This is the February MAPACA Newsletter. The next conference is November 7-9, 2019 (Pittsburgh, PA).
In this newsletter we have:
Information about #mapaca19
Bring Us Your New Area Proposals!
Call for Submissions for Dystopian States of America
Information about #mapaca19:
This year, our conference will be in Pittsburgh, PA on November 7-9 at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center Hotel. We will release information about conference rate rooms later this year.
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.
Be On the Lookout for Our 2019 CFP:
Watch this space! Our call for papers for the 2019 conference will be released soon!
Bring Us Your New Area Proposals:
MAPACA now accepts proposals for new subject areas on a rolling basis! New proposals must be submitted by April 1, 2019 for inclusion in this year’s conference, but we will gladly consider your proposal at any time. For more information, please contact Erin Heisel, our VP of Areas, at vp-areas@mapaca.net.
Call for Submissions for Dystopian States of America: Apocalyptic Visions and Warnings in American Literature, Film, and Politics
Overview:
Submissions requested for Dystopian States of America: Apocalyptic Visions and Warnings in American Literature, Film, and Politics. This project aims to be an accessible, wide-ranging survey of and reference work on dystopian and apocalyptic themes in literature, film, and popular culture. This collection is set to be published by ABC-Clio Publishers in mid-2021. Compensation in the form of contributors’ copies will be provided.
Organization & Contents:
Dystopian States of America will be comprised of two main sections:
Section One: Five to Seven (5-7) 3,000 word overview essays, written for an educated lay audience, that will investigate the relationship between cultural visions of dystopia and specific societal anxieties and political/cultural forces. Subjects for overview essays (~3,000 words) include: totalitarianism, war, environmental calamity, disease / pandemics, cultural decline, technological overreach, social inequality / class conflict, racial anxieties / fear of the “other.”
Deadline for Essay Proposals: June 1, 2019
Deadline for Essay Drafts: January 15, 2020
Scholars interested in contributing an overview essay should send a 300-400 word proposal and CV to the project editor, Dr. Matthew B Hill @ redmanx999@gmail.com.
Essays should use Chicago Manual of Style (17th Ed).
Section Two: Approximately 150-175 reference entries (600-1,500 words) on works of apocalyptic and / or dystopian fiction in a variety of media (literature, film, music, video games). These entries should be written for an educated lay audience (high school / undergraduate) and should consist of the following:
A short overview of the plot of the work;
An analysis of the major themes present in the work;
A brief discussion of how one or more cultural concerns or anxieties common to dystopian fiction (totalitarianism, war, environmental calamity, disease / pandemics, cultural decline, technological overreach, social inequality / class conflict, racial anxieties / fear of the “other”) are addressed or interrogated in the work.
Any key secondary sources that address the work.
Deadline for Reference Entries: December 1, 2019
Interested scholars should send a short email query and CV to Dr. Matthew B. Hill at redmanx999@gmail.com for a list of available entries and suggested word counts. Reference entries should use the Chicago Manual of Style (17th Ed).
Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (MAPACA)
P.O. Box 25033 Philadelphia, PA 19147-0033