Tag Archives: academic programming

Call for Academic Papers! (Deadline Extended)

Wiscon approaches! The deadline for submission of proposals for Wiscon’s academic track has been extended to March 15th.  We welcome a wide variety of passionate, thoughtful voices about the genres that bring us joy, hope, enlightenment, and reflection about the complex worlds of which we are all part.
Given our current political moment, we invite papers and panels that explore themes echoing the American Studies Association’s 2022 Annual Meeting, “The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire” as well as the National Women’s Studies Association’s 2021 Annual Conference: “killing rage: resistance on the other side of freedom”. With these themes in mind, we encourage proposals to consider science fiction as a site of connection, survival, and protest. For example, how can feminist speculative fiction help us fight for a more just world? What lessons can be learned from Indigenous, Black, POC, and diasporic speculative fiction, to advance decolonial and anti-racist change? How can we use speculative fiction genres to respond to the threats of white supremacy, dispossession, militarization, and extractive capitalism? How might speculative fiction help us come together amidst collapsing structures to enable better futures?
These themes offer opportunity both for work that deals specifically with social and cultural questions about the radical politics of futures as they relate to feminist speculative fiction and for work on the histories and dream making of freedom-oriented fan communities.

Further, we invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability with speculative fiction—broadly defined—in literature, media, and culture. We encourage contributions that emphasize WisCon’s focus on how speculative fiction has played an important role in the exploration and creation of socially just futures: futures where people of all colors and backgrounds flourish, where women’s rights and women’s contributions are valued, where gender is not limited to one of two options, where no one is erased out of convenience, hidden by discrimination, or experiences bigotry.

WisCONline: Programming & Events

Just as with in-person WisCon conventions, WisCon 44 will feature a variety of different programming types and events. This page gives information on how to access and participate in our various event types.

For the full schedule of programming during WisCon 44, see the full schedule grid or the list of program items with full descriptions.

Most video content for WisCONline will be available via YouTube. Links to YouTube streams and videos will be sent by email to all registered members, as well as posted to the WisCon Discord server. If you are registered and don’t receive the links, check your spam folder! If you still can’t find them, contact onlinecon@wiscon.net.

Panels

Live Panels will be streamed to the WisCon YouTube channel, but the panel itself will take place via private videoconference using the platform Jitsi; this video conference. (Each Jitsi room will also include a technical producer and someone providing captions, in case you’re wondering why there seem to be two silent participants on each panel!)

For each panel there will also be a dedicated channel on the WisCon Discord server (identified by the official panel hashtag). Discord will be the only forum in which you can ask questions during live panels; both comments and live chat on the YouTube streams have been disabled.

The Discord channel for each panel will be a space for parallel audience discussion, as well as a space to ask questions and submit comments. There will be an Online Chat Moderator who will relay questions from the Discord channel to the panel’s technical producer. The panel-specific channels will open for discussion shortly before the panel begins; the Online Chat Moderator will announce when questions and comments for the panel are open. If a stream fails or is unavailable, the panelists will congregate in the Discord channel for a live discussion in the chat.

After the panel livestream ends, we hope conversations will continue in text on the Discord server! Panelist are likely to join this discussion as well (assuming they weren’t already on Discord during the scheduled panel).

If you aren’t able to attend the panel at the scheduled time (or if you want to re-watch any of a panel that you did view live), it will be available to view on the WisCon YouTube channel until the end of the convention weekend (11:59 PM Central Time, Monday May 25).

For more information on audience participation in live panels, see our WisCon Guide to Discord.

Academic and Readings

Academic Programming and Readings at WisCon 44 will also be streamed on YouTube, but instead of streaming live they have all been pre-recorded. As with live panels, there will be dedicated discussion channels on Discord; presenters and authors will be available during the scheduled time for their presentation for live discussion and questions.

As with panels, these items will remain available to view until the end of the convention weekend (11:59 PM Central Time, Monday May 25).

Gaming

A number of Games have been scheduled for WisCONline. Details of the games available can be found in the convention program grid; signups will take place via the #sign-ups-and-troubleshooting channel on the WisCon Discord.

Virtual Reception (Thursday)
Opening Ceremonies (Friday)
& GOH Speech (Sunday)

Like Panels, Academic programming, and Readings, these events will all be available to watch via the WisCon YouTube channel. Links will be sent out by email to all registered members, as well as posted to Discord.

Gathering (Friday)

The Gathering at an in-person WisCon is an event at the beginning of the convention, where WisCon members come together in the hotel ballroom for a number of in-person activities.

