Call for Papers

Digital & Analog Cultures

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

2026 SWPACA Summer Salon

June 25-27, 2026

Virtual Conference

https://swpaca.org/

Submissions open on March 30, 2026

Proposal submission deadline: April 27, 2026

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/

Proposals for individual presentations, panels and roundtable discussions are now being accepted for the area of Digital and Analog Cultures. Digital and Analog Cultures explore the values, beliefs, behaviors, creative application, methodologies and/or technologies that shape the way people interact with digital pasts, presents and futures as well as the ongoing relevance (and often resurgence) of analog media in a digital age.

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

AI and society

Analog pasts, presents and futures

Big data

Critiques of teleology and technological progress

Data visualization

Digital and/or analog art

Digital and/or analog methodologies

Digital and/or analog geographies

Ethnographies of online communities & analog cultures

Interfaces between analog and digital worlds

Internet cultures

Memes

Piracy

Resurgence of analog media in a digital age

Security, privacy and surveillance

Sensory, tactile, embodied and experiential aspects of analog technologies

Social networks

Virtual identities

Scholars, teachers, professionals, artists, and others interested in digital cultures are encouraged to participate. Graduate students are also particularly welcome.

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 Digital & Analog Cultures area, please contact its Area Chair, Dr. Erik Stanley of Eastern New Mexico University at erik.stanley@enmu.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!