We are pleased to announce a CFP for submissions to the Third Annual Fandom and Neomedia Studies (FANS) Conference in Dallas, TX, on 6 and 7 June 2015.

Fandom for us includes all aspects of being a fan, ranging from being a passive audience member to producing one’s own parafictive or interfictive creations. Neomedia includes both new media as it is customarily defined as well as new ways of using and conceptualizing traditional media.

Ours is an interdisciplinary group, including historians, psychologists, geologists, writers, and independent scholars. We welcome contributions from all disciplines and from all levels of academic achievement. Submissions are welcome from professors, students, and independent researchers. Topics may come from anime, manga, science fiction, television series, movies, radio, performing arts, or any other popular culture phenomenon and their respective fandom groups.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

Women and minorities in media
Stage performance and puppet shows
Twitter literature
Science in cinema
Webcomics
Fanfic communities
Politics in video games
Historical fiction
Race in popular culture
Multilingual media and code switching
Pop culture parenting
Religious media
Media technologies
Costuming and cosplay
Social media in war zones
Ecocinema and ecocriticism
Economics of fandom

Abstracts of no more than 500 words must be submitted by 30 April 2015. Please also include your CV. Authors accepted for the conference will be notified by 8 May 2015. Successful submissions to the conference will also be published in the July edition of The Phoenix Papers, our quarterly peer-reviewed journal. If you wish to submit a paper for inclusion in the journal but not for conference consideration, the same requirements and deadlines apply but no registration fee is required. Please indicate your preference in your submission email. Because conference papers will be included in our journal, they must conform to our Style Guide. Presentations will be 20 minutes long with 10 minutes for Q&A sessions. The Sunday sessions will be given over to extended discussion on the three most popular topics from the Saturday presentations and a final “How Did We Do?” panel.

The FANS Conference is hosted and sponsored by A-Kon, the longest continually running anime and manga convention in North America. Conference registration entitles you to the full enjoyment of A-Kon and its activities, including a chance to study anime, manga, and gaming fans in their native environment. Our event will be held at the Dallas Hilton Anatole Hotel. Conference pre-registration is $60 and includes a Saturday luncheon. Pre-registration closes on 8 May 2015. Pre-registration includes a full weekend pass to A-Kon 26, which will provide an excellent opportunity for in-person research into anime and manga fandoms. All presenters must pre-register. Information for the hotel can be found here.

We also accept article and review (book, film, game) submissions for those who are unable to attend the conference in person. No registration or fee is required for inclusion, provided the submission is accepted.

Please use our Contact Us page should you have any questions. All submissions should be sent to fansconference (at) gmail.com.
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