CALL FOR PAPERS
“Science-Fiction Myths: Travels through Time and Space”
An area of multiple panels for the Film & History Conference on “Film and
Myth”
September 26-30, 2012
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
www.filmandhistory.org
Deadline: June 1, 2012
Films that depict travel through time and space captivate us with tales of
the past, the future, the distant, and the alien. These stories are shaped, however, not just by scientific principles, but by complex mythologies that reflect our collective anxieties. How fragile is “our” history? A seemingly trivial change to the past — a dropped book in Back to the Future, an act of kindness in The Butterfly Effect — can sweep away the present and replace it with something far worse (or far better). How do the alien forms of distant worlds beckon us (with a new Earth in Titan A.E.) or disappoint us (with pale imitations of Earth in Firefly) or terrify us (with the upside- down society of Planet of the Apes)? How do space- and time-travel myths give shape to our fears—of loving the wrong person, of leaving home forever, of being forgotten, of entering a foreign world? How do these myths give shape to our hopes—that the future is ours to shape, that the universe is full of wonders, that human experience might transcend time and space?
This area, comprising multiple panels, will treat all aspects of the mythological underpinnings of space and time travel in science-fiction films and television programs. Papers that explore how such myths are played out in science fiction from outside the US and UK are especially
welcome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Nomads: Cold Sleep, Relativity, and the Loneliness of Space Travel
Generation Spaceships and the Ship-as-World (e.g., Alien, Pandorum)
Time Travel and “Fixing History” (e.g., Quantum Leap, 12 Monkeys)
Love, Sex, and the Time Traveler (e.g., Back to the Future, Somewhere in Time)
Who Are You?: Myth and Identity in Space and Time Travel
Paradoxes in Time Travel: Killing Grandpa, and Other Bad Ideas
Just Like California: “Alien” Worlds and Space Travel as Tourism
Galactic Empires: Rome with Spaceships
The Human(oid) Void: Myths of First Contact (e.g., Star Trek, Babylon 5)
Homeward Bound: Myths of the Lost Earth (e.g., Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Wall-E)
Wormhole Diplomacy: Bridging Cultural Spaces
Proposals for complete panels (three related presentations) are also welcome, but they must include an abstract and contact information, including an e-mail address, for each presenter. Please e-mail your 200-word proposal by June 1, 2012:
A. Bowdoin Van Riper, Chair
2012 Film & History Conference Area: “Science-Fiction Myths”
Southern Polytechnic State University
Email: bvanriper@bellsouth.net
Joseph Laycock has written a new article that explores the Otherkin.
“We Are Spirits of Another Sort: Ontological Rebellion and Religious Dimensions of the Otherkin Community”
By Joseph P. Laycock, PhD
Nova Religio – The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
February 2012, Vol. 15, No. 3, Pages 65-90
Purchase Article: http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65
Abstract:
Otherkin are individuals who identify as “not entirely human.” Scholarship has framed this identity claim as religious because it is frequently supported by a framework of metaphysical beliefs. This article draws on survey data and interviews with Otherkin in order to provide a more thorough treatment of the phenomenon and to assess and qualify the movement’s religious dimensions. It is argued that, in addition to having a substantively religious quality, the Otherkin community serves existential and social functions commonly associated with religion. In the final analysis, the Otherkin community is regarded as an alternative nomos–a socially constructed worldview–that sustains alternate ontologies.
Related posts:
“The Otherkin: Fantastic Texts, Pop Culture, and Neo-Religiosity”
“Joseph Laycock: Vampires Today”
ONE FOR THE ALIENS: If aliens came to earth and could only take one book about comic book art back to their planet, I would give them this tome, that arrived today like a gift from the Art Gods! It is beyond breathtaking, if there is such a thing, and though “only” in black and white, the literal depth of Wally Wood’s artistic masterpieces herein–his shading, his use of zipatones and craftint, remains the highwater mark in comic book history–give these giant-size pages (the classic size of the twice-up original art) an almost three-dimensional feel and look (the cover particularly, with its spot-varnished astronaut figure, had a striking dimensionality that made my jaw drop like a cartoon itself). The printing, book design, layout and typography by IDW is as gorgeous and thoughtful as this magnificent artwork deserved, and they should take a well-deserved bow for creating One For The Ages. Somewhere in Comic Art Valhalla, Woody is looking down, beaming that elfin grin of his with pride in the glorious presentation of the work he bled sweat and tears for, and perhaps wistfully wondering, had a book of this scope and scale been produced in his lifetime, he might not have taken his own life. Now you can truly rest in peace, Wallace Wood. Your legacy is safe for eternity!
Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead titled “18 Miles Out” saw conflict among group members come to a head, with a brawl between Rick and Shane as the best illustration of the tensions that run throughout the group. But it would be a mistake to focus on such issues of drama and positive soap opera to the neglect of one of the major issues related to the program, raised in both the final episode of Season 1, as well as several episodes in Season 2. That major issue is suicide.
In previous posts I have noted that The Walking Dead continues to wrestle with many of the ethical issues that Frank Darabont has addressed in his work in films like The Mist, specifically the dangers posed among human beings with the breakdown of the social order, and also the questions related to whether life is worth living at all, all of which take on a greater sense of urgency in the face of the release of creatures from another dimension or a zombie apocalypse.
Of course, the threat of the zombies provides a scenario by which to address these serious questions that are all too pressing in the real world. Beyond the philosophical, theological, and existential issues related to the question of the meaningfulness of life (or lack thereof), The Walking Dead, and specifically the episode “18 Miles Ahead,” has helped focus attention on suicide as a national problem. News stories have raised attention about the alarming rise in suicide among those losing hope in the face of the global recession, among college students, military service members, bullied youth, and members of the LGBT community. Given the diverse parts of culture in which suicide is on the rise, it has truly become an American epidemic. As a parent of a child of suicide I applaud The Walking Dead for raising the issue, and my hope is that it will spur conversations that lead us to consider not only the broader issues of meaning in life, but also provide assistance to those who believe an end to their lives is the only or best option.
Related post:
“Horror, Sci Fi, Taboo and Suicide”
Infographic designed and provided courtesy of http://www.turtlemat.co.uk/. Original source at Grasping for the Wind.
Science Fiction Across Media: Alternative Histories, Alien Futures
Umeå University, Sweden
April 23-24, 2012
Science fiction is becoming a mainstream and increasingly popular genre in fiction and film, as demonstrated by recent novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, Michel Houellebecq, Junot Diaz and William Gibson as well as the global success of James Cameron’s Avatar. Yet science fiction is more than simple entertainment. This workshop considers science fiction as multi-medial explorations of alternative histories and alternative futures and invites scholars across the humanities to present their ongoing work on science fiction either in the form of full-length 20-minute papers, or as shorter papers on work in progress or mini-presentations on crucial concepts or ideas (8 minutes).
We are particularly interested in papers that explore science fiction in and across its varied media — novels, short stories, films, animation, comic books, computer games — and/or that focus on some aspect of the complex representation of natural and technological ecologies in the genre:
– alternative social and environmental histories
– new approaches to the representation of crisis and disaster
– alien ecologies and their relation to terrestrial crises
– alternative visions of humans’/nonhumans’ relationship to place
– wild, rural and urban environments of the future or on other planets
– contrast or convergence of organic, mechanical and virtual environments
– mapping and the (technological) representation of territories and geographies
– futurist forms of energy, transportation, food provision and resource extraction
– synthetic forms of nature, including synthetically generated or modified bodies
– environmental utopias and dystopias
– new directions in the representation of gender, race and species in science fiction
– ecological scarcity and abundance
– physical and systemic violence in relationships within and between species
– thematic, stylistic and media changes in science fiction as a genre
– changing audiences of science fiction
The workshop will take place in HUMlab, Umeå University’s digital humanities laboratory, and will emphasize informal, yet critical discussion of papers and presentations.
The workshop is arranged by Finn Arne Jørgensen (Umeå University) and Ursula K. Heise (Stanford University) on behalf of Umeå Studies in Science, Technology, and Environment (USSTE), the Nordic Environmental History Network (NEHN), and the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES).
Please submit a 200-word abstract and a 1-page CV to scifi@nehn-nordic.org by Saturday, March 10. Indicate whether you wish to present a full-length 20-minute paper, a shorter paper on work in progress, or a mini-presentation on crucial concepts or ideas (8 minutes).
We will cover accommodation and meals for all participants, and will seek to provide travel fellowships for participants from the Nordic countries.
