KSU English Dept. > 2006 Cultural Studies Conference > Conference Program

Entertainment!: Conference Program

 

     

Thurs., Mar. 8 | Fri., Mar. 9 | Sat., Mar. 10

     

Thursday, March 8

 

Registration table will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Session 1: Thurs., 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

A. Entertaining Popular Technology

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

2. “I Think, Therefore iPod: iUniversity as the Future of Higher Education,” Emily Windahl, University of Oklahoma
3. “Private lives, Public Commiseration:  PostSecret Studies,” Sara Eddleman, University of Oklahoma
4. “Viral Videos; or, How I Learned to Love Gary Brolsma,” Roger Adams, Kansas State University

B. Entertaining Theory

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Theorizing Entertainment Value: The Entertainment Unconscious,” Donald Hedrick, Kansas State University
2. “Theorizing the Drugs / Entertainment Matrix,” Todd Schack, Ithaca College
3. “Aesthetic Criticism & Cultural Studies:  Do Scholars Just Want to Have Fun?”, Kevin Shroth, The University of Iowa

Session 2: Thurs., 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

A. Education and Entertainment

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “P.T. Barnum, Dime Museums, and ‘Rational Amusement’:  What Is It? and the Spectacular Presentation of Darwin’s Missing Link,” Lynn Sally, MCNY
2. “‘Hey, kid.  Do you want some candy?’:  Recuperating Gender and Sexuality from the Margins of Educational Discourses,” Reid Sagara, University of Washington
3. “The Education of Veronica Mars:  Social Identities and Epistemic Credibility,” Heather Rakes, DePaul University

B. Deconstructing Exoticism

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Not Your Mama’s Mammy:  Black Femininity, Whiteness and Multiculturalism in The Matrix Trilogy,” Crystal S. Anderson, University of Kansas
2. “African Sexplorations:  Manara and Mosley’s Adventures in Erotic Entertainment,” Emily Mattingly, Kansas State University
3. “Hollywoodizing the Spanish Golden Age: Audio(visual) representations,” Bonnie L. Gasior

 

Thurs., 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

 

Session 3: Thurs., 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.

A. Feminism, Fans, & Outsiders

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

2. “Vampires and Other Feminists,” Erin L. Martin
3. “Five Ways Mary Sue Never Had Sex: Queer Feminisms and Narrative Multiplicity in Slash Fan Fiction,” Anne Kustritz, University of Michigan
4. “Fanfiction and Participatory Culture in Gundam Wing,” Erin Erhart, Brandeis University

B. War(s) on Film

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Entertainment and Disillusionment:  War Films and Soldier’s Stories,” Gina Berend, University of Tulsa
2. “‘They Didn’t Make [Her] into a Maid’?  Re-reading Lena Horne as a Servant of the White Status Quo in World War II Hollywood Films,” Megan E. Williams, University of Kansas
3. “Consenting to Ignorance:  An Analysis of the Hostile Reactions to Anti-War Films in Sri Lanka,” Prabha Manuratne, Kansas State University

Session 4: Thurs., 3:00 – 4:45 p.m.

A. Entertaining Reading

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “‘Absorbed, Content, Perhaps Quietly Thrilled’:  The Commercialization of Women Readers,” Jennifer Phegley, University of Missouri-Kansas City and Janet Badia, Marshall University
2. “Adult Comic Book Fans:  What They Get Out of Reading,” Stergios Botzakis, University of Tennessee
3. “Truth Within Fiction:  The Obligations of ‘Entertaining’ Fiction,” Charles A. Hill, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

 B. Demoted and (Dis)Abled:  Science, Sexuality, and the World Bank

1. “Fall from the Heavens:  The Demotion of Pluto from Planetary Status as Reported by Channel One,” John Stewart, University of Oklahoma
2. "‘Gettin' Out While I Still Can Walk’: Masculinity and the Disciplining of Disability in Brokeback Mountain,” Cynthia Barounis, University of Illinois at Chicago
3. “Making the ‘Unfit, Fit’:  Gender Equality and Disability Rights in World Bank Public Service Announcements,” Rebecca Dingo, University of Missouri

 

Thurs., 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Dinner Break

Conference Dinner with Judith Halberstam, Alumni Center Ballroom.

• Cash Bar opens at 6
• Conference Dinner at 6:30 (see registration form for reservation information) 

 

Thurs., 8:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Keynote Lecture: Judith Halberstam, Tatman Board Room, Alumni Center.

 

Friday, March 9

Registration table will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Session 1: Fri., 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

A. Acting Up: Cultural Politics in Entertainment

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Popular Culture and Reconstitutive Rhetoric:  The Political Art of Ester Hernández and Helena María Viramontes,” Sharla Hutchison, Fort Hays State University
2. “Think like an Outlaw:  Carl Hiassen’s Radical Environmentalism in Hoot,“ Dean Hall, Kansas State University
3. “‘I Agree with the Polish Plumber’:  Advertising as Entertainment, Agent of Commerce and Political and Social Avenger,” Jeff Johnson, Michigan State University

B. The Politics of Inter/Activist Theater

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Hyper-Reality, Re-Enactment and the Spectacle of Mimesis:  Performance and Pageantry at Medieval Times Tournament and Dinner,” Shannon Blake Skelton, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2. “Manufacturing Fun:  One Theater’s Role in the Creative Economy,” Donna de Ville, University of Texas
3. “The History and Process of Writing Nonfiction Plays,” Sally Bailey, Kansas State University

Session 2: Fri., 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

A. Binaries and Boundary Crossings

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Transcripted Norms:  Replaying Gender Binaries in The L Word,” Kristin Culver, University of Oklahoma
2. “Things that have the potential to go terribly wrong”:  Homosexuality and Intergenerational Sex in Queer as Folk,” Margot Gayle Backus, University of Houston
3. “Have you Ever Tried Not Being a Mutant?””  Political Negativity and The Quest of Queer Citizenship in the X-Men Films,” Erica Nooney

B. Nonfiction Playwriting: Social Action and Entertainment Rolled Into One

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. On creating Family Ties, a play about gay men who fear coming out, Martha Crouse, Kansas State University
2. On creating Almost, a play about the personal aspects of abortion, Shannon Garretson, Kansas State University
3. On creating You Belong to Us, a play about parents of gay children, Jemmie Godwin, Kansas State University

 

Fri., 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

 

Session 3: Fri., 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.

