Call for Papers
CULTURAL HERITAGE INSTITUTIONS
Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)
45th Annual Conference, February 21-24, 2024
Marriott Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
http://www.southwestpca.org
Submissions open on September 1, 2023
Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2023
Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 45th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation's largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/
The Cultural Heritage Institutions area solicits proposals from librarians, archivists, curators, graduate students, faculty, collectors, writers, independent scholars, and other aficionados (yes! including people who use libraries, archives, and museums!) of popular culture and cultural heritage settings of all types. We also encourage proposals for slide shows, video presentations, panels, and roundtables organized around common themes.
Some suggested topics include:
- Histories and profiles of popular culture resources and collections in cultural heritage institutions; a chance to show off what you've got to scholars who might want to use it
- Intellectual freedom or cultural sensitivity issues related to popular culture resources
- Book clubs and reading groups, city- or campus-wide reading programs
- Special exhibits of popular culture resources, outreach programs, etc. of cultural heritage institutions
- Collection and organization of popular culture resources; marketing and ethical issues
- Web 2.0, gaming, semantic web, etc. and their impact on libraries, archives, museums, and digital humanities collections
- The role of public libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions in economic hard times and natural disasters
- Oral history projects
- Digital humanities and other digital/data-based projects on popular culture, the Southwest, and other relevant subjects, both those based in cultural heritage institutions and those in academia or other organizations.
We encourage proposals for panels and roundtables organized around common themes.
All proposals must be submitted through the conference's database at http://register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca
For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Proposal Submission FAQs and Tips page at http://southwestpca.org/conference/faqs-and-tips/
Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.
For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs and Tips page.
The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2023.
SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2024. SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students. For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/
Registration and travel information for the conference will be available at http://southwestpca.org/conference/conference-registration-information/
For 2023, we are excited to be at a new venue, the Marriott Albuquerque (2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110), which boasts free parking and close proximity to dining, shopping, and other delights.
In addition, please check out the organization's peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org/
If you have any questions about the Cultural Heritage Institutions area, please contact its Area Chair, Suzanne Stauffer, Louisiana State University, stauffer@lsu.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@southwestpca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.
This will be a fully in-person conference. If you're looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2024 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2024. However, do keep in mind that the Summer Salon is a smaller conference with limited presentation slots and no student funding assistance.
We look forward to receiving your submissions!