Fandom and Neomedia Studies

CFP: Fourth Annual FANS Conference

Fanassociation2

We are pleased to announce a CFP for submissions to the Fourth Annual Fandom and Neomedia Studies (FANS) Conference in Dallas, TX, on 4 and 5 June 2016. Our keynote this year will be a joint presentation by Angela Drummond-Matthews and Debbie Scally. It is also our privilege to host Dr. Ryosuke Watanabe, Executive Director of the International College of Liberal Arts at Yamanashi Gakuin University, who will be presenting on the international scholarship opportunities his university offers for students as well as programs to partner with schools in Europe, Canada, and across the US. PLUS! We can now announce special guests Nayoshi Shiotani and Rui Kuroki, both of Production IG, who will be presenting on the metacreative processes of anime.

Fandom for us includes all aspects of being a fan, ranging from being a passive audience member to producing one’s own parafictive or interfictive creations. Neomedia includes both new media as it is customarily defined as well as new ways of using and conceptualizing traditional media.

Ours is an interdisciplinary group, including historians, psychologists, scientists, writers, and independent scholars. This allows for a wide range of opinions in our peer review process, both for the conference and the journal. We welcome contributions from all disciplines and from all levels of academic achievement as we value the intersection of fandom and academia. Our conference is thus unique in its blend of traditional and modern elements. Submissions are welcome from professors, students, and independent researchers. Topics may come from anime, manga, science fiction, television series, movies, radio, performing arts, or any other popular culture phenomenon and their respective fandom groups.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

  • Women and minorities in media
  • Stage performance and puppet shows
  • Twitter literature
  • Science in cinema
  • Webcomics
  • Fanfic communities
  • Politics in video games
  • Historical fiction
  • Race in popular culture
  • Multilingual media and code switching
  • Pop culture parenting
  • Religious media
  • Media technologies
  • Costuming and cosplay
  • Social media in war zones
  • Ecocinema and ecocriticism
  • Economics of fandom

Abstracts of no more than 500 words must be submitted by 15 May 2016. Please also include your CV. Authors accepted for the conference will be notified by 20 May 2016. Successful submissions to the conference will also be published in the July edition of The Phoenix Papers, our annual peer-reviewed journal. If you wish to submit a paper for inclusion in the journal but not for conference consideration, the same requirements and deadlines apply but no registration fee is required. Please indicate your preference in your submission email. Because conference papers will be included in our journal, they must conform to our Style Guide. Presentations will be 20 minutes long with 10 minutes for Q&A sessions. The Sunday sessions will end with a final “How Did We Do?” panel.

The FANS Conference is hosted and sponsored by A-Kon, the longest continually running anime and manga convention in North America. Conference registration entitles you to the full enjoyment of A-Kon and its activities, including a chance to study anime, manga, and gaming fans in their native environment. Our event will be held at the Dallas Hilton Anatole Hotel. Conference pre-registration is $60 and includes a Saturday luncheon. Pre-registration closes on 20 May 2016. Pre-registration includes a full weekend pass to A-Kon 27, which will provide an excellent opportunity for in-person research into anime and manga fandoms. All presenters must pre-register. Information for the hotel can be found here.

We also accept article and review (book, film, game) submissions for those who are unable to attend the conference in person. No registration or fee is required for non-presenting publication.

Please use our Contact Us page should you have any questions. All submissions should be sent to fansconference (at) gmail.com.

ISSN: 2325-2316

Conference and Editorial Board:

Chair: J. Holder Bennett, Associate Professor of History, Collin College, McKinney, Texas, USA

Vice Chair: Dr. Michael Vandehey, Professor of Psychology, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA

Dr. Darren Jon Ashmore, Professor of Anthropology and Head of Japan Studies, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

Jonathan Davis, Independent Entrepreneur, Colleyville, Texas, USA

Dr. Marc Hairston, Research Scientist, William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA

Helen McCarthy, Author and Founder of Manga UK, London, England, UK

Jonathan Tarbox, CEO, Arashi Productions, and Adjunct Instructor, California State University at San Marcos, La Jolla, California, USA

Executive Assistant: Andrew Tague, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

Short URL: http://bit.ly/1Zb9uEe