Welcome to the Body and Culture community! We’re so happy you’re here and we want you take full advantage of the opportunities our new platform provides. Please read over the code of conduct so we can continue to ensure a safe and supportive space for all. Thank you for your dedication to the Popular Culture Association!

Call for Papers

Interested in how bodies are imbued with meaning? Please consider submitting your abstracts for presentation in the Body & Culture Area. One of the best things about this division is the breadth of relevant topics. We invite papers from all disciplines and methodologies and are excited to see what these varied approaches can share about the multifaceted relationships between bodies and culture.

Relevant papers may consider questions such as those listed below OR explore any relationship between the body and culture.

- How are characters’ bodies relevant to conversations of representation in media? Are raced, gendered, classed, or (dis)abled depicted in interesting ways?

- What cultural meanings are ascribed onto bodies?

- How does embodiment show up in popular culture?

- Does some piece of media imagine new bodies? What are the implications of these imaginings?

- How do we imagine bodies in narrative mediums which aren’t primarily visual (ex. novels, TTRPG, etc.) and why does that matter?

- What do cyborgs, aliens, monsters, clones, doppelgängers, or (dis)embodied AI tell us about how we imagine the body or the self?

- Are there representations of bodies in popular media which normalize or defamiliarize the human form in interesting ways?

The Body & Culture Area invites applications from students, professionals, and independent scholars alike. You do not need to be affiliated with an academic institution to apply.

Applicants should submit abstracts of about 200-300 words which include information about the topic, theory/framework, methods, and findings as relevant. If the submission is a work in progress, indicate this in your abstract.

Please feel free to share this call for papers widely!

If you have any questions, please reach out to the area chair: 

Marty Heath

mlfheath@gmail.com

University of Illinois - Chicago

Important Dates to Remember:

• Database opens for Submissions - Sept. 1, 2025
• Early Bird Registration Begins - Sept. 1, 2025
• Deadline for Paper Proposals - Nov. 30, 2025
• Travel Grant Applications Due - Dec. 15, 2025
• Early Bird Registration Ends for Presenters - Dec. 31, 2025
• Regular Registration Begins for Presenters - Jan. 1, 2026 
• Travel Grant Decisions / Notifications - Jan. 31, 2026
• Regular Registration Ends for Presenters - Jan. 31, 2026
• Late Registration Starts for Presenters - Feb. 1, 2026
• Preliminary Program draft available - Feb. 6, 2026

Those Presenters Not Registered by Feb. 15 Will be Dropped from the Program

CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA, GA - April 8-11, 2026