*CALL FOR PAPERS*
*SCIENCE FICTION RESEARCH ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2018*
Sunday, July 1- Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI)
Conference Theme: *The Future of Labor*
*KEYNOTE SPEAKERS*
Peter Frase (author of *Four Futures)*
Rebekah Sheldon (author of *The Child to Come)*
The Science Fiction Research Association invites proposals for its 2018
annual conference, to be held on the campus of Marquette University in
Milwaukee, WI. In keeping with Milwaukee's long history as a site of labor
activism and union struggle, including the famous Bay View Massacre of
protestors striking for the eight-hour-workday and the longest Socialist
mayoral tenure in US history—as well as ongoing and increasingly urgent
global concerns about the rise of machine learning, artificial
intelligence, and autonomous robots—the overarching theme of SFRA 2018 will
be “The Future of Labor.” When machines think and work—at speeds and
efficiencies humans cannot match, and perhaps can no longer even
understand—what will become of human beings?
Possible subtopics might include:
· artificial intelligence, machine learning, and algorithmic
culture;
· the rise of the machines; automation and labor;
· the Singularity;
· drone warfare;
· automated and robotic care labor;
· the gig economy and hyperexploitiation;
· hyperexploitation and technology in the academy;
· automation and the digital economy;
· automation and the environment, especially climate change;
· automation and disability;
· automation and race, gender, sexuality, and class;
· nonhuman labor and nonhuman laborers;
· genetic manipulation, computer prosthesis, and other modes
of cognitive enhancement;
· games, gamificiation, and other brainhacks;
· universal basic income and other modes of postcapitalism;
· the politics of artificial intelligence, utopian,
dystopian, and otherwise;
· representations of nonhuman, robotic, artificially
intelligent, and postcapitalist labor across the last two centuries of
science fiction texts.
Of course we also welcome papers on topics relevant to science fiction
research broadly conceived that are not specifically related to the
conference theme.
Graduate students are encouraged to apply and attend; as with previous SFRA
conferences, the first day of conference programming will include
roundtables and workshops devoted to targeted at early-career teachers and
researchers working in SF studies and in the study of popular culture more
generally.
300-500 word abstracts should be sent to [log in to unmask] by March
30, 2018. Notification of acceptance will occur by April 15, 2018. We also
welcome submission of preconstituted panels and roundtables.
Questions concerning the call for papers can be directed to
[log in to unmask] with the subject line “CFP QUESTION,” or to the
conference’s local organizers, Gerry Canavan (Marquette University,
[log in to unmask]) and Peter Sands (UWM, [log in to unmask]).
*ABOUT MILWAUKEE*
Milwaukee is a lovely summertime destination, a city on a lake with
festivals nearly every week, a rich ethnic tradition reflected in
architecture, neighborhoods, and foods, and many worthwhile sights and
activities within a day’s drive, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin North
to the west, Chicago to the south, and Lake Michigan’s shoreline itself to
the east. It is also a perfect site to contemplate labor’s past and future:
the city has a long history with the labor movement and civil rights—from
the tragedy of the 1886 Bayview Massacre, in which seven people were killed
during a demonstration in favor of the eight-hour work day, to the late
1960s marches which led to Milwaukee being called “Selma of the North,” to
the longest-running Socialist administration in U.S. cities, one which
focused on “sewer socialism” in recognition of the needs for basic
infrastructure to support working people. Wisconsin itself was instrumental
in the development of the modern union movement and Robert LaFollette’s
Progressive movement, but has also been at the bleeding edge of the current
anti-union movement troubling labor throughout the United States. A perfect
place to labor over labor.
Marquette University is the home of the J.R.R. Tolkien manuscript
collection, containing the original manuscripts for *The Hobbit* and *The
Lord of the Rings. *As a conference bonus, conference attendees will be
invited to a lecture on the manuscript collection by the curator of the
collection, William Fleiss, which will include a display of some of the
collection’s greatest treatures. The conference will also be supported by
Marquette’s new interdisciplinary research hub, the Center for the
Advancement of the Humanities.
*LOGISTICS*
*Hotel:* Due to seasonal and holiday fluctuations in ticket prices, fully
furnished, single-occupancy dormitory rooms have been reserved for
conference attendees at low cost on Marquette’s campus. These rooms will be
significantly cheaper than a traditional conference hotel rate. Attendees
who wish to stay at a hotel anyway are advised to make their reservations
sooner rather than later due to the proximity of the July 4 holiday and to
the “Summerfest” music festival held in Milwaukee during the conference
dates.
*Travel: *Milwaukee is served by an international airport, airport code
MKE. Some travelers in search of lower fares and/or direct flights may
prefer to search at Chicago O’Hare (ORD), approximately 70 miles away and
accessible by train, bus, and rental car. The drive from O’Hare is very
easy, on a dedicated highway with very little traffic, and parking will be
available on Marquette’s campus for approximately $10/day.
*Food: *The conference will include two keynote lunches and an awards
banquet the last night. Marquette’s campus is a short, safe walk from
downtown Milwaukee with many dining options available there; there is also
a smaller area closer to campus called “Campustown” with a number of cheap,
good restaurants.
*Fees:* Conference fees are still being formalized but will be commensurate
with previous SFRA meetings.
Additional questions concerning logistics or the conference more generally
can be directed to the conference email address, [log in to unmask],
with the subject line “LOGISTICAL QUESTION,” or to the conference’s local
organizers, Gerry Canavan (Marquette University,
[log in to unmask]) and Peter Sands (UWM, [log in to unmask]).
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Gerry Canavan
Assistant Professor of 20th and 21st Century Literature
English Department, Marquette University
[log in to unmask]
http://www.gerrycanavan.com
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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu
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