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The 2026 Program is now available on our website! populararts.org/2026-program/ You can also find the panels in the @dragoncon.org app. Just look for the panels with Matthew J. Brown!

populararts.org

2026 Program

The program for the Popular Arts Conference 2026 at DragonCon.

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Ibram X. Kendi @ibramxk.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

At the onset of Black History Month, I feel the weight of what my ancestors possibly felt when federal “law enforcement” criminalized and kidnapped them for running away from slavery, when Confederates and segregationists smeared my ancestors’ antiracist movements as anti-White.

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Good news everyone! The deadline to submit for the 2026 Popular Arts Conference has been extended to February 15! If you've been thinking of submitting but haven't yet, you still have time. We'd love to have your work at DragonCon as part of the conference. populararts.org/2026-cfp/

populararts.org

2026 Call for Proposals

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12/01/2026

What rights do people have as ICE continues to grow, and as the president deploys the National Guard domestically? @anneapplebaum.bsky.social explores this in the new season of “Autocracy in America.” Listen here:

bit.ly

Federal Agents Are Violating the Rights of Americans

ICE and the National Guard are acting with impunity.

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Reminder: If you are submitting to be a part of the 2026 Popular Arts Conference, tomorrow is the deadline for your submission to receive the fullest consideration. Anything submitted after January 12 may be considered, but that is not guaranteed. Go submit your paper or panel!

populararts.org

2026 Call for Proposals

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We have a YouTube channel now!!! Panels from previous conferences are slowly being uploaded. Over time we hope to add more presentations from PAC and other events we hold both in-person and virtually. www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1...

youtube.com

Popular Arts Conference

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Have you submitted your paper or panel to the Popular Arts Conference yet? No? You should hurry. The deadline for 2026 is January 12! Click the link below for the CFP. I can't wait to see you there! populararts.org/2026-cfp/

populararts.org

2026 Call for Proposals

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SCMS Fan and Audience Studies SIG @scmsfaas.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Just a reminder that conference presenters must register by Wednesday, January 14, 2026 (5:00 PM CST).

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SCMS Fan and Audience Studies SIG @scmsfaas.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

SIG members: We're compiling a list of fan- and audience studies publications by our members that came out in 2025. Enter yours here by Dec. 31, and we'll compile a list to share: forms.gle/V7zsgTowJahU...

forms.gle

SCMS Fan and Audience Studies -- 2025 Member Publications

It's time to promote your 2025 publications! Enter as many as you want, but please only fan and audience studies-focused publications and only things that came out in 2025. (Save in-press and forthcom...

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Fan Studies Network @fanstudies.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

New in Journal of Popular Music Studies ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Vibes, gender and musical affordance on the internet: A study of the Lofi Girl fandom and community Iván Navarro Flores, Jenessa N. Williams & Ivan Mouraviev #FanStudies online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article...

online.ucpress.edu

Vibes, gender and musical affordance on the internetA study of the Lofi Girl fandom and community

For Gen-Z students, self-care craving millennials and internet music fans alike, the figure of “Lofi Girl” on YouTube will be deeply familiar. In green sweater and over-ear headphones, the anime illus...

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Fan Studies Network @fanstudies.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

New in Feminist Media Studies ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Gur-Ze’ev, H., & Kligler-Vilenchik, N. (2025). “Joss is (no longer?) Boss”: three layers of cancelling in the Joss Whedon fan community. #FanStudies doi.org/10.1080/1468...

doi.org

“Joss is (no longer?) Boss”: three layers of cancelling in the Joss Whedon fan community

Over the past few years, and in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, increased attention has been devoted to the practice of “cancelling:” the withdrawal of support from someone whose values, acti...

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Call for proposals We invite proposals for a new book series, Twenty-First Century Musical Theatre, which will focus on contemporary musical theatre on stages or screens anywhere in the world. Find out more 👉https://ow.ly/vjSL50XKg9G

Red theater curtains framing a call for proposals for a new book series on Twenty-First Century Musical Theatre studies.

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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

New issue of Journal of Anime and Manga Studies now available on open access! Ghibli/Loewe collabotation, Vision of Escaflowne, Attack on Titan, Akira, Junji Ito, Kaori Yuki and more! Plus back issues available on iopn.library.illinois.edu/journals/jams

iopn.library.illinois.edu

The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies

The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies is an open-access, anime studies academic journal with peer reviewed articles. Scholars interested in anime can rely on this journal’s quality scholarship on ani...

