THE COMICS GET MEDIEVAL AT KALAMAZOO: A WORKSHOP ON THE COMICS MEDIUM IN THE MEDIEVAL STUDIES CLASSROOM AND MEDIEVALIST RESEARCH (WORKSHOP)

Sponsored by The Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages Session to be held at the 43rd International Congress of Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI), from 8-11 May 2008
Proposals due by 9/1/07

THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF POPULAR CULTURE AND THE MIDDLE AGES
invites proposals for 10-minute papers on medieval-themed comics to be included in a session to be held at the 43rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, which convenes at Western Michigan University from 8-11 May 2008. In addition, submissions will also be considered for inclusion in an essay collection on the same topic.

Like most forms of modern popular culture, the comics medium makes ample use of medieval themes, though, unlike other medias (such as film), the comics have been largely neglected by medievalists as a venue for research and discussion. The goal of the Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages is to foster communication between medievalists and popular culture research, and the comics are an ideal medium to opening such discussion. As established on The Medieval Comics Project web site, the comics have much to offer to medievalists interested in studying popular representations of the Middle Ages, as the corpus has appropriated a wide variety of medieval themes, including historical figure and events, literary and mythological texts, adaptations of post-medieval texts set in the Middle Ages, and establishing new visions of the medieval in both medieval and post-medieval settings.

The primary purpose of this workshop is to continue the work begun at the various "The Comics Get Medieval" sessions held annually at the Joint Conferences of the National Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, and we offer this workshop as a means to introducing the rich corpus of medieval-themed comics to an audience already receptive to using medievalisms in their teaching and research. At present, it is expected that the workshop will consist of an information session devoted to the following topics: introducing the comics medium, introducing medieval-themed comics, and finding and cataloging comics. The remaining time will serve as an open forum related to teaching and researching this material.

Please submit abstracts of 500 to 1000 words to the organizing committee at the following address; please also submit a completed abstract cover sheet (found at ) with your proposal.

Michael A. Torregrossa
34 2nd St
Smithfield, RI 02917-3627
Popular.Culture.and.the.Middle.Ages-at-gmail.com
http://PopularCultureandtheMiddleAges.org