Pop Praxis: Social Justice & the Media
Keynote Speaker: Andi Zeisler, co-founder and editorial/creative director of Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture
University of Cincinnati
Conference date: April 8th, 2011
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by January 15th, 2010
Pop culture: what are its possibilities? Its consequences? It produces representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and religion. It crosses boundaries of identity, teaching us (or professing to teach us) about others. It permeates our everyday, sending us messages about ourselves and our place in the world. It has potential to define the cutting edge just as it reinforces the hegemonic status quo. It comments on society; it creates society. Pop culture is praxis: the grounds for theoretical exploration as well as political action.
Pop Praxis: Social Justice & the Media seeks paper, presentation and workshop submissions for a conference to be held on Friday, April 8th, 2011 at the University of Cincinnati. Pop culture—television, movies, music, etc.—represents a central site of inquiry for scholars and activists who work toward social justice. This conference provides a space for dialogue about the intersections of pop culture, theory and practice. We will explore the roles we all can play in the production and thoughtful consumption of culture.
We look forward to reading your proposal regarding pop culture as it relates to feminism, race, disability or queer theory, class, consumption, and all forms of political activism or cultural production.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
Analysis of scripted television (e.g., LOST, Sex & the City, Mad Men)
Analysis of reality television (e.g., The Real L Word, Jersey Shore, anything on Vh1)
The culture and/or activism of social networking (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, myspace, YouTube)
Lady Gaga (e.g., her music, videos, performance, fashion, politics, persona)
Ableism & representations of disability in pop culture (e.g., Weeds, Million Dollar Baby, crip-hop)
Political porn? (e.g., feminist, queer, etc.)
Gender and sexuality in music videos (e.g., Ke$ha, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé)
Indie publishing and production (e.g., zines, blogs, documentaries, podcasts)
Cinema (e.g., The Kids Are All Right, Avatar, Precious, The Blind Side)
Race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, nature, etc. in pop culture
This event will be free and open to the public. Info about accommodations will follow.
Proposal format:
We will accept proposals from undergraduates, graduates and faculty. Presentations will run 15-20 minutes each and can include papers, films or workshops oriented toward practice (activism, media production, performance). Your proposal should be sent as a Word document and include: title, 300-word abstract, description of A/V needs, your contact info, and a bio of no more than 100 words including your university affiliation. Send your submissions and/or questions to poppraxis@gmail.com no later than January 5th, 2011.
More information here.
This blog is no longer updated. Please instead visit Writers For Diversity for new opportunities for women/ LGBT writers and writers of color. Thank you.