For the online convention, a virtual Gathering will take place on Discord immediately after the Opening Ceremonies, across a number of activity-themed channels. Stop by to explore the Discord server and check in with both new and old WisCon friends!

If this is your first WisCon, check out the #first-time-at-wiscon channel on Discord during the Gathering to help get you oriented!

Otherwise Auction (Saturday)

The Otherwise Auction will take place online this year, hosted by auctioneer Sumana Harihareswara and live-captioned via CART. The auction will be streamed via YouTube, and you’ll be able to bid and converse using the live Discord chat.  Donations to WisCon can be made here. Content warning: a few jokes about the pandemic (facemasks & distancing).

The format of the auction will be slightly different this year. The Otherwise Motherboard has decided to use pass-the-hat challenges this year to raise money for the Carl Brandon Society and for WisCon, instead of raising money for Otherwise. For more information on the items available for auction, and the auction format, visit the Otherwise Award website.

Vid Party (Friday)

Details to be announced Friday!

Floomp Dance Party (Saturday)

The theme for this year’s Floomp dance party is ROBOTS, and it’s taking place this year in an all-new virtual format! It will take place across two virtual rooms: the Dance Floor and the Chill Space. Room links will be posted to the #floomp channel on the WisCon Discord server. There will be DJ sets streamed to YouTube during the party (links posted to #floomp), as well as a VJ set streamed for the duration of the party. For more information, see the public information sheet on Google Docs.

Spontaneous Programming + Meetups

What makes WisCon is its members. We hope that you will all find other ways to create spaces for discussion and community during the convention. The #meetups channel on the WisCon Discord is available to post invitations and notices for discussions on other platforms, whether these are purely social or are for spontaneous panels or roundtables. If you would like to set up a video call you are welcome to use any platform, but we have instructions on setting up a private room on Jitsi (the open-source and secure video conferencing system we are using for live panels at WisCONline).

There will be a Spontaneous Programming schedule posted as a Google Spreadsheet, linked on Discord, where you’re invited to share your plans for spontaneous panels, roundtables, or other events. You can use the channel #spontaneity to announce Spontaneous Programming items.

Safer Spaces

When we meet in person, WisCon maintains a designated space at the convention for people of color to dialogue freely and openly, known as the Safer Space for People of Color. In recent years it has been joined by two more safer spaces, one for people with disabilities, and one for trans and genderqueer members.

During the virtual WisCONline convention, we can’t replicate these physically closed spaces, but each Safer Space is developing plans for virtual alternatives and the Safer Spaces may run programming accessible only to their members.

For more information you can contact the Safer Spaces coordinators directly:

For more information about any of our programming items or events, you can contact the relevant WisCon department. For general inquiries about the online platforms and infrastructure, contact onlinecon@wiscon.net

How To Get A Captions File For Your Video

When you upload a video for WisCONline, you’ll also be asked for a plain text file that has a script for what’s being said in the video (either with or without timings).

This is a choose your own adventure! Depending on how much time you have, there are a few different approaches you can use:

Scenario A: You recorded a video, but you don’t have a script that you spoke from. Go to Section A below!

Scenario B: You recorded a video, and you have a script of approximately what you said, but you don’t have time to help with timings. Go to Section B below!

Scenario C: You recorded a video, you have a script of approximately what you said, and you have some time to try getting captions with timings. Go to Section C below!

You should have received a link to the Google Form for uploading your video and captions/script to WisCONline via an email from a ConCom department (such as Academic Programs, Readings, Online Con) or from the Co-Chairs. If you can’t find that email or aren’t sure which department to contact, please email us at info@wiscon.net .

Section A: Just Video, No Script

If all you have is a video, but you don’t have a script, this is the right place to be. In this section, you’ll be uploading you video to a third-party site or transcribing your own file, getting a set of captions, editing it, and then downloading it to submit to WisCon.
There are three options:
  • Option 1: Use YouTube to get captions
  • Option 2: Use Otter.ai to get captions
  • Option 3: Transcribe your video yourself (or use some other third-party service)

