Issue 40 - Diffraction: Open Call for Current Topics in Visual & Cultural Studies

Deadline: Submissions due by March 1, 2025 to invisible.culture@ur.rochester.edu.

Diffraction occurs when a lightwave bends around an object or narrow aperture and proliferates, casting multiple waves of light where there would otherwise be only shadow. Consider InVisible Culture’s general issue as a diffracting object. With Issue 40, “Diffraction,” InVisible Culture seeks to incite a proliferation of pathways into the questions, problems, and possibilities motivating scholars of visual culture today. Above all, “Diffraction” welcomes authors from the disciplines of film and media studies, art history, anthropology, and visual studies to submit work on any topic they feel has been left in the dark. 

Since 1998, InVisible Culture has published interdisciplinary works addressing issues in visual and cultural studies, refracting contemporary conversations and concerns through a wide range of fields and modes of scholarship. Reflecting on the span of forty issues, we welcome articles that embrace the critical orientation of such scholarship while shedding light on topics that have been under examined—making the invisible visible. With that, we encourage submissions considering visual objects and case studies from any historical period, area, or medium.

Academics and artists at all stages in their careers, as well as independent scholars, are encouraged to apply. We particularly encourage submissions by graduate students.

Articles

Please send completed papers (with references following the guidelines from the Chicago Manual of Style) of between 4,000 and 10,000 words to invisible.culture@ur.rochester.edu March 1, 2025. Inquiries should be sent to the same address.

Creative/Artistic Works

In addition to written materials, InVisible Culture accepts works in other media (video, photography, drawing, code) that reflect upon the theme as it is outlined above. Please submit creative or artistic works along with an artist statement of no more than two pages to invisible.culture@ur.rochester.edu. For questions or more details concerning acceptable formats, go to or contact the same address.

Reviews

InVisible Culture is also currently seeking submissions for book, exhibition, and film reviews (600-1,000 words). For this issue we particularly encourage authors to submit reviews of games or other forms of interactive media. To submit a review proposal, go to https://www.invisibleculturejournal.com/contribute or contact invisible.culture@ur.rochester.edu.

About the Journal

InVisible Culture: A Journal for Visual Culture (IVC) is a student-run interdisciplinary journal published online twice a year in an open access format. Through double-blind peer-reviewed articles, creative works, and reviews of books, films, and exhibitions, our issues explore changing themes in visual culture. Fostering a global and current dialogue across fields, IVC investigates the power and limits of vision.Each issue includes peer-reviewed articles, as well as artworks, reviews, and special contributions. The Dialogues section offers timely commentary from an academic visual culture perspective and announcements from the editorial board.