popular culture

Soapbox 8.0: call for papers

Ways of Structuring

peer reviewed; open to critical and artistic work. 

If structures are determinate and determining, as they have come to seem through the interventions of poststructuralist theory, then ‘ways of structuring’ names a contradiction.  The plurality of ‘ways’ sits in tension with the fixity of ‘structure,’ evoking the very qualities of contingency and flexibility that the concept seems to negate.  For this upcoming issue, we welcome academic and artistic contributions that explore this tension.

Futures and Frontiers of US American Culture(s) International Conference

30 September – 2 October 2026

John-F.-Kennedy-Institut für Nordamerikastudien, Freie Universität Berlin

Keynotes: Jenny Stümer (Universität Heidelberg) | Dan Hassler-Forest (Utrecht University)

Acceptance/rejection will be communicated shortly after the extended deadline has passed.

Join a panel at the 14th annual CSULA Eagle Con!  Eagle Con is an annual event devoted the power and potential of speculative and fantastic media to critique social formations, interrogate subjectivities, and constitute alternative worlds. 

Americana: Call for Submissions Deadline for submissions: Revolving submissions
Now reading through 06/20/2026 for next issue full name / name of organization: Americana contact email: editor@americanpopularculture.com 

Americana invites submissions in Film Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, American Studies, Women's Studies, and American history, and so on -- especially as it pertains to Americana popular culture, 1900 to present.

Fantasy has long explored lifeworlds and paradigms outside of societal norms. Orlando, Virginia Woolf’s gender-fluid protagonist, declares, ‘I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another.’ World myths, legends, folk tales, and fairy tales are early promoters of gender-fluidity, populated by the likes of Inanna/Ishtar; Hermaphroditus, the offspring of Hermes and Aphrodite; androgynous Dionysus; Ardhanarishvara; Ometeotl; Guanyin; cross-dressing thunder and trickster gods; heartsick seafaring maidens disguised as sailors; and the mercurial ontologies of the Fae. In this issue we will explore how gender is portrayed and explored in Fantasy.

Conference Dates - Nov. 12th to 15th 2026

Location: Seattle, Washington (USA) - The Hyatt Regency Seattle

Call for Proposals: Star Trek and the CourtroomAn Edited Collection on Justice, Law, and the Trial in Star Trek

We invite proposals for an edited volume examining trial and courtroom episodes across the Star Trek franchise. From “Court Martial” (TOS) to “Ad Astra per Aspera” (SNW), Star Trek has used the trial format to explore questions of personhood, justice, military law, civil rights, ethical responsibility, and the limits of legal systems. These episodes serve as philosophical laboratories, testing the boundaries of law when confronted with, for example, artificial intelligence, alien cultures, time travel, and evolving definitions of sentience and citizenship.

Appalachian Glass: Furnace of Meaning and Memory

This edited collection addresses a major gap in current work focused on Appalachia’s glass industry. We have catalogs and reference books. We have histories focused on class, labor, and gender. We have histories focused on the rise and demise of glass factories. But the human work of meaning, identity, and memory--in the context of Appalachian glass--has yet to be gathered and shared in book form. 

CFP: History and Popular Uses of the Past – NEPCA Virtual Fall Conference 2026

Deadline for submissions: June 15, 2026 (at 5 pm EDT)

Contact email:

Hannah Sophie Schiffner, h.schiffner@zeppelin-university.net

The History and Popular Uses of the Past Area invites submissions for the Northeast Popular Culture Association’s (NEPCA) annual conference to be held online October 15th – 17th, 2026.

2026 Global K-Culture Conference

August 20 (Thu.) ~ August 22 (Sat.), 2026 (3 days)

Chungbuk National University, Korea

Korean, English, or the presenter’s preferred language

Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2026

The Department of Global K-Culture at Chungbuk National University is pleased to invite submissions for the upcoming Global K-Culture Conference, aimed at fostering meaningful dialogue and the exchange of ideas among instructors and researchers working across diverse educational and cultural contexts.

Call for Papers

Journal of Narrative Theory (JNT)

Special Issue (Fall 2027)

Contemporary Narratives and Storytelling Cultures

Concept Note

The International Journal of James Bond Studies is now accepting submissions for Volume 10.

The 2026 Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) will host its annual conference this fall as a virtual conference from Thursday, October 15th through Saturday October 17th.

We are looking forward to another engaging and rewarding conference for new and seasoned members alike. We are seeking proposals for panels and presentations for this year’s conference, including proposals for the Philosophy, Belief, and Pop Culture Area.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literature and Popular Music

This comprehensive, interdisciplinary handbook will be published by Bloomsbury Academic in late 2027.

This collection explores how literature and popular music intersect, influence each other, and create new possibilities for artistic expression, and seeks to map the rich terrain where these two cultural forms meet. We will work from broad definitions of both literature and popular music, encompassing work from traditional novels and poetry to digital narratives and graphic novels, from classical and folk sound traditions to electric and contemporary electronic music.