*CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS*

to the QUICK: issue #4 : 2001
the journal magazine of media and cultural studies at Binghamton University

Who says "academic" writing can’t be exciting?

CONTENT

We want essays, articles, and columns (or proposals outlining such projects) that perform thematic, theoretical, and cultural analyses of media arts like TV shows, films, music, or cultural movements and issues as diverse as you can possibly imagine.

…Artificial intelligence, Audio verite, Bob Flanagan, Church of the Subgenius, Computer languages, Corporate postmodernism, Cut-ups, Duplication and the history of "copy", Edward Gorey, E-mail forwards…

These media forms have in the past been dismissed as unimportant cultural markers when measured against the mass of "literary" studies. to the QUICK continues the work of media literacy and cultural studies programs by drawing attention to the meaning existent in all discussions and arts. We also take the notion of "interdisciplinary" to heart, believing that each discipline is another way of reading the world and yet is part of a very similar critical attitude.

…Failed soft drinks, Fertility drugs, Foreign language acquisition in the schools, Holocaust revisionist rhetoric, Hot-air ballooning, Internet chat rooms, Kissing, Kitchen gadgetry, Marginalia, Monster Trucks (that turn into giant robots), NAFTA, New anarchisms, Phish heads, Police reality shows, Psychic "friends"…

to the QUICK therefore takes the stance that writing across disciplines—through carefully contextualized writing—can say informative and fascinating things even to readers outside of that field.

STYLE

If not already implicit, you should make clear how your analysis is culturally relevant, what issues your reading is bringing up. The less the subject is popular or well-known, the greater the need to point out this cultural relevancy rather than relying on the weight of a theoretical framework.

…Rosie/Oprah/Kathy Lee products, Side effects, Snuff films, Thinking the "spork," Two-term presidents, Video morphing, What Would Jesus Do?, Water in the 21st century and you get the idea already!!

It is not necessary that essays implement critical theory. However, theory is a way of reading the world and can be useful and exciting. Essays should still avoid one of the pitfalls of academic writing: the dropping of esoteric terms or phrases without context. Careful emphasis should be placed on the relevancy of allusions and terminology; the reader should not have to wallow through a dense litter of meaningless prose.

QUICKTIPS

• Be sure to describe the subject in such a way that the reader does not have to know the subject in order to appreciate your point. Present your context!
• TTQ does not publish film or music reviews.
• If your essay exceeds our word limit, please "cut" it yourself!

SUBMIT

Essays and articles: 4500 words maximum
Columns: 250 - 1750 words
Book reviews: 500 - 1000 words

Deadline: TTQ does read unsolicited submission but encourages queries. Deadline for queries with 200-250 word abstracts is September 20. Deadline for all articles is October 9, 2000. Queries recommended for book reviews. Indicate word count for all text w/endnotes. Also indicate if piece has been truncated. Please observe Chicago Manual Style and put all parenthetical information into endnotes, with no Works Cited. If you have access to and permission for related photos or images, please indicate. Your article will be given a careful peer-review.

We are also interested in reprinting pieces published elsewhere. TTQ needs pieces for our columns: The Obligatory Old Book Review takes an "old" book, author, or theorist and presents an original argument as to how and why the author’s ideas still apply to or are reflected in today’s society; The Rewrite Department uses experimental non-fiction to comment on contemporary cultural issues; and Slipstream picks out an event of cultural significance from the contributor’s life, describing and analyzing it in a memoir-like, creative style. For examples of these, peruse our journal magazine on-line at www.agoron.com/~matthewk/quick. The web site also contains a variety of other useful tips and information.

Issue #3, available in August, as well as Issue #2 (Fall 1999) may be ordered by mailing a check (payable to "Joe Bisz," our Managing Editor) for $5.00 each plus $1.18 shipping to our address below. Issues #2 and #3 may be purchased together for only $7.50 plus $1.18 shipping. Issue #3 will feature essays on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," images of slavery at historical sites, "Happy Days" and the Carter years, house porches, and much more. Issue #2 featured analyses of IKEA, "Xena: Warrior Princess," Tupac Shakur, record sampling and more.

For instructors:

TTQ's interdisciplinary and contextualized writing style combined with related photos and images makes it an amazing tool for teaching cultural studies and critical thinking. Please email us for prices and ordering information (instructors receive a free one-year subscription). To see if TTQ is right for your class, send us payment for a sample copy; if you don’t like it, return it and we’ll refund your payment. Our web site also has full subject lists for each issue.

Electronic submissions are preferred in RTF, Word, or WordPerfect format but you may also mail manuscripts to:

to the QUICK
English Department
PO Box 6000
Binghamton University
Binghamton, New York 13902

Include a SASE or email address for our reply. to the QUICK takes FNA print and electronic rights for all text published.

(You can receive the latest contributor’s info automatically by joining the TTQ announcement list. Send an email to listserv@listserv.binghamton.edu with a message in the email (not the subject line) saying SUBSCRIBE TTQ FIRSTNAME LASTNAME where "FIRSTNAME" and "LASTNAME" are replaced by your first and last names.)