Option 1: Use YouTube to get captions

  • Log into a Google account (or create a new, throwaway Google account). Go to youtube.com. In the upper right, click the Create button, then click Upload videos. Choose your video file.
  • We aren’t actually going to publish this video anywhere. Put something in the Title field (or you can just leave the filename). Click “No, it’s not made for kids.” Click More Options.
  • Under Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC), select your video language.
  • Uncheck “Publish to subscriptions feed and notify subscribers”
  • Under Comments and ratings, choose “Disable comments” and uncheck “Show how many viewers like and dislike this video. Click Next.
  • Click Next.
  • Under “Save or publish”, click Private. Click Save. Your video is saved!
  • At this point, in the background, Google will start automatically transcribing your video. Unfortunately how long it takes depends on a lot of things — try coming back in 30 minutes or an hour (longer depending on the length of your video). You will know it’s ready when, from the Channel Subtitles section, the number of languages from your video goes from 1 to 2.
  • When that happens: click on the drop-down arrow next to the “2” under Languages. You’ll see a line that says “(Automatic)” after the language name. Click on the part of the row that says “Published / Automatic”. This will bring up a subtitles editor.
  • Under the Actions dropdown menu, under Download, click “.srt”. You’ll be prompted to save a file called “captions.srt”. Go ahead and save it. Bingo, there’s the plain text file that we need!
Option 2: Use Otter.ai
  • If you don’t have a Google account or don’t want to create one, you can use a free account on Otter.ai. Go to https://otter.ai/ , click the Sign Up button, and create a new account. You’ll need to verify your email address.
  • Once you have a new account and you’ve signed in, you’ll see a home page that says “Welcome to Otter”. Click “Import audio/video” in the upper right. Select your video file. (If you used OBS and have an mkv file, you’ll need to go back to the last step of that document and get an mp4.) Once upload is complete, click Done.
  • Now you’ll see My Conversations with the name of your file. Click on the name of the file. You can make Edits if you want/have time.
  • In the three dots menu in the upper-right, click “Export text” then choose “TXT”. Click “Continue”. Save the resulting file. That’s what you’ll upload to WisCon in addition to your video.
Option 3: Transcribe what you said yourself
  • If you don’t have a Google account or don’t want to create one, and you don’t want to use Otter or another system, you’ll need to transcribe your audio another way, either just doing it yourself or via some other service that we haven’t used. In any case, make sure to save your script as a plain text (.txt) file, and now you’re ready to upload your video and script.

Scenario B: Video with (Untimed) Script

So you’ve recorded a video, you have a script with approximately what you said, but you don’t have time to help make an actual timed subtitles file. That is Absolutely Okay! ConCom volunteers are available to help.

All you have to do is use the upload form and provide your video file and your script. Ideally, we need your script as a plain text (.txt) file. If you’re working from a PDF or Microsoft Word file, Select All and Copy all text in the file and Paste into a text editor (like Notepad on Windows). Convert the document to plain text and Save.

Scenario C: Video with Script & You Can Help Caption

All right! You’ve got a video, you have a script you used (or you made a transcript of what you said afterwards), and you’ve got enough time to help us out creating a subtitles file (captions + timings). Thank you so much!

Use YouTube to add timings to your script

  • Log into a Google account (or create a new, throwaway Google account). Go to youtube.com. In the upper right, click the Create button, then click Upload videos. Choose your video file.
  • We aren’t actually going to publish this video anywhere. Put something in the Title field (or you can just leave the filename). Click “No, it’s not made for kids.” Click More Options.
  • Under Language, subtitles, and closed captions (CC), select your video language.
  • Uncheck “Publish to subscriptions feed and notify subscribers”
  • Under Comments and ratings, choose “Disable comments” and uncheck “Show how many viewers like and dislike this video. Click Next.
  • Click Next.
  • Under “Save or publish”, click Private. Click Save. Your video is saved!
  • Now, to get the captions added: Make sure you’re in the “Channel videos” screen. Hover over the file you just uploaded, and click the Details button (shaped like a pencil)
  • On the left-hand side, click Subtitles. Then on the right (across from the language you selected earlier), click “Add”. Click “Transcribe and auto-sync”.
  • Copy your script, and paste it into the text box (where it says “Type what’s spoken here”). Don’t worry about trying to play the video.
  • Once your script is in the box, click “Set timings.” At this point, YouTube will start processing your video behind-the-scenes to come up with a set of timings for the captions you provided. You’ll see a page with your video on the left, and on the right you’ll see under My Drafts, the language you selected with “(setting timings)” next to it. If you click the little refresh icon on the right and YT hasn’t finished analyzing, you’ll get an error message; just click Exit.
  • When it’s done, click the first item under My Drafts. Now you’ll see what you had typed in previously. This is a more sophisticated captions editor. You can edit what’s in each caption and use the rectangles over the audio wave file under the video to change how long each subtitle is displayed. You can play the video on the right, and see how the caption timings look or edit as needed. When you’re finished, click Save changes.
  • Now you’ll see a video preview again with a line under “Published”. Click that again to open the editor. Click the “Actions” dropdown menu, and then under Download click “.srt”. You’ll be prompted to save a file called “captions.srt”. Go ahead and save it. This is the timed subtitles file that you should upload to WisCon along with your video file.

