Jewish Studies

The Jewish Studies Area of the Popular Culture Association is organizing panels for the 2008 conference of the PCA/ACA in San Francisco, California, March 19-22, 2008, and is currently accepting proposals for Papers, Panels, and Workshop Presentations.

Papers encompassing any subject matter pertaining to Jewish Studies may be submitted for open panels being formed for the PCA conference. Topics may include, but are not exclusive to, the following suggested areas:

Literature (including Prose, Graphic Novels, Poetry, etc.) Creative Writing Film Drama History Holocaust Studies Culture The Arts Society Politics Language Music Religion Folklore Or any other topic of interest.

Panel proposals, composed of not less than three but not more than four paper proposals, submitted as a group, are also encouraged, as are workshop proposals.

Suggested Panel Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

*Hollywood’s impact on the perception of Kabbalah *Jewish Popular Authors (e.g., Sholom Aleichem, Will Eisner, Phillip Roth, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Herman Wouk) *Jewish Popular Books & Series (e.g., The All-Of-A-Kind Family books by Sydney Taylor, The Chosen by Chaim Potok, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hope by Herman Wouk, Maus by Art Spiegelman) *Jewish Holiday Observance, with a particular focus on Purim *The Holocaust within Popular Culture (e.g., the camps, the ghettos, the survivors, impacted by and impacting popular culture texts) *Jewish Hollywood and the Film Industry (e.g., the moguls, the producers, and their influence upon film production, as well as the influence of the industry upon them) *Jewish Personalities (e.g., popular creators, performers, and personalities and the relationship of their societal impact by or to their Jewish
Identity)
*Popular Culture, Judaism, and San Francisco Intersections(Everything from the Beat Poets to Harvey Milk) *The Relationship between Judaism and Comedy *The Relationship between Judaism and Science Fiction *Jewish Stereotypes and Stereotyping *Kabbalistic impact on Hollywood *Yiddish and American English

Proposals should be approximately 250 words in length. and must also include your preferred mailing address, telephone number, and email address, any audio/visual necessities for your presentation, as well as whether or not you are comfortable presenting over the Sabbath or not, and whether or not you prefer your presentation not to conflict with a Friday evening or Saturday morning Purim Megillah reading.

All proposals should be emailed to both the Area Chair and Associate Area Chair. DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS. Please copy-and-paste your proposal into the email message.

Area Chair: Daniel Walden -- dxw8@psu.edu

Associate Area Chair: Solomon Davidoff (Primary Contact for questions) -- JewishStudiesPCA@hotmail.com

Deadline for submissions: November 30, 2007