside in, and these emotions often are mislabeled as objective “facts” of health and biology. More importantly, perhaps, Fat Studies insists on the recognition that fat identity can be as fundamental and world-shaping as other identity constructs analyzed within the academy and represented in media. 

Please join other Fat Studies scholars for the 2026 PCA/ACA National Conference from April 8-11, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. Presenters must become members of the Popular Culture Association. Find more information on the conference and organization at https://sites.google.com/view/2026pcaconference/home. 

Please do not email your abstract to the Fat Studies Area Chair; you must submit your presentation via the PCA/ACA website. You can find instructions here: https://pcaaca.org/page/submissionguidelines. For individual papers, please submit a title and 100-word abstract. For themed paper sessions, each presenter must enter their own presentation, and the session chair should contact Lesleigh Owen (lesleigh.owen@bhsu.edu) to assemble them into a panel. Please also contact Lesleigh for help in submitting roundtable discussions. 

We welcome all kinds of Fat Studies papers and performances from academics, researchers, intellectuals, activists, and artists, in any field of study, and at any stage in their career.All submissions are welcome, but please ensure your proposal fits within the academic and political scopes of Fat Studies. Please also be mindful that Fat Studies is a political project and not merely an umbrella term for all discussions of larger bodies. Additionally, submitters should rethink using words like “obesity” and “overweight” in their presentations unless they are used ironically, within quotes, or accompanied by a political analysis. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the PCA/ACA Fat Studies Chair, Lesleigh Owen (lesleigh.owen@bhsu.edu ). 

Important Dates to Remember: 

• Abstract Submissions Open: Sept. 1, 2025 

• Early Bird Registration Begins: Sept. 1, 2025 

• Abstract Submission Deadline: Nov. 30, 2025 

• Travel Grant Applications Due: Dec. 15, 2025 

• Early Bird Registration Ends for Presenters: Jan. 15, 2026 

• Regular Registration Begins for Presenters: Jan. 16, 2026 

• Travel Grant Decisions/Notifications: Jan. 31, 2026 

• Preliminary Program Draft Available: Feb. 6, 2026 

• Regular Registration Ends for Presenters: Feb. 15, 2026 

• Late Registration Starts for Presenters: Feb. 16, 2026 

• PCA 2026 National Conference: Atlanta, Georgia, April 8-11, 2026 

Please note: Presenters who are not registered by Feb. 15, 2026, will be removed from the program. 

Mark your calendars for the 2026 PCA National Conference  

in Atlanta, Georgia, April 8-11, 2026.