Could you kindly circulate. Thank you.
CFP: The “C.S.I. Effect:” Television, Crime, and Critical Theory
Edited by Michele Byers and Val Johnson, Saint Mary’s University
The editors are currently seeking proposals and contributions for an
edited collection of essays on the three C.S.I. series currently
airing: C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-), C.S.I.: Miami
(2002-), and C.S.I.: N.Y. (2004-).
In the August 2004 issue of Time, Lennard, Lofara, and Novack
write: “CSI, because of its popularity and fecundity, is the most
dramatic new influence on a justice system that has always been
affected by books, movies, and TV.”
The intention of the editors is to produce a volume that
critically interrogates the hugely popular C.S.I. phenomenon. In a
time when reality-TV is dominating the televisual landscape, C.S.I.
has remained the top rated scripted series on TV, spawning two
franchises in four years. The first four seasons of the original
series, and the first two of the Miami spin-off, have already been
released on DVD; the original series is already widely syndicated.
And yet, there has been surprisingly little critical interrogation
of the series outside of the mainstream press.
The proposed volume will be aimed at an educated, though not
necessarily an exclusively academic or highly specialized audience.
We intend to include a wide variety of subjects and styles; however,
we are most interested in those works that engage with the series
from critical perspectives.
The following list represents a starting point, but in no way the
limit of subjects that could be tackled in this book:
* Conceptions of crime on CSI
* Representations of law, the courts, forensics, and the police on
CSI
* Violence, gore, terror, and gorenography
* Representations of death on CSI
* CSI, the “risk society” and risk management
* CSI and political economy
* Cultures of crime and ambient fear
* CSI as a neoliberal universe
* Studies of individual or groups of characters and/or actors
* Studies of individual types of offenses
* The series writers and/or producers, and its history
* Interrogations of gender, racialization, class, age, and sexuality
on CSI
* Representations of criminals and/or victims on CSI
* Bodyscapes and interiors on CSI
* Technological fantasies
* Retribution and forgiveness
* Comparisons of CSI and Reality-TV
* Stories “ripped from the headlines”
* The “CSI Effect,” or the series’ impact on the criminal justice
system
* Comparisons of CSI and other Crime TV
* CSI audiences, including transnational audiences
* Representations of the work and workplace relationships on CSI
* Realism and authenticity on CSI
* Representations of spaces and cities on CSI
* Comparisons of the three CSI series
* Power on CSI (as in Foucauldian conceptions of power)
* Civil rights, human rights, ethics, and social justice on CSI
* Religion and spirituality on CSI
* Expertise on CSI
* Discourses of nation and nationalism on CSI
* CSI’s Canadian connection
* Politics on CSI
* Family, youth and/or children on CSI
* Music(scapes) on CSI
Proposals are sought ASAP but will be accepted until June 1st,
2005. Please send your inquiries, complete submissions, or a
proposal of no more than 750 words as an email attachment (.doc
or .rtf) to [log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask] Please
include a short biography with your proposal. Essays chosen for
final consideration must be completed by October 1st, 2005.
Michele.Byers.
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and Criminology
Saint Mary's University
923 Robie Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 3C3
(902) 420 - 5869 (P)
(902) 420 - 5121 (F)
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