Questions about these instructions? Email the Online Con department at onlinecon@wiscon.net .

You should have received a link to the Google Form for uploading your video and captions/script to WisCONline via an email from a ConCom department (such as Academic Programs, Readings, Online Con) or from the Co-Chairs. If you can’t find that email or aren’t sure which department to contact, please email us at info@wiscon.net .

How to Record a Video for WisCONline

If you’re participating in the Academic track, Readings, or other asynchronous content recorded ahead of time (like a speech), we will need you to upload a video file of yourself doing your presentation/reading/etc.

You can use any method you want to record a video file, and we’ll accept any of the file formats that’s accepted by YouTube (like mp4, mov, and avi). If you already know how to record yourself to get a video file, you don’t need to use these instructions — this is just for folks who don’t.

If you have a computer with a webcam and you aren’t sure how to use it to record a video file, here are some instructions that use Open Broadcast Studio (available for Mac/Windows/Linux).

If you would like to use a teleprompter to help you read from your script while being able to look more at the camera, you could try https://teleprompt.me (only works on Chrome-based browsers). It’s voice controlled, so the text will scroll as you talk.

Extended instructions based on https://obsproject.com/wiki/OBS-Studio-Quickstart

  • Install Open Broadcast Studio (obsproject.com). By default, it will try to run the Auto-Configuration wizard. Click “optimize just for recording”, then OK. Click “Apply Settings”.
  • Set up your Audio source: By default, it’s set to capture you default desktop audio and mic. If you aren’t using desktop audio, go ahead and mute it using the speaker button to the left of the settings gear under Desktop Audio. (Muting your desktop audio keeps your computer’s various alert sounds from being accidentally recorded in your video.)
    Under Mic/aux, you should see a sound meter moving back and forth when you use the mic. If it’s not capturing the correct mic, click the Settings gear, click Properties, and then choose a different device from the dropdown. Click OK.
  • Add a video source: click the “+” under Sources . This will be “video capture device” for a camera, or Browser or Window Capture if you want to share your screen.
    • For a webcam, click Video capture device, then click Create New and name it (“Webcam”). Click OK. Make sure the correct device is selected.  For Audio Output mode, you can select which audio you want (if you have a headset you’re using); otherwise if you’re using your webcam mic, leave it alone. Click OK. You should now see a small window in red with your webcam feed. You can resize it to fit the black window.
    • If you resize and there are still black bars — there’s a gap between the video and the canvas size — you’ll have to change the settings on the canvas and the video source to make the resolutions match:
      • Click Settings in the bottom right, then Video, then for Base & Output resolutions, choose a resolution that’s closer to what you expect your webcam to be. Jot that down. Click OK.
      • Double-click your Webcam video source. For Resolution/FPS type, choose Custom. Then select the same resolution you picked for the canvas. If there isn’t one that matches, click the closest one, jot that down, click OK, and then go change the canvas size (as above).
  • Check your output settings: This will change where your video file is stored. Click Settings in the lower-right, then Output. Change the Recording Path if you want. We recommend Recording Quality set to High Quality, Medium File Size. Everything else should be able to stay the same. Click OK.
  • Do a test recording: Click “Start Recording” in the lower-right. Say a few words, then click Stop Recording. Open up the folder from the Recording Path, and you can play back the resulting video. Did your video and audio both record correctly? If not, you may need to adjust your settings for your Sources and Audio Mixer.
  • Convert to mp4: Once you’ve done a recording that you’re happy with, it’s a good idea to convert it to the mp4 format. Click File -> Remux Recordings. Select your recording (ending in .mkv), and you should now see Target File ends in .mp4. Click ‘Remux’. When it’s finished, click Close.

Now that you’ve got your video file, it’s time to make sure you also have a script to submit.

Questions about these instructions? Email the Online Con department at onlinecon@wiscon.net .

You should have received a link to the Google Form for uploading your video to WisCONline via an email from a ConCom department (such as Academic Programs, Readings, Online Con) or from the Co-Chairs. If you can’t find that email or aren’t sure which department to contact, please email us at info@wiscon.net .

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — WISCON INVITES SCHOLARS TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR WISCON 44 ACADEMIC TRACK

  • contact: academic@wiscon.net
  • Deadline for proposals: February 14

One of the things that sets WisCon apart, besides being the first feminist science fiction convention, is that we place many types of fannish interactions side-by-side in our programming. We have panels dedicated to exploring a single book or film as well as panels that look at, say, race across all of science fiction. We have author readings, discussions of fanfic or fanvids, and conversations about games and gaming.

