popular culture

Dear colleagues,

Since 2014, the eTEXTS: Literary and Cultural Studies Conference has served as a platform for the examination and exploration of diverse "texts" from English-speaking countries of Ango-Saxon heritage. By bringing together scholars, doctoral students, and early-career professionals, the conference fosters scientific debates and critical discussions that drive forward our understanding of literature and culture.

The American Humor Studies Association (AHSA) is putting together a pre-constituted panel for submission to the 2026 Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) conference, held November 12-15, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency in Seattle, Washington. PAMLA ‘s 2026 theme is  “Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict.” Following this, AHSA is accepting a range of papers on “Comic Leadership.” We invite submissions that consider the role of comedy in politics. Often, comedy is used to “takedown” and “critique” those in power through satire and parody, but what can comedy offer for enacting new political paths forward?

Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (MAPACA) 2026 Virtual Summer Symposium, July 26, 2026

This one-day virtual event on July 26, 2026 is in addition to our 3-day conference in November to accommodate scholars outside the Mid-Atlantic region and those for whom an in-person event is otherwise inaccessible. We greatly encourage international scholars to submit for this dynamic, one-day event!

The Journal of Dracula Studies is open for submissions for its upcoming 2026 issue. We invite manuscripts of scholarly articles (4000-6000 words) on any of the following: Bram Stoker, the novel Dracula, the historical Dracula, the vampire in literature including folklore, fiction, film, popular culture, and related topics. Submissions should be sent electronically (as an e-mail attachment in .docx). Please indicate the title of your submission in the subject line of your e-mail.

Call for Papers

ESOTERICISM, OCCULTISM, and MAGIC

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

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS Everything Fab Four Fest: REVOLVERNovember 6-8, 2026, Asbury Park, NJBerkeley Oceanfront Hotel

You are cordially invited to submit abstracts and/or panel suggestions for an international symposium devoted to the life, work, and influence of the Beatles, particularly in relation to their legendary album REVOLVER (1966). The festivities will include a host of well-known speakers, journalists, and musicians. 

At a time when some are attempting to rewrite the Humanities, it might be questioned as to how archives can not only be preserved but also utilized to fight for the future. Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Culture are deeply shaped by questions of memory, authority, and cultural transmission. Contributors are encouraged to consider the archive as an ever-evolving site of power that governs inclusion, exclusion, and interpretation. One might posit questions such as How do archival practices shape the stories available to young readers, and how might authors, educators, and scholars work against inherited silences and erasures?

A two-day conference to be held online by the University of Liverpool, in partnership with the Science Fiction Foundation and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, 12-13 December 2026

Keynote Speaker: Andrew M. Butler (non-voting chair of the Arthur C. Clarke Award)

Roundtable discussion with Clarke Award-winning authors Anne Charnock, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tade Thompson

Event Title:                    Truth in (Contemporary) SocietyEvent date:                    Monday, 29th & 30th June 2026
Location:                       Workroom 3, 38 Mappin St, University of Sheffield

Since the international success of Aterrados and Cuando acecha la maldad, both directed by Demián Rugna, Argentine horror cinema has gained renewed global visibility and critical attention. This resurgence has sparked increasing scholarly interest in the field, positioning Argentine horror as a key site for the exploration of national anxieties, aesthetic innovation, and transnational circulation.

Many notable comic book scholars highlight Alan Moore as one of the most ambitious writers in mainstream American and British comics. Along with writers like Grant Morrison and artists like Dave McKean, Moore was part of the so-called “British Invasion” of the American comic book industry in the 1980s, and artists of this period are credited as bringing an air of credibility as well as transforming the artistic standards of the medium. Greg Carpenter, for instance, likens the work of these artists to “Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson, elevating the English language into a vehicle for poetic drama.

To investigate how various disciplines respond to Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Demon Copperhead, editors Megan Krupa and Thomas Alan Holmes solicit chapter proposals for an edited collection of scholarly essays. Set in southwest Virginia during the opioid crisis, Kingsolver’s novel converses with Dickens’ David Copperfield, providing commentary about relevant social influences ranging from the global economy and international extractive industries to domestic social services, sports fandom, education, and family structure.

Who Is This For? The Access Illusion of XR

Immersive Impact Review — Issue 2 Call for Submissions

Open Date: 4/1/26

Closing Date:  5/15/26

The Immersive Impact Review invites submissions for its second issue around the theme of “Who Is This For? The Access Illusion of XR.” The Review is an open-access publication dedicated to advancing knowledge at the intersection of immersive technologies and social good.  It is published by the Immersive Experience Alliance with funding from Agog.