CFP: Queer Film and Television, Film and History Conference

CFP: Film and History Conference, “Journeys, Detours, Breakdowns”
The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club, Madison, WI (USA)
November 5-8, 2015

In Making Things Perfectly Queer, Alexander Doty argues that queerness is a “reception practice that is shared by all sorts of people in varying degrees of consistency and intensity” including those who do not traditionally identify as queer.  Doty’s understanding of queerness seems at odds with other definitions of the term that position it as detour or breakdown: in opposition to normativity; without futurity; sideways.  In order to study queer film and television, we must begin by acknowledging that the term queer itself has had many journeys, detours, and breakdowns.

The organizers invite 20-minute papers that investigate queer film and television through the conference theme of “Journeys, Detours, and Breakdowns.”  Possible paper topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Conflicting representations of LGBT+/queer identities within queer film/TV or mainstream media
  • Depictions of political struggles for equality and acceptance in film/TV
  • Coming out journeys
  • Industrial practices that impede or encourage the development of queer films, film festivals, television series, and television networks
  • Reception and audience practices that disrupt or alter intended meanings of film/TV

Proposals for complete panels (three related presentations) are also welcome, but they must include an abstract and contact information, including an e-mail address, for each presenter. For updates and registration information about the upcoming meeting, visit http://filmandhistory.org/conference/2015/CFP/Queer_Film.php

Please e-mail your 200-word proposal by June 1, 2015, to the area chair:
Bridget Kies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
bkies@uwm.edu