In this newsletter, we have
The CFP for #mapaca19
Information about #mapaca19
A call for proposals from our journal Response
Area-specific call for papers from American Studies (with reminders about past area-specific calls)
2019 Call for Papers
Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (MAPACA) 2019 Annual Conference November 7-9, 2019 Pittsburgh, PA — Pittsburgh Marriott City Center Hotel
Call for papers:
Proposals are welcome on all aspects of popular and American culture for inclusion in the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (MAPACA) conference in Pittsburgh, PA. Single papers, panels, roundtables, and alternative formats are welcome.
Proposals should take the form of 300-word abstracts, and may only be submitted to one appropriate area. For a list of areas and area chair contact information, visit mapaca.net/areas. General questions can be directed to mapaca@mapaca.net. The deadline for submission is Sunday, June 30, 2019.
MAPACA’s membership is comprised of college and university faculty, independent scholars and artists, and graduate and undergraduate students. MAPACA is an inclusive professional organization dedicated to the study of popular and American culture in all their multi-disciplinary manifestations. It is a regional division of the Popular Culture and American Culture Association, which, in the words of Popular Culture Association founder Ray Browne, is a “multi-disciplinary association interested in new approaches to the expressions, mass media and all other phenomena of everyday life.”
For more info, visit mapaca.net.
Information about #mapaca19
This year, our conference will be in Pittsburgh, PA on November 7-9 at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center Hotel. Book your room with our special conference rate here.
Pittsburgh Information
For information about events and food in Pittsburgh, please see Visit Pittsburgh’s website. Pittsburgh has a lot of great museums and restaurants, offers inexpensive public transport options throughout the region, and is also serviced by Lyft and Uber.
Pittsburgh: Zombie Capital of the World
Since George Romero released Night of the Living Dead in 1968, Pittsburgh has been associated with zombies and zombie fandom. From 1985’s Day of the Dead (shot near Pittsburgh) to 2004’s Shaun of the Dead (shot in the UK) to 2019’s Kingdom (shot in S. Korea), zombies have become a worldwide popular culture phenomenon, but Pittsburghers still claim ownership over the shambling undead. This year, we want you to propose papers and panels with a zombie theme!
If zombies aren’t your favorite, we still want you to bring us your non-zombie themed papers as well! We will never restrict our conference to just one theme.
Response Call for Submissions
Response is seeking article and feature submissions for the Fall 2019 issue. For consideration, full drafts should be emailed to publications@mapaca.net by June 10th. For more information, check out our full CFP on the Response website: https://responsejournal.net/cfp
Area-Specific Calls for Papers
In our late April newsletter, we listed calls for the following areas:
a joint panel from Music, Native American Studies, Latino/a Studies, and Performance Studies
Death in American Culture
Novels Then and Now
For more information about these calls, please see: https://mapaca.net/newsletter/general/201904251141
In our early May newsletter, we listed calls for the following areas:
Food and Beverage
Medieval Studies
Play Studies
For more information about these calls, please see: https://mapaca.net/newsletter/general/201905171418
David Foster Wallace Panel
The American Studies Area of the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association is seeking submissions of an interdisciplinary nature, focusing on the work of American author, David Foster Wallace (1962-2008). Wallace’s writing is situated at the intersections of literature, philosophy, television, cinema, popular culture, postmodernism, and social criticism.
The author of the 1079-page masterpiece, Infinite Jest, Wallace explores the human experience through the ethos of the American dream, exposing and challenging its illusory seductions and their concomitant tendencies toward addiction and self-destruction, with a rare mixture of fearlessness and insight. His work thus continues to provide invaluable provocation on the questions of who we are, and who we can be.
Suggested topics/questions include, but are not limited to, the following:
What insights does Wallace’s work offer into the nature of addiction and recovery?
Does Wallace provide a basis for political engagement?
In what ways does Wallace’s writing challenge and/or reinforce patriarchy?
Is Wallace a thinker of affirmation or despair?
What purpose does religious language serve in Wallace’s writing?
How does Wallace’s famous ‘E Unibus Pluram’ apply in the age of streaming and smartphones?
In what ways does Wallace’s work challenge/intersect with other American authors, artists, or philosophers?
Submission Details: Proposals of no more than 300 words must be submitted through the conference website. Please indicate that you wish to be included in the panel.
You can email any questions to guthrie@pitt.edu or mark.sawin@emu.edu.
Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (MAPACA)
P.O. Box 25033 Philadelphia, PA 19147-0033