We also have an entire track dedicated to scholarly investigations of feminism and science fiction — open to scholars of all descriptions. The proposal period for WisCon’s academic track programming is now open!

Land Acknowledgement: Madison, Wisconsin, the location of WisCon, occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial.

In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of white supremacist, settler colonial violence followed as both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. WisCon’s dynamic intersectional feminist process is informed by internal and external collaboration with displaced communities as we strive to enact decolonial politics.

Today, WisCon respects the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the Miami, Menominee, Potawatomi, Oneida, Mohican, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Sioux, and all First Nations of Wisconsin.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — WISCON INVITES SCHOLARS TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR WISCON 44 ACADEMIC TRACK

 

WisCon has a track of academic programming, framed by the convention’s Statement of Principles, that encourages submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and anti-disciplinary areas, from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. One of the benefits of this track is that it strengthens the links between the wider feminist science fiction community, students, and other scholars working on feminist science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and related fields. The track operates very much like a conventional academic conference, with presentations based on research. However, the audience that WisCon reaches is able to provide scholarly work—on all aspects of feminist science fiction—a kind of passionate and informed feedback that is rare at academic conferences. We very much encourage submissions from people who aren’t involved in formal academic work! Over the years, people have presented papers on fantasy, horror, speculative and science fiction literature, media, and fandom, examining issues of feminism, gender, sexuality, race, disability, colonialism, and class, amongst many others.

Given our current political moment, we invite papers and panels that explore themes echoing the American Studies Association’s 2019 Annual Meeting, “Build As We Fight,” as well as the National Women’s Studies Association’s 2019 Annual Conference, “Protest, Justice, and Transnational Organizing.” With these themes in mind, we encourage proposals to consider science fiction as a site of protest. For example, how can feminist speculative fiction help us fight for a more just world? What lessons can be learned from Indigenous science fiction and science fiction from diasporic communities, to advance decolonial, anti-racist change? How can we use speculative fiction genres to respond to the threats of white supremacy, dispossession, militarization, and extractive capitalism?

This theme is an opportunity both for work that deals specifically with social and cultural questions about the radical politics of futures as they relate to feminist science fiction and for work on the histories and dream making of freedom-oriented fan communities.

Further, we invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability with science fiction—broadly defined—in literature, media, and culture. We encourage contributions that emphasize WisCon’s focus on how science fiction has played an important role in the exploration and creation of socially just futures: futures where people of all colors and backgrounds flourish, where women’s rights and women’s contributions are valued, where gender is not limited to one of two options, where no one is erased out of convenience, hidden discrimination, or outright bigotry. We especially welcome scholarship on the work of 2020’s Guests of Honor Rebecca Roanhorse and Yoon Ha Lee. An incomplete list of possible subjects:

  • What are the meanings, histories, and cultures of “protest?” How can feminist protest advance decolonial, anti-racist change? And how does this shape feminisms’ relationship to speculative genres (scifi, fantasy, horror, and beyond) both past and present?
  • Gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially in the works of our Guests of Honor, Rebecca Roanhorse and Yoon Ha Lee
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of science fiction and fantasy in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture)
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Indigenous Futurism, Afrofuturism and related cultural movements
  • Feminist pedagogy and speculative fiction in the academic classroom and beyond

An incomplete list of possible formats:

  • 15-minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos

The deadline for submitting an abstract for WisCon 44 is midnight Central Time on February 14, 2020.

Please submit your proposal using this form (wiscon.net site profile is required). You will be asked for a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available; if you have further technological needs, please let us know in your proposal.

If you have questions, please email: academic@wiscon.net

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMING DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 20

If you’re interested in submitting a proposal for our Academic Programming track, you still have time!

We will now be accepting academic proposals until February 20.

If you are ready to submit but missed the deadline, please use this form.

If you need more information on what we’re looking for check out our Academic Programming page.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — WisCon invites scholars to submit proposals FOR WisCon 43 Academic Track

One of the things that sets WisCon apart, besides being the first feminist science fiction convention, is that we place many types of fannish interactions side-by-side in our programming. We have panels dedicated to exploring a single book or film as well as panels that look at, say, race across all of science fiction. We have author readings, discussions of fanfic or fanvids, and conversations about games and gaming.

We also have an entire track dedicated to scholarly investigations of feminism and science fiction — open to scholars of all descriptions.

