SAS @ 30: Then | Now | Next
Call for Papers

Conference: June 19-21, 2018
Emerging Researchers Seminars & Workshops: June 18, 2018
Post-conference field trip: June 22, 2018
ABSTRACT DEADLINE: Dec 15, 2017

This occasion of the 30th Annual International Society for Animation Studies Conference prompts us to (re)consider the past present and future of animation and animation scholarship. Then | Now | Next is an invitation for reflection, prognostication, and critical reflection. It is an opportunity both to think about the state of union of animation production and animation studies, and a chance to suggest new directions for the next 30 years.

In popular understanding the past often seems settled, and the future itself has becomes predictable. How might animation practice and historical scholarship unsettle the past, interrogate the present, and reorient the future?

Animation has always been a critical component of rethinking the stability of the moving image and the recorded sound and their associated politics. This conference seeks interrogations into the temporalities of animation, the past/present/future of animation practices, the spatial locations and media conditions of its creation and study, and the orientations of this discipline of animation theory and practice. How can we re-infect our discipline with new narratives about the present, for the present, and into the future? How can these narratives reverberate outside animation studies, into the social, cultural, technological and political spheres?

SAS@30: Then | Now | Next

Montreal and Concordia University have historical ties to animation and animation scholarship. We want to hear about your research, and encourage applicants to present their investigations of less charted areas, including:
● animation temporalities
● histories and genealogies of animation or animation studies;
● geographies of animation
● colonialism & cultural appropriation
● afrofuturism and animation
● Indigenous animation
● neurodiverse animation
● community, care & activism
● animated sound
● animation and futurity
● animation and indie game design
● animation's media ecologies
● animation and sustainability
● animation and media industries
● plasmaticity and (the future of) special effects

Application formats (Deadline: Dec 15, 2017)
Please send all applications in text format (eg Word) to sas2018@concordia.ca. All applications should be accompanied by a 100-word bio with a second anonymized version of abstracts and keywords to facilitate blind review. Here are the recommended specifications for proposals:
● 6min microtalks: 150-word abstracts
● 20min conference papers and/or applications for the emerging researcher seminars* (please specify): 350-word abstracts + 3-5 keywords
● 90min pre-constituted panels: 150-word panel abstracts + bios and 350-word paper abstracts/participant
● Screenings/workshops/exhibitions: Proposals should be maximum 1 page with project descriptions and links to support material. Please indicate the duration of the event, the number of participants expected, and its requirements, including the facility (projection room, computer lab, studio with sinks, etc.), equipment, software, materials and the number of assistants (and skills) needed. We welcome applications for curated screenings, but request that accepted proposers secure exhibition rights from filmmakers or distributors. We may be able to offer small artist fees, but cannot cover travel and accommodation costs.

Letters of Acceptance
All letters of acceptance will be sent out by mid-March to facilitate applications for funding and travel visas. (Non-presenting participants who require travel visas should contact organizers by email as soon as possible, so we can write letters of invitation).

*Emerging Researchers Seminar (Monday, June 18)
Pre-circulated papers will be discussed in small seminar-style sessions mentored by established scholars. Participants must submit papers (10-15 pages in length) by June 1 for re-distribution and advanced reading by workshop mentors and other participants. We encourage applications from students at all levels (including your best undergraduates!), as well as recent graduates, new faculty members and independent researchers. Please indicate your affiliation and position. Participants may apply to present during the regular conference (June 19-21) with the same abstract, but please indicate if you have a preference. We will try to organize seminars according to topics and hope to offer financial assistance to some participants. Fees for Monday activities will be included in conference registration fees.

Contact:
● sas2018.hybrid.concordia.ca
● sas2018@concordia.ca