CFP: 9th SLAYAGE Conference in Montreal, July 2020

Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies, the Whedon Studies Association, and conveners Lorna Jowett, Cynthia Burkhead, and Kristopher Woofter solicit proposals for the ninth biennial Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses (SCW9). This conference dedicated to the imaginative universe(s) of Joss Whedon and his primary collaborators (e.g., Marti Noxon, Tim Minear, David Greenwalt, Jane Espenson, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, etc.) will be held on the downtown campus of Dawson College, Montréal, Québec, Canada, from 9-12 July 2020. Kristopher Woofter of Dawson College will serve as local arrangements chair. 

We welcome proposals of 200-300 words (or an abstract of a completed paper) on any aspect of the following topics.

Whedon's Work:

• Whedon’s television and web texts (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Dollhouse, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and [who knows?] The Nevers, and the "reboot" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, produced by Monica Owusu-Breen);
• His films (Serenity, The Cabin in the Woods, Marvel’s The Avengers, Much Ado About Nothing, Avengers: Age of Ultron);
• Comics (e.g. Fray, Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, Sugarshock!, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel: After the Fall, Angel & Faith, and the Buffy and Angel comics from Boom! Studios); or any element of the work of Whedon and his collaborators.

The Post-Whedon TV Landscape: With the idea that ‘Whedon studies’ might include a range of creative work by Whedon collaborators and others influenced by his work, exclusive of Whedon’s involvement, proposals may address

• Series like Veronica Mars (Rob Thomas), Grimm (David Greenwalt), iZombie (Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa), Lucifer (Tom Kapinos), Stranger Things (Ross and Matt Duffer), and others;
• Paratexts, fandoms, or Whedon’s extracurricular—political and activist—activities, such as his involvement with Equality Now.

​Presentations may come from any disciplinary perspective: literature, history, communications, film and television studies, women’s and gender studies, queer and trans studies, religion, linguistics, music, cultural studies, genre studies, and others. In other words, multidisciplinary discussions of the text, the social context, the audience, the producers, the production, and more are all appropriate. A proposal/abstract should demonstrate familiarity with already-published scholarship in the field, which includes dozens of books, hundreds of articles, and nearly twenty years of the blind peer-reviewed journal, Slayage.

An individual paper is strictly limited to a reading time of 18-20 minutes, and we encourage, though do not require, self-organized panels of three presenters. Proposals for workshops, roundtables, or other types of sessions are also welcome. Submissions by both graduate and undergraduate students are invited; undergraduates should provide the name, email, and phone number of a faculty member willing to consult with them (the faculty member does not need to attend). Proposals should be submitted online through this SCW9 webpage (see below) and will be reviewed by program chairs Rhonda V. Wilcox and Cynthia Burkhead, and local arrangements chair, Kristopher Woofter.

Proposal Format: Proposals of 250-300 words for individual papers should include a title, projected thesis, identification of the corpus, and sense of the theoretical approach. Proposals for workshops, roundtables, or other types of sessions should include a title, a description of the session's organizing theme, and a list of the names, affiliations, and contact info of potential presenters; proposals for the papers that comprise the session would be sent individually by potential presenters, indicating their presentation as part of a proposed session.

Submit proposals to
https://www.scw9.ca/cfp--submit.html.

Submissions must be received by Monday, 13 January 2020. Decisions will be made by Monday, 2 March 2020.
​
Questions regarding proposals can be directed to Slayage ​editor Rhonda V. Wilcox at the conference email address: slayage.conference@gmail.com.

CFP: 9th SLAYAGE Conference on the Whedonverses -- Montreal, Quebec