CFP Fostering Interpretive Communities in the Classroom and Research through Adaptation Studies (Roundtable) (Virtual) (9/30/2026; NeMLA 3/6-9-2027)

Fostering Interpretive Communities in the Classroom and Research through Adaptation Studies (Roundtable) (Virtual)

Co-organizers Michael A. Torregrossa and Carl B. Sell

Sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Call for Papers - Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2026

58th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

Salve Regina University (Newport, RI)/Online.

Hybrid event: 6-9 March 2027


This session’s modality is Virtual Only, meaning all presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

Rationale

Explorations of adaptations offer many ways to investigate the conference theme of Empowering Communities. Adaptations, especially contemporary ones, create opportunities for inclusion that may not have been present in the source. This forges a new space for receivers of the text to connect to its narrative. Highlighting how and why these new works appeal to and have an effect on us can help our students (and ourselves) relate to older material and see the ways that a story can find new relevance.

Topics might include adaptations that recast, reset, and/or restage a text; adaptations that rewrite and/or reboot a text; adaptations that expand texts (such as prequels, midquels, or sequels); and adaptations that present ways to remedy problematic texts and authors.

We welcome investigations of adaptations across all media, as well as adaptation within transmedia franchises/universes.

Submission Instructions

All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22514 by 30 September 2026. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, Brief Bio, Media Needs, and Modality. This session’s modality is Virtual Only, meaning all presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

Notification on the status of your submission will be made by 16 October 2026. If accepted, NeMLA asks you to confirm your participation with the session chairs by accepting their invitation and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2026. For the 2027 Convention, registration will be the same for in-person and remote attendance. (See NeMLA’s Membership and Registration page, at https://www.nemla.org/about/members.html, for full details.)


Be advised of the following policies for the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of any type. Registrants at NeMLA may not present the same abstract/paper on two different sessions. (See NeMLA’s Presenter Policies page, at https://www.nemla.org/convention/policies.html, for further details. Information on Session Types can be found at https://www.nemla.org/convention/sessions.html.)


NeMLA offers limited funding for travel to graduate students and to contingent faculty, adjunct instructors, independent scholars, and two-year college faculty. Details can be found at NeMLA’s Travel Awards page at https://www.nemla.org/awards/travel.html.


Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at MedievalinPopularCulture@gmail.com.


For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, please visit our blog, Mass Mediævalisms: The Middle Ages of Popular Culture, at https://MedievalinPopularCulture.blogspot.com/.

CFP Saving the Day: Advice on Publishing in Popular Culture Research (Roundtable) (9/30/21; NeMLA 3/10-13/2022)

 CFP Saving the Day: Advice on Publishing in Popular Culture Research (Roundtable)

Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

For the 53rd Annual Convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association

To convene at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, Baltimore, Maryland, from 10-13 March 2022

Proposals due by 30 September 2021

Finding where to submit our research is an issue for many, especially for those working on popular texts, like anime, comics, games, and genre fiction. Too often, the scholarship “dies”. It remains part of our CV or lesson plan but fails to reach the wider audience it deserves. This roundtable seeks published scholars to present on approaches to finding the right “fit” for work in popular culture and to relate their experiences with the processes of publication all in the hopes of encouraging others to get their work out into the world. 

Call for Papers

Many scholars working with popular culture have had their work feel largely out of place when looking at calls for papers or submitting to journals and edited collections. For example, papers on medievalist games tend to get rejected from strict medieval journals, and staunch comics studies collections focus on the medium and presentation of image rather than the adapted narrative of Frankenstein. Where, then, do we turn to publish our research? And, can anyone help us to do so?

This roundtable seeks published scholars to share their experiences within Popular Culture Studies. How have you achieved success in finding the right “fit” for your work in publications? Can you relate your experiences with the process of acceptance, peer review, revision, and final publication? Our goal is to help new and emerging scholars working with popular culture texts to more easily navigate the various CFPs and submission processes and to learn how and why their work may or may not fit for certain publications or publishers.

We welcome and, indeed, encourage submissions that span the genres of popular culture studies (including anime/manga, fantasy, games, horror, Internet video and memes, medievalisms, and science fiction) and that might highlight perspectives from various specialties (including classics, ecocriticism, feminism, LGBTQ+, romanticism, etc.). The more widespread the discussion, the more we can begin to expand the conversation about approaches to finding publication opportunities and the processes therein, both for new scholars and for those shifting into popular culture from another field. We also hope to begin to create a larger understanding of how and why many popular culturalists remain unpublished or remain relatively unknown outside of a few groups. 

Submissions should be made directly into NeMLA’s conference management program at https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/19224. Potential presenters will need to create an account with NeMLA to submit a proposal (including a presentation title, brief abstract of 250 words detailing your experiences with and approaches to publication in popular culture, academic bio, and media needs) and to become members of NeMLA should their proposal be accepted for the session. Notice of acceptance will be made after 1 October 2021. Please go to the website nemla.org for details about session types and presenter guidelines.

Please address any other questions to the session organizers at medievalinpopularculture@gmail.com. We also welcome suggestions for resources (in print or online) that might be of value to the panel and its audience.