Thought some people on this list might be interested in this:
http://crippingthecon.com/?p=28
Michael Bérubé tells us that “every representation of disability has
the potential to shape the way ‘disability’ is understood in general
culture, and some of those representations can in fact do
extraordinary powerful—or harmful—cultural and political work” (1997,
p. B4).
This symposium will provide participants with the opportunity to
engage in a broad array of reflective discussions about the
representations of disability that exist “beneath the surface” and
explicitly within mainstream popular cultures both nationally and
internationally, particularly the popular culture phenomena that are
comic books, graphic novels, and manga.
Submissions incorporating genres that do not typically receive
sustained attention in mainstream scholarly spaces are encouraged.
These include but are not limited to the following:
* comix, anime, motion comics
* films, movies, videos, television shows (including reality TV,
animated TV)
* advertising, newspapers, magazines
* comic cons, dragon cons, geek cons, movie cons, cosplay, cult
fandom, the “geek syndrome”
* visual arts, painting, photography, deviantART, alternative and
alternate art forms
* poetry, expressive arts, popular fiction, imagetext, fanfic,
slash, alternative and alternate forms of literacies
* material culture, multimedia, social media, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
* websites, blogs, memes, zines
* games, gaming, toys, action figures
This event is meant not only to meet unmet needs in scholarly spaces
and beyond but also to address these vital areas/concerns:
1. Popular culture studies and literature do not pay consistent or
adequate attention to disability; when this attention is paid, it is
often via “special issues” of journals, etc.
2. Further, “Popular culture is…the discursive terrain on which
larger social issues are played out, often unobtrusively and masked as
entertainment–and this is precisely why pop culture needs to be
examined even more closely…” (Nayar, 2011, p. 172).
3. Popular culture studies and literature continue to have a mixed
reception within certain mainstream academic spaces. Because popular
culture is still sometimes not taken seriously within some of these
spaces (even among some disability studies scholars and
practitioners), its status remains, for some, “discounted” (at times,
popular culture studies may even be perceived as “deviant”).
Consequently, this symposium’s organizers aim to: (a) critique what is
often described as “deviant”; and (b) question and disrupt what
“counts” as academic, mainstream, and normative
4. The symposium organizers seek to create opportunities for all
participants—particularly students and any emerging scholars—to share
their work, and to make any information provided or presented
accessible and usable. We all benefit from discussing and learning
about disability and popular culture in ways that include and welcome
everyone’s participation. The symposium organizers and the proposal
review committee strongly support the notion that “academics have a
responsibility to make their work relevant for the society they exist
within” (Jurgenson, 2012), and this of course includes making
disability studies relevant and accessible to the disability community
(Ne’eman, 2012).
5. The symposium will be consistent with values that underscore the
disability rights movement: we seek to make collective investments in
disability pride, identity, and cultures. In “cripping” the status
quo, we assert, purposefully, “Nothing about us without us.”
Submission Guidelines and Instructions
Proposal types and formats may include, among others:
1. Individual presentation
2. Panel presentation
3. Discussion/workshop/roundtable
4. Performance/video/film/art entry
5. Poster session
Please note that other forms of proposals are fully welcomed, and the
above list is not exhaustive. If you have something particular in
mind, please explain the details and parameters of what you imagine,
via your proposal submission(s). You are also welcomed and encouraged
to submit more than one proposal.
If your submission is a performance/video/film/art entry, you are
responsible for securing permissions and rights for public viewing.
Videos and films should be open captioned and descriptions of any
artwork will be required.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: January 11, 2013
Each proposal must include:
1. Name
2. Affiliation (if applicable)
3. Contact information (including email and phone/voice phone)
(a) if there is more than one presenter, please indicate the
main contact and lead presenter (if these are two different
individuals, please indicate this information)
4. Title of presentation/activity/etc. (15 words or less)
5. Short description (50 words or less)
6. Full description (1000 words or less)
How to submit your proposal(s) — please choose one of the following options:
1. Via email to [log in to unmask] Submissions can be sent as an
attachment (Word, Word Perfect, Text, Rich Text Format or PDF) or with
text pasted/embedded in the body of your message. Please put CRIPCON
SUBMISSION in the subject line.
2. Via Fax: 315-443-4338. Please indicate CRIPCON SUBMISSION on
Fax cover sheet.
3. Via regular mail:
Fantastic! Heroic! Disabled? Cripping the Con
c/o SU Disability Cultural Center
805 S Crouse Ave, 105 Hoople Bldg.
Syracuse, NY 13244-2280
Additional Information
Information and content produced as a result of this symposium will be
published, with participant and presenter consent, via Beneath the
SUrface (BtS), an open source digital repository on disability and
popular culture to be launched at the conclusion of the symposium.
BtS will then become available to the academic community as well as to
the general public, and will include an array of resources regarding
disability and popular culture.
Each day of the symposium, there will be a designated time slot during
which poster sessions will be offered concurrently with “open space.”
Open space will be an opportunity for participants to create
spontaneous and/or planned topical interactions with other
participants—in other words, open space will be a venue for you to
create your own symposium “sessions,” during specific times and in
specific locations.
All confirmed participants (whether presenting or not) will receive
information on:
1. Completing registration
2. Requesting disability accommodations
3. Expressing dietary preferences (some but not all meals will be included)
All participants will be responsible for the cost of their own lodging
and travel.
To keep informed, visit us online!
Website: http://crippingthecon.com
Twitter: @cripcon
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CrippingTheCon
References
Bérubé, M. (1997, May 30). The cultural representation of people with
disabilities affects us all. The Chronicle of Higher Education,
B4-B5.
Jurgenson, N. (2012, May 11). Making our ideas more accessible.
Washington, DC: Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved September 19, 2012 from:
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/05/11/scholars-must-make-their-work-more-available-and-accessible-essay.
Nayar, P. K. (2011). Haunted knights in spandex: Self and othering in
the superhero mythos. Mediterranean Journal of Humanities, 1/2,
171-183.
Ne’eman, A. (2012, May 14). Making Disability Studies accessible.
Washington, DC: Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN). Retrieved
September 19, 2012 from
http://autisticadvocacy.org/2012/05/making-disability-studies-accessible/.
Tags: action figures, alternative and alternate art forms poetry,
alternative and alternate forms of literacies material culture,
animated TV) advertising, anime, blogs, comix, cosplay, cult fandom,
deviantART, dragon cons, expressive arts, Facebook, fanfic, gaming,
geek cons, imagetext, magazines comic cons, memes, motion comics
films, movie cons, movies, multimedia, newspapers, painting,
photography, popular fiction, slash, social media, television shows
(including reality TV, the “geek syndrome” visual arts, toys, Twitter,
videos, YouTube websites, zines games
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