Visual culture constitutes an interdisciplinary area flexible enough to facilitate discussion across the arts, media, and communication. Visual culture, broadly defined, exists at the intersection of the visual and the cultural. Distinct from film, television, animation, video game, media, literature and the arts, we study the cultures in which such media circulate. Yet common interests connect visual studies with material culture, digital culture, and media studies, among others, suggesting fertile opportunities for collaboration and crossover. 

For the 2027 annual conference, which will be held in Boston, MA, March 24-27, we welcome proposals for presentations, panels and roundtables including but not limited to this year’s theme: “Revolutions and Revisions.” In recognizing the rich history and culture of Boston’s heritage, we seek to celebrate and memorialize the site of our convening.  

Applied to the Visual culture area, connections to the theme “Revolutions and Revisions” include:

• New or future directions in visual culture 

• Current innovations in visual culture

• Adaptation and reinterpretation

• Resistance and revival

• Cultural change and upheaval

Additionally, we welcome submissions relevant to topics pertaining to visual culture more broadly, including: Digital and analog representations circulating in culture, Cultural interpretations of discrete media objects, Sites of visual culture (i.e. libraries, museums, monuments), Cross-cultural approaches, Media and gender, Hybridity, Representation, identity, and memory, and Spectacle and consumerism.

Submit abstracts to pcaaca.org by OCTOBER 31. Abstracts must be at least 250 words not including accompanying bio. Please include your affiliation (if any) and rank (if any). Presenters will need to become members of the Popular Culture Association. Further information about submission guidelines can be found at: https://pcaaca.org/page/submissionguidelines

Contact Visual Culture Area Chair Ivy Roberts if you have additional questions. ivyrobertsis@gmail.com