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Day 7 of our Festive Season Reading Countdown🌟 Today we feature Hip-Hop Archives by Mark V. Campbell & Murray Forman, exploring cultural memory and the foundations of hip-hop studies Essential reading — and under £30 Read the introduction and find out more about the book👉https://ow.ly/nrjp50XFNn3

Cover of 'Hip-Hop Archives' book featuring vintage cassette tapes and album art on a burnt orange background.

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

New review! ⭐ Find out more about Music Making and Civic Imagination by Dave Camlin 👉https://www.intellectbooks.com/music-making-and-civic-imagination

Cover of 'Music Making and Civic Imagination' by Dave Camlin, highlighting its focus on music education and civic engagement.

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Performing Ethos: International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance 15.2 is out now! In this issue, the journal launches a new special section titled ‘Performance as Witness, Memory and Resistance in Times of War’. ow.ly/MuVm50XKKtG

Cover of Performing Ethos journal featuring a theatre director addressing an audience in a darkened auditorium.

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Special Issue Call for Papers ‘Apparatus – the role of technology in illustration’ We invite papers that expand upon and discuss the relationship between illustration and technology. Deadline: 26 January 2026 Find out more 👉https://ow.ly/G7t250XKopi

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Journal of Visual Political Communication 12.1 is out now! 📰 Including ‘Visual attention to mobilizing political social media posts: An eye-tracking study’ by Anna Gaul, Katharina Pohl, Elisabeth Schmidbauer, Anna Sophie Kümpel and Jörg Haßler. ow.ly/FqA650XKKAB

Protesters holding a sign with a globe and the message 'Il n'y a pas de planète B, there is no planet B' at a climate rally.

Protesters holding a sign with a drawing of Earth and the message 'Il n'y a pas de planète B, there is no planet B' advocating for environmental protection.

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Intellect Books @intellectbooks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

#SaturdayShelfie 📚 A glimpse into Gareth Dylan Smith’s bookshelves—where rhythm, research, and reflection live side by side. Every spine tells part of a story. What’s on your shelves right now?

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 15/12/2025

“I uncover / orange embers, carry them / to a covered grill, and, glancing up, / see the stars’ braille / against the night’s black page.” Read a new poem by Arthur Sze:

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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

This is fucking grim. Somebody invented a white guy, an "IT professional" named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites. The real hero is a fruit stand owner named Ahmed el Ahmed.

A wrong Grok post making up a white guy who stopped the Australian mass shooting.

BBC
'Hero' who wrestled gun from Bondi shooter named as Ahmed al Ahmed
Emily Atkinson
Sun, December 14, 2025 at 1:06 p.m. CST
2 min read

A "hero" bystander who was filmed wrestling a gun from one of the Bondi Beach attackers has been named as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed.

Video verified by the BBC showed Mr Ahmed run at the gunman and seize his weapon, before turning the gun round on him, forcing his retreat.

Mr Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two, remains in hospital, where he has undergone surgery for bullet wounds to his arm and hand, his family told 7News Australia.

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 15/12/2025

I already did Pacific Rim when I did the first set of comfort watches two years ago: whatever.scalzi.com/2023/12/27/t... That said, I'm not taking requests for this series of essays because they're about my choices. However I encourage others to write about THEIR comfort watches. It's fun!

whatever.scalzi.com

The December Comfort Watches, Day Twenty Seven: Pacific Rim

Here’s a fun fact: Pacific Rim is Guillermo del Toro’s rebound relationship. In the early 2010s, del Toro was meant to direct a film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountain…

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Did you know we have a Facebook group? Popular Culture Scholars at DragonCon is a place on Facebook where you can connect with other scholars and find out more about PAC and #DragonCon! Come join us! www.facebook.com/groups/760815476809126 #AcademicSky #PhDsky

facebook.com

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Hello #AcademicSky and #PhDSky!! The CFP for our 2026 Conference is live. The Popular Arts Conference is an annual academic conference for the studies of the popular arts that occurs as a part of @dragoncon.org. Come join us in Atlanta September 3-7, 2026. populararts.org/2026-cfp/

populararts.org

2026 Call for Proposals

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