Welcome to the Health, Humanities, and Popular 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

The mission of the Popular Culture Association is to promote the appreciation and study of popular culture, as well as to advance rigorous, interdisciplinary research that illuminates the complexity, significance, and impact of popular culture across time and around the globe. We welcome and amplify voices from diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and perspectives by creating spaces—both physical and virtual—for scholars, educators, creators, and enthusiasts to connect, share ideas, and engage in meaningful dialogue about popular culture.

The Health, Humanities, and Popular Culture Area is excited to receive proposals for the 2026 Popular Culture and American Culture Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, April 8-11 2026. Proposal topics should fall within the realm of how health is represented in popular culture through the humanities lens (art, books, comics, journalism and news, cinema, music, theatre, television, etc…).

For the 2026 conference we are particularly interested in examining relationships between health and sustainability/biodiversity/climate change in media and popular culture. The WHO (2023) argued that:

• “Research shows that 3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year, from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone.
• The direct damage costs to health (excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation) is estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030.
• Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.
• Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy use choices can result in very large gains for health, particularly through reduced air pollution”. (WHO, 2023: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health)

We therefore invite papers that discuss the key role of communications and media in representing the sustainability/biodiversity/climate change threat demonstrating ways in which its significance are presented or, alternatively, ways in which denial are discussed in popular cultural forms. What are the likely ways in which communications can shape our understanding of this important economic, political and social issue?

Proposals should be 250-300 words and exhibit a clear connection between health and popular culture. Submission from current paid members will be accepted through the PCA website. Deadline is 30^th November 2025. 

https://sites.google.com/view/2026pcaconference/call-for-papers

If you have questions, please contact the area chair:

Matthew Hibberd

matthew.hibberd@usi.ch

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