The proposal period for WisCon’s academic track programming is now open!

WisCon’s track of academic programming, framed by the convention’s intersectional feminist principles, encourages submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary areas, and from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. One of the benefits of this track is that it strengthens the links between the wider feminist science fiction community, students and other scholars working on feminist science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and related fields.

Given our current political moment we invite papers and panels that explore the theme, echoing that from the National Women’s Studies Association Annual Conference 2018: “Feminist visions of freedom, dream making and the radical politics of futures. What are the meanings, histories, and cultures of “freedom?” How is freedom lived/embodied without becoming a buzzword? And how does this shape feminisms’ relationship to speculative genres (scifi, fantasy, horror, and beyond) both past and present? This theme is an opportunity both for work that deals specifically with social and cultural questions about the radical politics of futures as they relate to feminist science fiction and for work on the histories and dream making of freedom-oriented fan communities.

Further, we invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability with science fiction — broadly defined — in literature, media, and culture. We encourage contributions that emphasize WisCon’s focus on how science fiction has played an important role in the exploration and creation of socially just futures: futures where people of all colors and backgrounds flourish, where women’s rights and women’s contributions are valued, where gender is not limited to one of two options, where no one is erased out of convenience, hidden discrimination, or outright bigotry. We especially welcome scholarship on the work of 2019’s Guests of Honor G. Willow Wilson and Charlie Jane Anders

An incomplete list of possible subjects:

  • What are the meanings, histories, and cultures of “freedom?” How is freedom lived/embodied without becoming a buzzword? And how does this shape feminisms’ relationship to speculative genres (scifi, fantasy, horror, and beyond) both past and present?
  • Gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially in the works of our Guests of Honor, G. Willow Wilson and Charlie Jane Anders
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of science fiction and fantasy in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture)
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Indigenous Futurism, Afrofuturism and related cultural movements
  • Feminist pedagogy and speculative fiction in the classroom

An incomplete list of possible formats:

  • 15-minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos

The deadline for submitting an abstract for WisCon 43 is midnight Central Time on February 14, 2019.

Please submit your proposal using this form (wiscon.net site profile is required). You will be asked for a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available; if you have further technological needs, please let us know in your proposal.

If you have questions, please email: academic@wiscon.net

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — WISCON INVITES SCHOLARS TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR WISCON 42 ACADEMIC TRACK

***SUBMISSION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO 2/14***

One of the things that sets WisCon apart, besides being the first feminist science fiction convention, is that we place many types of fannish interactions side-by-side in our programming. We have panels dedicated to exploring a single book or film as well as panels that look at, say, race across all of science fiction. We have author readings, discussions of fanfic or fanvids, and conversations about games and gaming.

We also have an entire track dedicated to scholarly investigations of feminism and science fiction — open to scholars of all descriptions.

The proposal period for WisCon’s academic track programming is now open!

WisCon’s track of academic programming, framed by the convention’s intersectional feminist principles, encourages submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary areas, and from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. One of the benefits of this track is that it strengthens the links between the wider feminist science fiction community, students and other scholars working on feminist science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and related fields.

Given WisCon 42’s theme: “What Does Justice Demand?” We invite papers and panels that explore the meanings, histories, and cultures of “social justice.” How is social justice lived/embodied without becoming a buzzword? And how does this shape feminisms’ relationship to speculative genres (scifi, fantasy, horror, and beyond) both past and present? This theme is an opportunity both for work that deals specifically with social and political questions of justice as they relate to feminist science fiction and for work on the histories and cultures of social-justice-oriented fan communities.

Further, we invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability with science fiction — broadly defined — in literature, media, and culture. We encourage contributions that emphasize WisCon’s focus on how science fiction has played an important role in the exploration and creation of socially just futures: futures where people of all colors and backgrounds flourish, where women’s rights and women’s contributions are valued, where gender is not limited to one of two options, where no one is erased out of convenience, hidden discrimination, or outright bigotry. We especially welcome scholarship on the work of 2018’s Guests of Honor Tananarive Due and Saladin Ahmed.

An incomplete list of possible subjects:

  • What Does Justice Demand? How is social justice lived/embodied? How does social justice shape feminism and genre work (scifi, fantasy, horror, and others) both past and present?
  • Gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially in the works of our Guests of Honor, Tananarive Due and Saladin Ahmed
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of science fiction and fantasy in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture)
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Afrofuturism and related cultural movements
  • Feminist pedagogy and speculative fiction in the classroom

An incomplete list of possible formats:

  • 15-minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos

The deadline for submitting an abstract for WisCon 42 is midnight Central Time on February 14, 2018.

