MAPACA
Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association
New Subject Area: Play Studies

Call for Papers

Play Studies is a forum for discussing play through theoretical, practical, performative, interdisciplinary, and historical lenses. Papers that discuss a particular scholar’s definition of play (Huizinga, Sutton-Smith, etc.) or a particular scholar’s application of play (Henricks to sociology, Csikszentmihalyi to psychology, etc) are welcome. Papers that explore interdisciplinary applications of play, for example, play and music, play and child development, etc., are also welcome. Relationships between play and space, sports, work, time, the self, language, and community, or papers that explore other philosophical and/or practical applications of play are also possible. Papers or presentations linking the study of play to popular and/or American culture artifacts (movies, literature, images, events, toys, musics, etc), whether discussing the play of creative processes in creating such artifacts or the ways experiencing culture or engaging with artifacts can evoke play experiences, are welcome. Work exploring the therapeutic effects of experiencing play through culture also welcome, as are papers exploring dark play, violence, war, and/or applying play in challenging or difficult aspects of culture. Finally, nontraditional presentations that create play experiences for conference attendees are encouraged.

Abstracts must be less than 300 words.

Deadline for Abstracts: June 30, 2016

Submission via: https://mapaca.net/conference

MAPACA Conference Information:
The 27th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular / American Culture Association (MAP/ACA) will be held at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 11/3/2016 to 11/5/2016.