A. The Cultural Politics of Art Against Convention

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Forget Your Desire:  The Cinema of Guy Maddin,” Kenneth White, Syracuse University
2. “The Politics of Screen Entertainment in Mexico and The U.S.:  A Cultural Analysis on Banned Films in ‘Democratic’ Societies,” María Teresa Martínez-Ortiz, Kansas State University
3. “Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes:  The Cultural Politics of J.K. Rowling’s Comic Relief,” Karin E. Westman, Kansas State University

B. The Pleasures of Print Culture

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Power to the People:  Guilty Pleasure and the Culture Industry,” Rachel Olsen, Kansas State University
2. “The Culture of Popular Magazines,” Natalie Scheidler, Kansas State University
3. “Whose Audience are We?  The High/Low Paradigm in Print Media,” Rebecca Targ, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

Session 4: Fri., 3:00 – 4:45 p.m.

A. Teen Cultures

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “The WarGames Scenario:  Regulating Teenagers and Teenaged Technology,” Stephanie Schulte
2. “The Blitz Kids and The Iron Lady:  The Thatcher Revolution and British Youth Culture,” Lorrie Carano, Universtiy of Missouri—Kansas City
3. “Thrashin’ in the Media:  Bam Margera’s Jackass, Tony Hawk, and The Mag,” David L. Murphy, Kansas State University

B. Transgressive Pleasure

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “‘I’m not a fucking drag queen’:  (Re)Negotiating Transgender Images in Hollywood and Independent Film,” Genevieve Critel, University of Oklahoma
2. “Pleasurable Performances:  The Instructive Capacity of Desire, Transgression, and Taboo,” Tara Pauliny, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
3. “He With the Shiniest Pants Wins:  The Corrective Spectacle of El Vez, The Mexican Elvis”, Karen Jean Martinson, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Fri., 8:00 p.m.

El Vez Performance

 

 

Saturday, March 10

 

Session 1: Sat., 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

A. Transnational Approaches to (Activist) Music

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Cuban Hip Hop:  Relocating Cultural Expressions by Escaping to Spaces for Identity,” Alberto Domingo González Valdés, Kansas State University
2. “The Music of Los Tigres del Norte as Grass-Roots Activism,” Mariana Rodriguez, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
3. “Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car: The Kitsch, Craft, and Postmodern Theology of U2,” Perry Lewis, University of Alaska

B. The Undead, Boredom, and other Horrors

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “A Silent Summons to Fruitful Toil:  Boredom and Leisure in Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters,” Angela Silva, Community College of Southern Nevada
2. “Someday My Prince Will Come Back from the Dead:  Negotiating Culture’s ‘Fundamental Fantasy,’” Stephanie Oliver, University of Western Ontario
3. “Showtime’s Masters of Horror Series:  New Horrors, Old Fears,” Jason Saphara, Colorado State University, Pueblo

Session 2: Sat., 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

A. Eraced Identities:  Female Agency as Periphery Within the Center

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Riding to the Beat of Flamenco:  Fugitivas and the Andalusian Female Road Movie,” Jorge Pérez, University of Kansas
2. “Surviving Adolescence:  The Image Youth in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film,” Parissa Tadrissi, College of Charleston
3. “Domesticating ‘Rosario’:  (Mis)Representations of the Salvadoran Maid in Film and Media,” Yajaira Padilla, University of Kansas

B. Representing Violence 

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “Using the Culture Industry Against Itself: V for Vendetta,” Sara Poe, Kansas State University
2. "Digital Democracies and the Documenting of 9/11," Stefanie Boese, University of Illinois at Chicago

 

Sat., 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

 

Session 3: Sat., 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.

A. Perspectives on Online Gaming

Union 206. Moderator: TBA.

1. “The Phenomenon of Online Gaming:  A Hybrid Culture in Postmodernity,” Russel Keck, Kansas State University
2. "Computer Games, Video Games, and the End of the World: A look at Patriarchy, Hegemony and the Power of the Gaze," Erin R. Tate
3. “Repetition and Simulation in Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games,” Kevin Eldred, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto

B. Femininity and Power

Union 207. Moderator: TBA.

1. “An American Woman Castaway in Buffalo Dress, Shoes, Gloves, and Hat,” Shawn Thomson, University of Texas-Pan American
2. “‘Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner’?:  Voice, Agency, and Coming of Age in Dirty Dancing,” Anne K. Phillips, Kansas State University
3. “‘With her jaunty hat and dotted lace veiil’:  The Meanings of Fashion in the Nineteenth-Century United States,” Amy Cummins, Fort Hays State University

 

Sat., 3:00 – 3:45 p.m.

Plenary Session: "What we Talk about when we Talk about Lil' Kim: Sexuality, Respectability and Black Feminist Futures," Fran Royster, DePaul University