2nd Science Fiction and Communism Conference
American University in Bulgaria
1-3 March 2019, Blagoevgrad
The American University in Bulgaria is pleased to announce a call for papers for the second edition of the Science Fiction and Communism Conference. The conference will discuss science fiction (SF) in the context of the Communist regime and the Cold War and will focus on the ways political regimes on both sides of the Iron Curtain utilized the concept of the future.
TOPICS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE:
The Second Science Fiction and Communism Conference will continue to explore the political and cultural importance of SF in film, literature, architecture, science and politics.
We would like to invite submissions on the following topics in particular:
• Utopia and communist ideology
• Ideological control and its utilization
• Cosmism and Communist rhetoric
• Political commentary in Sci Fi East and West
• Gender and emancipation
• Practices of distribution and transmission of cultural products
The conference is open to all disciplines, approaches and methods. We welcome researchers, practitioners and students.
SUBMISSION:
Please send your proposals for papers, panels and/or presentations (CV, abstract of 300 – 500 words) to Yulia Pechanova at yulia@aubg.edu.
The conference language for presentations and discussions will be English.
Presentations should last no more than 20 minutes and be open to discussion afterwards.
Deadline for application is Dec. 21, 2018.
The applicants whose papers were selected will be informed by Jan. 7, 2019.
Participants are responsible for their own traveling and accommodation arrangements.
Attendees who are not submitting papers are encouraged to register.
Transportation from Sofia to Blagoevgrad will be organized by the host.