The Third annual Fandom and Neomedia Studies (FANS) Conference will be held in Dallas, TX, on 6 and 7 June 2015. It is now accepting paper proposals.

Fandom for us includes all aspects of being a fan, ranging from being a passive audience member to producing one’s own parafictive or interfictive creations. Neomedia includes both new media as it is customarily defined as well as new ways of using and conceptualizing traditional media. FANS is an interdisciplinary group, including historians, psychologists, geologists, writers, and independent scholars.  Submissions are welcome from professors, students, and independent researchers. Topics may come from anime, manga, science fiction, television series, movies, radio, performing arts, or any other popular culture phenomenon and their respective fandom groups.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words must be submitted by 15 April 2015. Please also include your CV. Authors accepted for the conference will be notified by 26 April 2015. Successful submissions to the conference will also be published in the July edition of The Phoenix Papers, a quarterly peer-reviewed journal. If you wish to submit a paper for inclusion in the journal but not for conference consideration, the same requirements and deadlines apply but no registration fee is required. Please indicate your preference in your submission email. Because conference papers will be included in our journal, they must conform to our Style Guide. Presentations will be 20 minutes long with 10 minutes for Q&A sessions. The Sunday sessions will be given over to extended discussion on the three most popular topics from the Saturday presentations and a final “How Did We Do?” panel.

This year’s FANS event will be held at the Dallas Hilton Anatole Hotel. Conference pre-registration is $60 and includes a Saturday luncheon. Pre-registration closes on 26 April 2014. Pre-registration includes a full weekend pass to A-Kon 26, which will provide an excellent opportunity for in-person research into anime and manga fandoms. All presenters must pre-register. Information for the hotel can be found here.

Please use the Contact Us page should you have any questions. All submissions should be sent to fansconference@gmail.com