Call for Papers: The Atomic Age

First-Round Panel Proposals and Abstracts by 11/1/07



The Biennial 2008 Film & History  Conference

Chicago, October 30-November 2, 2008



Proposals for papers are now being accepted for The Atomic Age area at the 

biennial 2008 Film & History Conference in Chicago. This area investigates 

the impact of the nuclear age (1940s to the present) on society as 

portrayed through film and television. After the creation of the atom bomb 

and its use against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, nuclear arms, 

energy, and science were the subject of countless films across a wide range 

of genres, from Godzilla and Dr. Strangelove to The Day After and 24. How 

did the movies respond to the atomic age? How did they represent nuclear 

science and scientists? Did Atomic Age films exaggerate or dismiss the 

dangers of nuclear weapons and energy? How did social or political events 

concerning atomic energy make their way into film?  And, in turn, how did 

such films affect national policy or civic character?



These are just a few questions to be addressed in this area. Presentations 

can, for example, feature analyses of individual films and/or TV programs 

from historical perspectives, surveys of documents related to the 

production of films, or investigations of nuclear history and culture as 

explored through film.



Genres could include films attempting to define atomic history, Hollywood 

blockbusters, TV programs or mini-series, science-fiction, propaganda, 

instructional films, documentaries, docudramas, newsreels and broadcast 

media, war films, national cinemas, music videos, avant-garde films, 

actualities, and direct cinema.



Panel topics might include atomic war, national security and secrecy, 

atomic espionage, ethics and morals, reel representations of atomic science 

and scientists, peaceful applications of nuclear power, atomic fantasies, 

nuclear dystopia, civil defense, myths, nuclear terrorism, government and 

institutions, the anti-nuclear movement, nuclear accidents and 

near-disasters, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in memory and post-memory, religion 

and spirituality, medicine, health, safety, environment, gender, ethnicity, 

race, class, atomic nostalgia, nuclear testing, mutations, pedagogy, etc. 

Topics not included here are also welcome!



If you wish to form your own panel within The Atomic Age area, I would be 

glad to facilitate your needs.  Roundtable sessions and international 

participation are also encouraged!



Please send 100-200 word abstracts and proposals for panels via email by 

11/1/07 to:



Christoph Laucht, Chair of the Atomic Age Area

School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies

University of Liverpool

Chatham Street

Liverpool

L69 7ZR

United Kingdom

Phone: ++44(0)151-794-2404

Email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]

For general information, online registration, and regular updates see: 

<http://www.filmandhistory.org>http://www.filmandhistory.org



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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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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the

University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu