Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations
Conference, February 8-11, 2012, Albuquerque, NM
Conference website: http://swtxpca.org
Conference hotel: Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center
300 Tijeras Ave NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102 USA

Presentation abstracts and panel proposals are now being accepted for the Satire Area. Satire is one of the most effective ways to call attention to social issues and to establish commentary on them. This area will examine the role of satire in popular culture, including (but not limited to) the issues, events, and people targeted by current satire, the techniques used by satirists, and the various effects that this kind of social commentary has on its audience. Presentations may focus on television, literature, film, radio, live performance, internet sources, and more.

Primary sources might include
• Selected episodes and/or segments of South Park, The Boondocks, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, and others, including a great many from Cartoon Network’s late-night specialty lineup, Adult Swim.
• Selected literature of writers such as Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Flannery O’Connor, Tom Robbins, Mark Twain, Jonathan Swift, and others.
• Selected films and/or segments of films such as Brazil (1985), Fight Club (1999), Team America: World Police (2004), and others.
• Selected radio broadcasts, live performances, online videos, blogs, cartoons, and more.

Suggested discussion topics might include politics and government, religion, ethics and morality, censorship, race and ethnicity, gender, corporate America, consumerism, current events, political correctness, and many more.

We would like to encourage presenters to draw a clear distinction between satire and other modes of humor, such as parody. This distinction will help create discussion and debate this year and in the future, while maintaining the standard for our area. Remember to allow each work to stand on its own as satire, rather than grouping an entire body of work together.

***Submit paper abstracts of 250 words and/or panel proposals no later than 1 December 2011 to the conference database:
http://conference2012.swtxpca.org (preferred) or as an email with the subject line “Satire Abstract: [Your Topic]” or “Satire Panel: [Your Topic]” to:
Alana Hatley, Satire Area Chair
hatleyad@nsuok.edu
P.O. Box 160
Fort Gibson, OK 74434