Please submit your proposal using this form (wiscon.net site profile is required). You will be asked for a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available; if you have further technological needs, please let us know in your proposal.

If you have questions, please email: academic@wiscon.net.

WisCon Academic Call for Papers: Deadline February 23

Lauren J. Lacey & Alexis Lothian
Academic Programming

We invite you to submit papers, panels, and presentations for Academic Programming at WisCon 41! Join us for a weekend dedicated to imagining, exploring, and critiquing alternate worlds, technological transformations, and the possibilities and processes for creating the feminist, decolonial, anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-fascist futures we so badly need.

WisCon has a track of academic programming that is open to undergraduate, postgraduate, and independent scholars. One of the benefits of this track is that it strengthens the links between the wider feminist science fiction community and students and other scholars working on feminist science fiction and fantasy and related fields. The track operates very much like a conventional academic conference, with presentations based on individual or collaborative research. However, scholarly work on all aspects of feminist science fiction reaches an audience at WisCon that gives a kind of passionate and informed feedback that is rare at academic conferences.

We invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability with science fiction — broadly defined — in literature, media, culture, and politics. We particularly welcome scholarship on the work of our Guests of Honor, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Amal El-Mohtar, and on the histories and cultures of feminist and social-justice-oriented fan communities. We encourage submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary areas, and from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.

Deadline

The deadline for submitting proposals for our Academic Programming is Thursday, Feb. 23, at 11:59pm Central Time.

An incomplete list of possible subjects

  • The political work of speculative imagination in the new age of right-wing populism
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements
  • Science fiction and feminist science and technology studies
  • Gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially in the works of our Guests of Honor
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of science fiction and fantasy in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture)
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Afrofuturism and related cultural movements
  • Fan cultures and communities
  • Teaching feminist science fiction and other aspects of feminist pedagogy
  • Feminist practice and speculative fiction in academic institutions

An incomplete list of possible formats

  • 15-20 minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship
  • Readings from recently published or forthcoming scholarly books
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service
  • Mentoring sessions on academic professional life: graduate study, the job market, tenure and promotion, publishing and presentation, doing scholarship outside conventional institutions
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos

Submitting your proposal

Submit your proposal using our online form (requires a WisCon login). You will be asked for a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available; if you have further technological needs, please let us know in your proposal.

Announcing a new workshop on feminist scholarship!

This year, for the first time, we will be running a workshop on feminist science fiction scholarship as part of WisCon’s Writers’ Workshop, which takes place on Friday, May 26, before the conventional officially begins. The deadline for submitting work will be in April.  Further announcements will be made on the WisCon blog and listed on the Academic Programming page.

If you have any questions, contact us via email: academic@wiscon.net

Academic

  • Contact: academic@wiscon.net
  • Deadline for proposals: March 1, 2023 
  • WisCon 46 will take place May 26-29, 2023

WisCon’s Land Acknowledgement.

2023 Call for Papers

WisCon has a track of academic programming, framed by the convention’s Statement of Principles, that encourages submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and anti-disciplinary areas, from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. One of the benefits of this track is that it strengthens the links between the wider feminist science fiction community, students, and other scholars working on feminist science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, and related fields. 

The track operates very much like a conventional academic conference, with presentations based on research. However, the audience that WisCon reaches is able to provide scholarly work—on all aspects of feminist science fiction—a kind of passionate and informed feedback that is rare at academic conferences. We very much encourage submissions from people who aren’t involved in formal academic work! Over the years, people have presented papers on fantasy, horror, speculative and science fiction literature, media, and fandom, examining issues of feminism, gender, sexuality, race, disability, colonialism, and class, amongst many others.

Given our current political moment, we invite papers and panels that explore themes echoing the American Studies Association’s 2023 Annual Meeting, “Solidarity: What Love Looks Like in Public” as well as the National Women’s Studies Association’s 2022 Annual Conference: “killing rage: resistance on the other side of freedom.” With these themes in mind, we encourage proposals to consider science fiction as a site of connection, survival, and protest. For example, how can feminist speculative fiction help us fight for a more just world? What lessons can be learned from Indigenous, Black, POC, and diasporic speculative fiction, to advance decolonial and anti-racist change? How can we use speculative fiction genres to respond to the threats of white supremacy, dispossession, militarization, and extractive capitalism? How might speculative fiction help us come together amidst collapsing structures to enable better futures?

These themes offer opportunity both for work that deals specifically with social and cultural questions about the radical politics of futures as they relate to feminist speculative fiction and for work on the histories and dream making of freedom-oriented fan communities.

