CFP: Days of Future Past: Shifting Histories and Possible Tomorrows

Conference
Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Comics
Virtual format
May 19-20, 2022
Stichtag: 2022 01 31

The Canadian Society for the Study of Comics invites proposals for presentations and pre
constituted roundtables on any and all aspects of comics, broadly conceived. “Comics” can refer to comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, visual poetry, and other types of graphic
narratives. We are also open to proposals that consider adaptations of comics into other media. This year’s conference will be held in a virtual format on Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20, 2022, as part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences*.

This year’s theme will be Days of Future Past: Shifting Histories and Possible Tomorrows.
We are especially interested in proposals that examine how suppressed accounts and radical visions can challenge colonial historical narratives. This could apply to analysis of comics that depict alternative histories and utopian futures. Alternatively, proposals could also apply a critical historicist lens to challenge patriarchal accounts of the comics industry’s past and development. We are also interested in proposals that examine the future prospects and material conditions of comics production. Potential topics for proposals include the following:

Decolonial futurist visions in comics (Afrofuturism, Indigenous Futurisms)
The future of labour and publishing in comics

Direct action in/through comics and graphic narratives

Comics in the age of Capitalist Realism

Critical reexaminations of historical narratives of the comics industry

The role of comics in the preservation of Indigenous cultures, histories, languages, and traditions

The figure of the cyborg and other liminal beings and spaces in graphic novels

The politics of race and gender in time travel narratives

Online Format
In order to fully leverage the online platform, we invite proposals for papers delivered in a variety of formats, including synchronous presentations and asynchronous recordings/materials. To this end, we will accept proposals for research presented in any of the following formats:


Synchronous live presentations (15 minutes)

Asynchronous presentation options:
Video presentations (10 15 minutes)
Written blog articles with images (2000 3000 words)
Annotated slides (10 15 slides)
Graphic essays (posters, comics, infographics, Instagram posts)

Twitter essays (10+ posts w/ images)

Asynchronous presenters will be asked to make brief summary statements (5 minutes) during their panels and the remaining time will be allocated to the discussion period.

Submission process
To submit an application to present an individual paper at the CSSC/SCEBD 2021 Conference, please fill out
this form, including a 500 700word proposal, as well as a 250word abstract suitable for a general audience.

To submit a proposal for a panel or roundtable session that you would like to help organize,
please complete
this form.

All submissions are due by midnight on Monday, January 31. All conference participants must be members in good standing of the CSSC/SCEBD.

As a member of the Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the CSSC/SCEBD is
able to nominate one graduate student for the new Congress Graduate Merit Award. If you are enrolled in a Master’s or Doctoral program at a Canadian postsecondary institution, please indicate you would like to be considered for this $500 prize on the form.


About the CSSC/SCEBD

The CSSC/SCEBD is a national, bilingual scholarly association that promotes the academic
study of comics. Founded in 2010, the CSSC/SCEBD is a venue for Canadian and international scholars to discuss all aspects of comics as an art form and cultural phenomenon. For more information about the CSSC/SCEBD, please see our website:
comicsscholars.com.

* Update regarding the CSSC/SCEBD’s relationship with Congress

The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is an annual umbrella meeting for over
seventy Canadian scholarly associations. The CSSC/SCEBD is currently assessing its
relationship with Congress, pending investigation by our Equity and AntiRacism Committee. As such, our organization’s participation in Congress 2022 will not be confirmed until March 2022.
Presenters accepted to the conference will be given detailed instructions regarding when and how to register. For more information regarding our evolving relationship with Congress, please consult the Equity and AntiRacism Committee’s initial report.