Deadline to submit proposals: Nov 16, 2006

About the conference:
The Food and Culture Area of the SW/TX PCA/ACA Conference offers food researchers a unique opportunity to present their work in a small setting within a much larger conference (the SW/TX is the largest of the PCA/ACA conferences). The Food and Culture panels run over 2-3 days and do not overlap; as a result participants are able to attend all the Food and Culture area presentations and meaningfully dialogue about their work. The conference also works as a de facto research group--new and established scholars often use this conference as an informal space from which to present works-in-progress and ask for feedback. We are also an international group—in the past attendees have represented a wide range of geographic regions, including the American Southwest, the continental U.S., Canada, and México, Australia, Europe, and Africa.

What we talk about:
We invite submissions of individual papers, panels, or roundtable discussions focused on advancing our cultural understanding of individuals, communities, and the construction of everyday life through the study of food. Papers and presentations are welcome from any field but must take a cultural perspective. Topics could include (but are not limited to):

• Discussions of regional foods and foodways (both American and international)
• Food studies methodologies and philosophies
• Analyses of foodways based on race, gender and/or class
• Food and globalization (i.e. issues related to transnational migration, borderlands)
• Food in popular culture and current events, and/or discussions of modern food fads and restaurant culture
• Cultural critiques of food systems and technologies

How to submit:
Proposal Deadline: Nov 16, 2006

For consideration, please send the following information to Melissa Salazar mlsalazar@ucdavis.edu in a Word document (attached to your email):

1. Abstract of 350- 500 words. Include your conceptual orientation and significance for cultural food research.
2. Format (individual paper, panel (of 4-5 individual papers around central theme), roundtable discussion). If submitting a group proposal, please include individual paper titles and presenters.
3. Presenter(s) name(s) as well as university position and affiliation
4. Contact information including email, phone no, and mailing address