Edited by Michelle Lang and Amy Bauer

The ABC series Lost may be the most ambitious television series ever mounted; its multiple, intertwining plots, numerous mysteries, large and talented cast, high production values, and unprecedented shifts in tone and structure surprise and delight viewers unaccustomed to find such complexity in television drama. The announcement of a definitive end date for Lost has only increased interest in the series, which seems poised to complete its novel-like arc and bring its many complex stories to closure in 2010.

Several blogs and popular texts have been devoted to Lost, but other than select conference papers and publications, and the internet journal Lost Online Studies, there has there has been as yet little academic attention paid to the series. Lost in Thought seeks to bring together scholarly articles from a wide range of disciplines, featuring a variety of critical approaches. We particularly welcome papers that treat Lost as text, comparative studies that consider Lost in light of its sociological or cultural importance, and interdisciplinary studies which appraise Lost through one of the many intertextual avenues explored by the series.

Possible areas of interest might include, but are not limited to:

- philosophical, religious, sociological, anthropological, psychological, political, historical, geographic or scientific themes
- modernism and/or postmodernism
- archeology, art history, or classics referenced in Lost
- Lost as science fiction or fantasy
- art production, editing, lighting, music, acting, casting, direction
- qualitative or quantitative reception studies
- fan culture - development , influence

Please contact Michelle Lang (mianlang@live.com) for more information or to discuss possible submissions.

Submission guidelines:
1.Deadline for abstracts (100-300 words) and brief biographical statement with contact information: September 15, 2008

2.Anticipated deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: January 15, 2009

Please submit by email (in the text or a Word attachment) to both: Michelle Lang (mianlang@live.com) and Amy Bauer (drabauer@gmail.com).

Michelle Lang
Assistant Professor of Art History
315 Fine Arts Building
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Kearney, NE 68845

Amy Bauer
Assistant Professor of Music Theory
313 Music and Media Building
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697