CFP: Tolkien Studies Area, PCA
Now Accepting Proposals until Dec. 15
Tolkien Studies Area (TSA), Popular Culture Association (PCA) Annual Conference
March 27-30, 2024, Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile
The Tolkien Studies Area (TSA) welcomes proposals in any area of Tolkien studies including, but not limited to, the topics listed below. Academics, independent scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students are invited to submit individual paper proposals, paper session proposals, and/or roundtable proposals. Presenters may present one paper and participate in one roundtable session.
All PCA sessions are scheduled in 1.5-hour slots. Paper sessions consist of four presenters, each speaking for fifteen minutes, followed by a group Q&A.
Roundtables are informal interactive discussions between five to seven participants and the audience. A roundtable focuses on a timely topic and are designed to raise questions and brainstorm for future scholarship. If you have an idea for a special topic for an academic journal issue or for an anthology, email Robin to find out how to organize a paper session or roundtable on the topic!
For individual paper proposals, please submit contact information (name, institutional affiliation [or "independent scholar"], e-mail address, and telephone number), your presentation's title, and a 500-word proposal describing your topic, chosen theory, methodology, argument, and its relevance to current scholarship.
For a paper session proposal, please submit your contact information, all the presenters' contact information, and a 100–300-word proposal for the session. All participants for your proposed paper session or roundtable must register for the conference and submit their individual proposals through the PCA database so they can be added to the paper session.
If you wish to organize a roundtable, please contact me directly at robinareid@fastmail.com. Only Area Chairs or PCA Admins can enter roundtables into the PCA database. Please note that the TSA can schedule only two roundtables; however, there are no limits on the number of paper sessions we can present!
We welcome scholars in all period specializations, from all disciplines, using any critical theory. We encourage interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary as well as collaborative work. The TSA defines "Tolkien studies" as including, but not limited to, Tolkien's Legendarium; adaptations, transformative works, and translations; cultural studies; critical race studies; digital and new media studies; fan and reception studies; feminist, gender, and queer studies; literary studies; medieval and medievalist studies; media and marketing; religious studies; source studies; tourism studies; and translation studies.
Possible Topics
Adaptation & Translation Studies
Games, Films, or Amazon's The Rings of Power
Translations of Tolkien's legendarium
Cultural Studies
Academic Tolkien
Class & Tolkien
Gender & Tolkien
Intersectional Tolkien
Queer Tolkiens
Race and Tolkien
Religion & Tolkien
Spirituality & Tolkien
Digital Literary and Humanities Studies
Tolkien corpora
Digitizing Tolkien
Fan and Reception Studies
Fan Archives
Fan Art/Artists
Fans Collecting
Fan Cosplay
Fanfiction
Fan Podcasts
Fan Tourism
Fan Vidding
Pre-Internet Tolkien Fanzines
Tolkien & White Supremacy (then and now)
Literary Studies
Analyzing Tolkien scholarship (by period, theme, or topic)
New Tolkien Publications
Tolkien & Contemporary Fantasy (Ex. N.K. Jemisin, G.R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett)
Tolkien & Genre
Tolkien's Medievalisms
Tolkien & Modernisms
Tolkien & Postmodernisms
Tolkien & Romanticisms
Tolkien & the Victorians
Tolkien & the Sciences
Email robinareid@fastmail.com if you have any questions!