Academic conferences

The discussions in our class this semester, and the papers y'all will be writing, are echoed in the discussions and papers that are presented at various academic conferences devoted to science fiction and fantasy.

A major such annual event is the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, held each March in Florida. The draft program of the upcoming ICFA has been posted here; click Conference Info in the left-hand column, then scroll down to click The Online Program. A glance through the paper titles reveals some items of obvious relevance to our syllabus, for example "Time for Gaiman: The Overlap of Temporalities in The Graveyard Book and Other Fictions" by Scott Vander Ploeg and "The 19th-Century Foundations of the Discworld; or, More Than You Needed To Know About Granny Weatherwax's Knickers" by Stacie Hanes.

One of this year's ICFA presenters, Kathryn Opal Nicholson, is one of my former University of Alabama students, now a graduate student at Hollins University in Virginia. Paper submissions from graduates and undergraduates are welcome at these conferences, and I encourage all of you to consider turning the papers you write this semester into conference submissions. (Usually only a short summary of, say, 300 words is required.) The University of Alabama has grant money to help pay students' way to such events, especially if they're on the program, and presenting at a national or international conference in any field is an excellent resume item no matter your major and no matter whether you plan to go on to graduate school at any point.

Note that this year's Science Fiction Research Association conference, which is interested in fantasy as well, is in nearby Atlanta, and the deadline for submissions isn't until April 1. Here's the info.

The deadline for the academic track at this year's World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal is nearly upon us, but it's worth mentioning because Neil Gaiman, prominent on our syllabus, is this year's Guest of Honor. Here's that call for submissions.