Game of Thrones – An International Conference - All abstracts and proposals by 30 March 2017
http://www.herts.ac.uk/about-us/events/2017/september/game-of-thrones-an-international-conference
CFP: Game of Thrones – An International Conference - 6-8 September 2017
Looking for practitioners, actors, theorists, script writers to come and give a presentation. Or if you know anyone involved with Game of Thrones or has a subject based on the Game of Thrones Universe that they which to express then please nudge them to get in contact with Kim Akass at GOTconf2017@herts.ac.uk. Short abstracts (250 words + bio) are invited on any Game of Thrones related subject by 30 March 2017.
Organised by Ms Kim Akass - Deadline for proposals: 30 March 2017
Email - GOTconf2017@herts.ac.uk
University of Hertfordshire, School of Creative Arts, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB
Widely rumoured to be moving into its final season, HBO’s Game of Thrones (2011- ) has enjoyed 6 years of global popularity, attracting international scholarly and critical attention and reaching record-breaking audiences. Famously adapted from George R.R. Martin’s book series, ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, HBO’s medieval fantasy world spans two continents, Westeros and Essos, and focuses on the power struggles between competing dynasties for possession of the Iron Throne and ultimate power over the Seven Kingdoms. It is not only political intrigue that threatens the inhabitants of this world, however, as dragons, witches, giants and whitewalkers also stalk its shores.
Not just a simple fantasy series, Game of Thrones has been likened to ‘The Sopranos in Middle-Earth’ by showrunner David Benioff and is notorious for its controversial storylines, particularly those centred on its women. Rape, incest and power brokering through marriage reveal a patriarchal society in which political intrigue is not always gendered but inevitably leads to uneasy alliances between families - both friend and foe – and violent ends for many. Game of Thrones continues to enrage and enthral a global audience unsure if the series is misogynist, feminist or anti-feminist; or an uncomfortable blend of all three.
Populated by a large ensemble cast (reputedly the largest on television today), Game of Thrones is filmed in many global locations: Belfast to Morrocco and Dubrovnik to Iceland, the series has impacted upon the tourist economies as well as providing employment for a vast array of ‘behind-the scenes’ personnel from post production and special effects designers through to technicians, production designers, directors and producers to camera operators, editors and carpenters (to name but a few). The series has also spawned a vast merchandising enterprise from models to games and comics to spin-off books. In short, the production of Game of Thrones has played a large part in the creative industries since 2010 through the many employment opportunities it has offered transnationally.
This international conference invites proposals on a wide range of subjects. While there have been several significant studies on the series and its adaptation from literature to television as well as its multimedia engagements, most notably: Gjelsvik, Anne & Schubart, Rikke (Eds.) Women of Ice and Fire: Gender, Game of Thrones, and Multiple Media Engagements, Bloomsbury, 2016; Battis, Jes and Johnston, Susan (Eds.), Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, McFarland, 2015 and Lozano Delmar, Javier; Raya Bravo, Irene; López Rodríguez, Francisco Javier (Eds.), Reyes, Espadas, Cuervos Y Dragones. Estudio Del Fenómeno Televisivo Juego De Tronos. Madrid, Fragua. Colección Fragua Comunicación, 2013 (to name but three).
This conference aims to widen the scope to include contributions from all aspects of the creative industries. We hope this conference will offer an opportunity to open up the discussion, make links between practitioners and theorists, industry personnel and critics as well as key creative personnel who have worked on the series.
Short abstracts (250 words + bio) are invited on any Game of Thrones related subject by 30 March 2017. Varied presentation styles are encouraged, including formal papers (20 mins), fully formed panels, poster and digital presentations as well as roundtable discussions, short/lightning presentations (5 mins) and PechaKucha (20X20). Proposals for fully formed sessions will also be considered. All abstracts and proposals will be peer-reviewed and a response will be sent by 31 May 2017.
Keynotes will be announced in the near future and publishing opportunities are currently being sought.
More details to follow soon.
Replies
Thanks for the heads up. I copied it pasted it from an internal research page that Kim Akass is organizing. I spoke to her today and she is currently collecting abstracts (250 words + bio) on any Game of Thrones related subject by 30 March 2017 and then the researchers will root through all the abstracts. She has actors, script writers, practitioners, theorists even set builders from the show, so its going to be a three day gathering for the hard core Game of Thrones fans. Her past events have been excellent, Dr Who was her last event.
Added the following to the top. Looking for practitioners, actors, theorists, script writers to come and give a presentation. Or if you know anyone involved with Game of Thrones or has a subject they which to express then please nudge them to get in contact with Kim Akass at GOTconf2017@herts.ac.uk
Organised by Ms Kim Akass - Deadline for proposals: 30 March 2017
New email - GOTconf2017@herts.ac.uk
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: http://www.herts.ac.uk/about-us/events/2017/september/game-of-thrones-an-international-conference
DAY ONE: WEDNESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2017
9.00-9.30 Coffee and Registration
9.30-9.45 Opening Remarks
9.45-11.15 KEYNOTE 1 – Professor Anne Gjelsvik – ‘The Hall of Faces in Game of Thrones: Facing the Changes from Words to Images’
11.15-11.30 Coffee
11.30-1.15 PARALLEL PANELS X 2
Panel 1 - Transmedia and World Building
Ian Sturrock. Games of Ice and Fire: Close reading the themes of Game of Thrones through analogue and digital play.
