Edited by Michele Byers and Val Johnson, Saint Mary’s University

The editors are currently seeking proposals and contributions for an edited collection of essays on the three C.S.I. series currently airing: C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-), C.S.I.: Miami (2002-), and C.S.I.: N.Y. (2004-).

In the August 2004 issue of Time, Lennard, Lofara, and Novack write: “CSI, because of its popularity and fecundity, is the most dramatic new influence on a justice system that has always been affected by books, movies, and TV.” The intention of the editors is to produce a volume that critically interrogates the hugely popular C.S.I. phenomenon. In a time when reality-TV is dominating the televisual landscape, C.S.I. has remained the top rated scripted series on TV, spawning two franchises in four years. The first four seasons of the original series, and the first two of the Miami spin-off, have already been released on DVD; the original series is already widely syndicated. And yet, there has been surprisingly little critical interrogation of the series outside of the mainstream press.

The proposed volume will be aimed at an educated, though not necessarily an exclusively academic or highly specialized audience. We intend to include a wide variety of subjects and styles; however, we are most interested in those works that engage with the series from critical perspectives. The following list represents a starting point, but in no way the limit of subjects that could be tackled in this book:

• Conceptions of crime on CSI
• Representations of law, the courts, forensics, and the police on CSI
• Violence, gore, terror, and gorenography
• Representations of death on CSI
• CSI, the “risk society” and risk management
• CSI and political economy
• Cultures of crime and ambient fear
• CSI as a neoliberal universe
• Studies of individual or groups of characters and/or actors
• Studies of individual types of offenses
• The series writers and/or producers, and its history
• Interrogations of gender, racialization, class, age, and sexuality on CSI
• Representations of criminals and/or victims on CSI
• Bodyscapes and interiors on CSI
• Technological fantasies
• Retribution and forgiveness
• Comparisons of CSI and Reality-TV
• Stories “ripped from the headlines”
• The “CSI Effect,” or the series’ impact on the criminal justice system
• Comparisons of CSI and other Crime TV
• CSI audiences, including transnational audiences
• Representations of the work and workplace relationships on CSI
• Realism and authenticity on CSI
• Representations of spaces and cities on CSI
• Comparisons of the three CSI series
• Power on CSI (as in Foucauldian conceptions of power)
• Civil rights, human rights, ethics, and social justice on CSI
• Religion and spirituality on CSI
• Expertise on CSI
• Discourses of nation and nationalism on CSI
• CSI’s Canadian connection
• Politics on CSI
• Family, youth and/or children on CSI
• Music(scapes) on CSI

Proposals are sought ASAP but will be accepted until June 1st, 2005. Please send your inquiries, complete submissions, or a proposal of no more than 750 words as an email attachment (.doc or .rtf) to both of the e-mail addresses provided below. Please include a short biography with your proposal. Essays chosen for final consideration must be completed by October 1st, 2005.