Further, we invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability with speculative fiction—broadly defined—in literature, media, and culture. We encourage contributions that emphasize WisCon’s focus on how speculative fiction has played an important role in the exploration and creation of socially just futures: futures where people of all colors and backgrounds flourish, where women’s rights and women’s contributions are valued, where gender is not limited to one of two options, where no one is erased out of convenience, hidden by discrimination, or experiences bigotry.

An incomplete list of possible subjects:

  • Gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially in the works of 2023’s Guests of Honor Rivers Solomon and Martha Wells
  • Explorations of different iterations of love, erotics, care, and solidarity.
  • Rethinking Humanity and Humanism in order to intentionally decenter whiteness, through robot intelligence, A.I., ability/disability/superability, & BIPOC embodiments.
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements.
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Indigenous Futurism, Afrofuturism, Latinx Futurism, African and Diasporic futurism, Asian futurism and related cultural movements.
  • Feminist pedagogy and speculative fiction in the academic classroom and beyond.
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of speculative fiction in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture).
  • How and in what ways can we embrace The Future is Disabled (Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, 2022)? And what if disability justice and disabled wisdom are crucial to creating a future in which it’s possible to survive fascism, climate change, and pandemics and to bring about liberation?

An incomplete list of possible formats:

  • 15-minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment.
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels.
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship.
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service.
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos.

The deadline for submitting an abstract for WisCon 2023 is midnight Central Time on March 1, 2023

This year, we are planning to meet with in-person panels at the Concourse Hotel in Madison, WI. We will also have synchronous zoom panels for those unable to meet in person. Please indicate whether you plan to present in-person or virtually when you submit your abstract.

Please submit your proposal on the wiscon.net site. First you must create (or activate) your profile at MY WISCON ACCOUNT on the left sidebar of the WisCon homepage. Then click on the SUGGEST A SESSION link from the top menu and choose Academic from the select a division drop down.  You will be asked for a title, a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available for those at the Concourse Hotel.

If you have questions, please email: academic@wiscon.net

Call for submissions — WisCon invites scholars to submit proposals for WisCon 40 academic track

Alexis Lothian & Lauren J. Lacey
Academic Programming

One of the things that sets WisCon apart is that we place many types of fannish interactions side-by-side in our programming. We have panels dedicated to exploring a single book or film as well as panels that look at, say, race across all of science fiction. We have author readings, discussions of fanfic or fanvids, and conversations about games and gaming.

A pile of books stacked next to a notebook and a nib pen.We also have an entire track dedicated to scholarly investigations of feminism and science fiction — open to scholars of all descriptions.

The proposal period for WisCon’s academic track programming is now open! We invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability with science fiction — broadly defined — in literature, media, and culture. We especially welcome scholarship on the work of 2016’s Guests of Honor Sofia Samatar, Justine Larbalestier, and Nalo Hopkinson and on the histories and cultures of feminist and social-justice-oriented fan communities.

We encourage submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary areas, and from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.

An incomplete list of possible subjects:

  • Gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially the work of this year’s Guests of Honor Sofia Samatar, Justine Larbalestier, and Nalo Hopkinson
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of science fiction and fantasy in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture)
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements
  • Science fiction and feminist science and technology studies
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Afrofuturism and related cultural movements
  • Fan cultures and communities
  • Feminist pedagogy and speculative fiction in the classroom

An incomplete list of possible formats:

  • 15-20 minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship
  • Readings from recently published or forthcoming scholarly books
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service
  • Mentoring sessions on academic professional life: graduate study, the job market, tenure and promotion, publishing and presentation
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos

The deadline for submitting an abstract for WisCon 40 is midnight Central Time on February 1, 2016.

Please submit your proposal using this form (wiscon.net site profile is required). You will be asked for a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available; if you have further technological needs, please let us know in your proposal.

If you have questions, please email: academic@wiscon.net

Academic programming — Deadline extended to March 2!

Lauren J. Lacey & Alexis Lothian
Academic Programming

WisCon’s academic programming is open to independent scholars as well as undergraduate and graduate students. We invite individual papers and panel presentations on science fiction and fantasy, with an emphasis on issues of feminism, gender, race, and class. Work on
fandom is also actively encouraged. Full information on the academic track is available on our website: http://wiscon.net/programming/academic/

To submit your proposal, log into your wiscon.info account and then
visit this page: http://account.wiscon.net/paper/

If you have any questions, please email:  academic@wiscon.net