Comics Research & Such

Just received this call for papers. Note the January 31 deadline for submissions.

Biff! Bam!! Crikey!!!
Comics as Art, Entertainment and Design
Comics are an important and vital part of popular culture, shaping the early reading experiences of many children, as well as commanding an increasing body of adult readers. They can offer slapstick fun or serious literary themes and have spread into every imaginable genre (comedy, horror, war, adventure, autobiography, documentary and so on). Comics therefore have the potential to be both popular entertainment and provocative art, and have a profound influence on various other media and art-forms, including film, animation, computer games, and television.

The Six Cities Design Festival and the University of Dundee are pleased to announce this international conference, to be held in Dundee on May 25th and 26th 2007. It will celebrate the history of comics in Dundee, but will also explore wider themes, including comics as art, popular culture and design.

Suggested topics include: comics in Scotland, British comics, the intersection of British and American comics, topical and controversial comics, defining comics, and comics and other media.

Dundee is the perfect venue for this conference as the comics of Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson are known all over the world, and 2007 marks the 70th anniversary of The Dandy, widely recognised as the world's longest running comic. The Dundee programme will include the publication of a comic published by DC Thomson highlighting design and innovation in Dundee.

Papers will be 20 minutes long. Proposals of around 300 words should be sent to the address below by January 31st 2007. It is the intention that the conference proceedings will be published. For further information regarding the conference contact:

Dr Chris Murray
Department of English
162 Nethergate,
University of Dundee
DD1 4HN
UK

e-mail: c.murray@dundee.ac.uk
www.six-cities.com