According to the Gettysburgtimes.com,
The Lifelong Learning Academy will present a lecture on Thursday, June 21, at 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Village, 1075 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg. Dr. Carey Moore, retired Professor of Religion at Gettysburg College, will speak about “Religion and Comic Strips.”
Dr. Moore was a major contributor to the Anchor Bible Series and is purportedly a lifelong reader of comic strips.
A. David Lewis, co-editor of Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels, called the 2012 Edition of Comics Research Bibliography “tremendous” and “a major resource for any scholar (or fan) looking to touch upon Comics Studies.
Available now, in print or digitally, at Lulu.com.
From Emily Laycock at Lancaster University:
‘Comics, Religion & Politics’
4-5th September 2012
Lancaster University, UK
Alongside the continued popularity of political themes in comics recent years have also seen the rise of religious themes entering into the medium. The aim of this conference is to explore the relationship between comics, religion and politics in greater depth, to show how through the unique properties of the medium comics have the ability to be as thought-provoking as they are entertaining. The conference will examine the history and impact of religious and political themes, their relationship to audiences, and consider the future of such themes in all forms of sequential art narrative.
We invite papers that address religious and/or political themes in comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, or manga. Papers working at the interface of these two areas are particularly encouraged. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
– Comics as cultural, social, religious, political text
– Use of religious imagery and themes
– Fan culture
– Political cartoons and cartoonists
– Gothic comics
– Comics and magic
– Representation of politics, religion, spirituality
– Religious or political rhetoric of comics and their authors
– Myths, legends, fables
-Depiction of religious figures or politicians as comic characters
– Comics and science fiction
– Comics and propaganda
– Representation of apocalypse, utopia, dystopia
– Representation of war
– Superheroes and religious, political identity
– Theoretical approaches to the study of religion, politics in comics
Contributions are sought from researchers at any stage of their careers. Abstracts (300 words) for papers 20 minutes in length should be sent with a short biography to Emily Laycock (Department of Politics, Philosophy & Religion) at e.laycock@lancaster.ac.uk
Read the original Call For Papers at NSRN Online.
From Dr. James F. McGrath, the man behind Religion and Science Fiction:
Doctor Who is a cultural phenomenon in both the UK and the United States, continuing to go from strength-to-strength as it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2013. Over the show’s long history on television—and in various spin-off TV shows, audio adventures, novels and comic books—religion and religious themes have consistently been a subject of interest. In recent years the show has attracted everything from Church of England conferences dedicated to its use in preaching to guest appearances by Richard Dawkins. Abstracts of 300 words are therefore invited for a proposed edited collection examining Religion and Doctor Who. The collection will consider the subject in its widest sense, examining portrayals of religion on the show, in spin-off media (including TV, audio, internet, comic books and video games); fan cultures, and the use of Doctor Who in religious debates. The book will be aimed at popular-academic readership. Possible subjects include, but are not limited to:
• Religious or mythic themes (salvation, return, ritual etc.) in the series.
• Critiques and deconstructions of religion in Doctor Who.
• The use of Doctor Who to chart British religious history from 1963 to the present.
• Death and the afterlife in Doctor Who and Torchwood.
• The Doctor as a Christ figure.
• Portrayals of non-Christian religion in the classic series or BBC revival.
• Fan response to “religious” episodes.
• The use of Doctor Who by religious organisations.
• Religion in audio adventures, comic books and video games.
• Canonicity and Doctor Who as a surrogate religion.
• Doctor Who as a tool for theological reflection.
• Using Doctor Who to teach Religious Studies.Abstracts should be 300 words in length, and include a short biography of the author. Abstracts should be sent to DrWhoReligion@gmail.com. Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 20th April 2012.
The full Call For Papers can be found at Patheos.com.
Rao has seen this on the Comics Scholars List, the UPenn CFP site, and the H-Net site, but here it is from organizer A. David Lewis’s own blog:
Call for Papers: On the Scholarship of Religion and Comic Books
Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association
April 11-14, 2012
Boston, MAArea: Religion & Culture, Comics & Comic Art (joint session)
Moderator: A. David Lewis (Boston University)Overview: The last half-dozen years have seen an explosion in U.S. publications addressing the intersection of religion and comics, but little has been said on the body of work taken as a whole. Outside of individual reviews, rarely are these works discussed in terms of their applications, their intertextuality, their audiences, their shortcomings, or the new questions they raise. This panel is to act as a forum addressing either portions of these works, entire books, their shared space, or the next steps to which they may all lead. In addition to the print publications recommended below, this panel also invites reflections on some of the websites and blogs conducting similar work, also listed:
Books: Superheroes: Religion and Popular Culture (2005), Up, Up, and Oy Vey (2006), Our Gods Wear Spandex (2007), Superheroes and Gods: A Comparative Study from Babylonia to Batman (2007), Disguised as Clark Kent (2007), Holy Superheroes! Revised and Expanded Edition (2008), From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (2008), The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches (2008), Jews and American Comics (2008), India’s Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes (2009), Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (2010), Supergods (2011), The Seven Spiritual Laws of the Superhero (2011), Do the Gods Wear Capes? (2011)
Online: ComicAttack.net “Comics Are My Religion” columns, ComicBookBin.com “Religion and Comics” columns, By Rao! Religion and Religion site, Jewish Comicsblog, Faith in Four Colors site
Other English-language, U.S. market pieces of scholarship may be considered, but the focus should remain on already-produced analysis, not on works-in-progress nor on the comics themselves. Submissions should be thoughtful reflections on how these pieces function, what opportunities they present, where they may fail, and what has been overlooked.
Abstracts of 100-250 words, a C.V., and brief bio are due by December 1 to ADL at bu dot edu for consideration.
Additional titles for consideration might include Jeffrey John Kripal’s Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred or interviews by The Gnostic with Alan Moore, perhaps.
