Call for Papers, Abstracts, and Panel Proposals:
PEDAGOGY & POPULAR CULTURE AREA
2017 Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference
St. Louis, MO
Proposal Submission Deadline: APRIL 30, 2017

Pre-Conference: Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Main Conference: Thursday – Sunday, October 19-22, 2017
Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch
Address: 315 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, MO 63102 Phone: 314-655-1234

The Pedagogy & Popular Culture Area of the MPCA/MACA requests 175-250 word proposals for papers to be presented at the 2017 Midwest Popular Culture Association Annual Conference. Proposals for co-authored papers, complete panels (3-4 presenters), or nontraditional formats such as workshops, roundtables, open forums, and/or visual/artistic/creative approaches are also welcomed. Please upload proposals to the Pedagogy & Popular Culture area, http://submissions.mpcaaca.org/.

Please submit proposals on any aspect of pedagogy and popular culture; any/all disciplinary approaches are welcome. Suggested topics and approaches include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Representations or discussions of pedagogy, education, and/or academia in popular/American/mass culture;
• Pedagogical approaches to teaching about or teaching with historical or contemporary popular culture texts;
• Theoretical underpinnings of cultural studies, critical pedagogies, and/or connecting the two to form praxis;
• Theoretical and/or practical discussions of “public pedagogy” (in the sense of hegemonic narrative and/or the sense of deliberate academic/student participation in the creation of publicly disseminated information and projects—see Henry Giroux) and knowledge production;
• Integrating popular culture texts into more traditionally-oriented courses and disciplines;
• Interrogation and exploration of pedagogical problems or concerns, including discussions of political, racial, and/or nationalist pedagogy in relationship to the 2016 presidential election;
• Discussions about the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, popular culture, and academia, including pedagogy; and/or
• “Best practices” presentations on teaching tools; lesson plan, syllabus, and/or assignment construction; and/or using new media technologies.

Individuals may present only one paper at the conference; please do not submit the same item to more than one area. Please include name, affiliation, and e-mail address of each author/participant with the abstract.

Please plan to attend the entire conference. Panels will run at the following approximate times: Thursday 8:00 am-6:00 pm, Friday 8:00 am-6:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am-6:00 pm, and Sunday 8:00 am-2:00 pm. Special events will include game night on Thursday evening, featured speakers on Friday evening, and an evening keynote speaker on Saturday. These events, plus continental breakfast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, will be free for conference registrants. A preliminary version of the schedule will be posted on our website around July 2017. The final version will be distributed in hard copy at the conference.

More information about the conference can be found at http://mpcaaca.org/stlouis-2017/2017-cfp/. Attendees are financially responsible for all costs related to their participation in the conference, e.g., transportation, lodging, meals, registration, membership, etc. Graduate students are invited to apply for competitively awarded travel grants from MPCA/MACA. Details are available at http://mpcaaca.org/conference/travel-grants/.

Special Notes Regarding Proposal Submissions: (1) MPCA/ACA will provide an LCD projector for presentations. (2) If necessary, indicate and submit potential scheduling conflicts along with your proposal. (3) If you wish your presentation to be listed as MACA (rather than MPCA), please include this request with your proposal.

If you have any questions, please email Jessica Birch at jessica.elizabeth.birch@gmail.com.