Alexander Sergeant. Across the Narrow Screen: Televisual World-Building in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Andrew Lynch. Watercooler Westeros: After the Thrones as transmedia Quality paratext.
Rachel Mizsei Ward. ‘ We’re going to need a bigger box of red crayons’ – Adapting Game of Thrones for the adult colouring book market.
Panel 2 – Politics and Power
Giancarol M Sandoval. Jon Snow vs Laura Roslin: The demise of democracy’s representation in Game of Throne.s
Cason Murphy. ‘Get thee to a Mummery’: Power, Politics and Performance in A Song of Ice and Fire.
Luisa Valeriani. The Dialectical Image of a Paradigm Shift.
1.15-2.00 Lunch
2.00-3.45 PARALLEL PANELS X 2
Panel 3 – Virtual Westeros
Julie Escurigan, Briony Hannell, Amanda DiGioia, Rose Butler. ‘Virtual Westeros’: Fan Practices in the Online Game of Thrones Universe.
Panel 4 – Adaptation and Transtextuality
Eve Smith. What if Richard had left the princes with their mother rather than putting them in the tower? Oh wait, isn’t that the plot of Game of Thrones?: Shakespearean transtextuality in Game of Thrones fandom.
Amanda Potter. Classical Heroines in HBO’s Game of Thrones: Iphigenia and Medea in Westeros.
Stella Louis. The Accursed Kings or the ‘original Game of Thrones’: from the national Maurice Druon’s work and its 1972 French TV adaptation to a fascinating hybrid produce of popular culture.
Emre Tuncel. Game of Thrones and Greek Katabasis myth.
3.45-4.15 Tea and Refreshments
4.15-5.45 PARALLEL PANELS X 2
Panel 5 – Fans and Viewing Practices
Héctor J. Pérez. Fan Theories and Aesthetic Consciousness: On Jon Snow’s Death and Resurrection.
Kingka Jakabffy and Joan Ramon Rodriguez-Amat. Games of Piracy and Fandom: Technology, Copyright and Industry.
Zoë Shacklock. Embodied Spectatorship and the Game of Thrones reaction video.
Panel 6 – History, Heritage and Tourism
Daniel Clarke. Westeros via Belfast: faux-authenticity and the heritage experience of HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Nicholas Furze. Time through a lens: Game of Thrones, a modern perception of Late-Medieval Life.
Niamh Kirk: From fantasty to reality: Representations of Northern Ireland and Ireland in media coverage of Game of Thrones.
6.00-7.00pm Launch of the George R. R. Martin Society and conference dinner 7.30-LATE.
DAY TWO: THURSDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 2017
9.00-9.30 Coffee and Registration
9.30-11.00 KEYNOTE 2 – Associate Professor Rikke Schubert – ‘Broken Things, Women and Change: Game of Thrones and Playing with Existential Explosive Plasticity’
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-1.00 PARALLEL PANELS X 2
Panel 7 – International Audiences
Florencia García-Rapp. The fourth wall and 'The Wall': A cross-cultural reception analysis of Game of Thrones.
Carolina Assunção e Alves, Carolina Vieira Rocha de Sousa and Isadora Viana Valle de Oliveira. The repercussions of Game of Thrones in Brazil: Content production and publicization in convergence culture.
Carmen Spanò. Audience Engagement with Multi-Level Fictional Universes: The case of Game of Thrones as a Comparative Study between Italy and New Zealand.
Panel 8 – Representation 1
Rosser Johnson. Legitimacy and being female: character arcs and storyline convergence in Season 6 of Game of Thrones.
Olivia Hinkin. Representations of Incest within Game of Thrones.
Lidiane Nunes de Castro. Daenerys Targaryen and female empowerment.
1.00-2.00 Lunch
2.00-3.30 PARALLEL PANELS X 2
Panel 9 – Death and Trauma
Matteo Barbagallo. The one we are living in: Westeros and the dantesque interpretation of Death
Simon Born. Valar morghulis – Representations of Death and Dying in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Ben Tyrer. Fantasy Decomposed: Traumatic desire and (dis)integration in Game of Thrones.
Panel 10 – Representation 2
Ronaldo Henn & Christian Gonzatti. Game of Thrones and Journalism: the emergence of feminist collectives in Brazilian digital pop culture.
Debra Ferreday. The Revenge of Sansa Stark: rape-revenge narratives and the cultural politics of gendered spectatorship.
William Proctor. I Spit on Your Throne: The Rape-Revenge of Sansa Stark
3.30-4.00 Tea
4.00-5.30 KEYNOTE 3 – Professor Martin Barker – Questeros Round Table - ‘Letting the smallfolk speak: a first report from the International Game of Thrones Audience Project’
5.30-6.00 Closing Remarks
6.00pm Conference Close
Best wishes
Kim Akass, Conference Organiser
Senior Lecturer in Film and TV
Leader Media Research Group
School of Creative Arts
University of Hertfordshire
College Lane
Hatfield
Herts, AL10 9AB
switchboard: 01707 284000 X5329
direct line: 01707 285329
Latest Article: 'The Show that Refused to Die: The Rise and Fall of AMC's The Killing' in Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. 29.5 (2015).