CFP deadline: 1 May, 2015

The State and US Culture Industries conference

June 25-26, 2015

United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney

Following recent scholarship (Erin G. Carlston, William J. Maxwell, Timothy Melley) that renews questions of state power, national security, and cultural production, this conference seeks to appraise critically, from a range of disciplinary perspectives, the contemporary and historical interrelations between the state and the culture industries in the United States. Topics for exploration include:

the relationship between government agencies (such as the CIA, FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon) and media formats (such as novels, film, video games, social media, news, and television series);
the history of representations of the state and government agencies in various cultural forms;
the historiography of critical theory (Frankfurt School, Birmingham School) and the US nation-state;
the US state as cultural critic;
how culture industries shape, support, or criticise US foreign policy;
debates around cybersecurity, diplomacy, and media.

Outstanding papers will be invited to appear in a special journal issue.

Conference registration is free.

Travel bursaries are available for strong postgraduate proposals to help defray travel and accommodation costs.

Please email 250-word abstracts to rodney.taveira@sydney.edu.au by May 1, 2015.

Check ussc.edu.au/state_and_us_culture_industries for further information and updates.