Category Archives: events

academic, events

CFP: Comics, Religion & Politics

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. 

academic, events

CFP: On the Scholarship of Religion and Comics

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, MA

Area: 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.