For more information, please contact:
Finn Arne Jørgensen
Associate Senior Lecturer, History of Technology and Environment
Department of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies
Umeå University
901 87 Umeå
finn.jorgensen@idehist.umu.se
Joseph Laycock has recently been given the privilege of guest editing a special issue of Nova Religio on the paranormal. In the last few years, several good books have appeared that consider so-called “paranormal” beliefs, discourses, and experiences as an object of inquiry for religion scholars. Like the category “religion,” the category “paranormal” is poorly circumscribed and may potentially include a wide milieu of supernatural and pseudo-scientific beliefs and ideas. We seek papers that address the place of paranormal discourses within the larger context of religious and cultural studies. We also invite papers on religious aspects of specific paranormal discourses such as UFOs, psychics, hauntings, etc.
Submission Guidelines
Potential authors should first review Nova Religio’s website to get a sense of the aim and scope of the journal. Authors should follow the guidelines for authors on the website for the format of the paper and its citations.
Submission queries, including abstracts, should be sent to Joseph Laycock: jlay@bu.edu. Completed articles are due August 1, 2012, and should be approximately 8,000-10,000 words including all documentation and critical apparatus. As the guest editor, Laycock will make the initial determination about which papers are suitable for publication, and work with authors to improve their draft papers before forwarding them to Nova Religio’s co-general editors. The co-general editors, Eugene Gallagher, Joel Tishken, and Catherine Wessinger, will make the final decision about whether or not a paper can be accepted for publication.
Related posts:
“Joseph Laycock: Vampires Today”
“Annette Hill: Paranormal Media”
“Bader, Mencken, and Baker: Paranormal America”
Scott Derrickson is a film director and writer with a love for horror films. This has been demonstrated in his work on Hellraiser: Inferno (2000), Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), as well as his work in science fiction with The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). Scott is leading a seminar on horror in film this summer:
Scott Derrickson, director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the upcoming Sinister and Two Eyes Staring, is a connoisseur of the horror genre’s spiritual resonances. This summer he will be leading “Transcendent Darkness,” a seminar at the Glen Workshop West, a weeklong arts workshop held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from July 29-August 5, 2012.
Scott’s seminar and the accompanying discussions will confront the grotesque in the context of grace, in the grand tradition of Flannery O’Connor. In the end, Derrickson believes, confronting the darkness in us is often not only a prelude to understanding hope, but can itself be an experience of the divine. The selection of films, from horror to film noir and more, will be a guided tour through the films that have provided the most transcendent experiences for Derrickson as a Christian and as a filmmaker.
The Glen Workshops (Glen West in New Mexico, and Glen East in Massachusetts) have been hosted by the literary journal IMAGE since 1995, and are geared towards providing a space for artists and inquirers to create and investigate art in conversation with faith. Glen attendees of many religious backgrounds, allegiances, and practices have found an openhearted community that doesn’t shy away from different understandings. The Glen also offers a rich extracurricular menu of readings, discussions, opportunities to share your work with others, ecumenical evening worship services, and a free day to explore the surrounding area and spend time with new friends. Visit www.glenworkshop.org, email glenworkshop@imagejournal.org or call the staff at 206.281.2988 for more details about Scott’s course or the workshops in general.
Related post:
Interview with Scott Derrickson: The Day the Earth Stood Still”
I received notification this morning that the ballot for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards is now available online. The Rondo is going on ten years, and it was created for “recognizing the best in monster research, creativity and film preservation.” As I scrolled down the list through the various categories, I was very surprised to find TheoFantastique listed as a nominee in the category of Best Blog for 2011. This is TheoFantastique’s first nomination, it is an honor, and it is greatly appreciated just to be nominated as this blog, in part, attempts to make a contribution to horror culture. Interested readers can cast their votes on the ballot here.
We need your help to raise a small amount of funds to publish THE UNDEAD AND THEOLOGY through a Kickstarter Campaign. The project description:
We need funding for the typesetting costs for the forthcoming book THE UNDEAD AND THEOLOGY (Wipf & Stock). The academy and pop culture alike recognize the great symbolic and teaching value of the undead, whether vampires, zombies, or other undead or living dead creatures. This has been explored variously from critiques of consumerism and racism, explorations of gender and sexuality, consideration of the breakdown of the nuclear family. Most academic examinations of the undead have been done from the perspectives of philosophy and political theory, but another important avenue of exploration comes through theology. Through the vampire, the zombie, the Golem, and Cenobites, contributors address a variety of theological issues by way of critical reflection on the divine and the sacred in popular culture through film, television, graphic novels and literature.
You can learn about the rewards for participating, and make your contribution here.
This widget provides an up to date accounting of pledges toward the project:
CALL FOR PAPERS
