The growing area of (Auto)Mobility and Road Culture focuses on the cultural significance of motorized transport (cars, motorcycles, scooters, or buses) and roads, ranging from the study of road stories in all forms of media (videogames, films, TV, fiction) to the role of car culture in identity formation to transportation politics and urban history. Join us on Route 66 for vibrant, interdisciplinary investigations of the ongoing popularity of narratives of autonomy and mobility, emerging pedagogy in this area, new methodologies for studying road and map histories, and the impact of digital tools on road stories, images, travel, networking, and scholarship. Our goal is to leave the conference with an anthology project in hand. Albuquerque is centrally located and inexpensive. SWTX welcomes scholars at all levels. Graduate students are especially encouraged and will be assisted in accessing any and all award opportunities the conference and/or associations provide.

• road films, fiction, videogames
• lowriders, hot rods, custom cars and racial or ethnic identity OR car or biker clubs
• Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and/or Beat or post-Beat
• genre theory
• “intermediary theory” – how do road stories “travel” or transfer from one medium to another?
• histories of roads, routes, highways, and traffic
• geocaching, GPS, Google Maps and auto/mobility
• traffic or mayhem
• drivers as citizens or Others

Paper or panel proposals by 12/15 – email 300-word abstracts, short bio.