We invite panel and individual-paper proposals for the Alternative Visions: Trash/Cult/Experimental/Avant-Garde/Extreme Cinema and Television Conference, to be held at Plymouth State University (Plymouth, New Hampshire) April 11-12, 2008. The members of the conference committee are seeking contributions that examine noteworthy non-, counter-, and/or anti-mainstream cinematic and televisual artifacts from the birth of film and television to the present, and from any area across the globe. Participants are encouraged to interpret the conference theme broadly and innovatively. Individual presentations will be limited to 20 minutes in length. We also invite innovative examples of such offerings for screening and discussion at this conference.

We encourage submissions from scholars, educators, students, and filmmakers/videographers at all levels, and from disciplines including anthropology, communication, cultural studies, film studies, history, journalism, LGBT studies, media studies, popular culture, sociology, and television studies. We intend to publish selected papers (with author’s permission) in a special anthology pertaining to the conference theme. As a bonus, please note that the conference dates allow presenters to take advantage of a much-needed weekend getaway before the end-of-semester “insanity” kicks in!

Persons submitting individual-paper or screening proposals are asked to submit a one-page abstract/description of project with complete contact information (name, institutional affiliation, mail and e-mail addresses, daytime telephone number). Panel proposals (featuring three paper-presentations total) should include panel title, brief description of panel theme, name of the panel chair, one-page abstracts of each paper in the panel, and complete contact information for each presenter on the panel (name, institutional affiliation, mail and e-mail addresses, daytime telephone number). In order to be considered, all proposals must be received no later than November 2, 2007.

Please mail or e-mail conference proposals to: Alternative Visions Conference, Attn: Kylo-Patrick Hart, Department of Communication and Media Studies, Plymouth State University, 17 High Street, MSC 60, Plymouth, NH 03264; krhart@plymouth.edu

For specific inquiries prior to submitting a proposal, please contact Kylo-Patrick Hart at (603) 535-3122 or krhart@plymouth.edu