Call for Papers
THE FUTURE OF GENOCIDE AND REPRESSION Area
“Film and Science: Fictions, Documentaries, and Beyond”
October 30-November 2, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
<http://www.filmandhistory.org/>www.filmandhistory.org
First-Round Deadline: November 1, 2007

The atrocities and injustices of communism, imperialism, Nazism, and 
religious fanaticism have become models for how film and television portray 
the future of totalitarian regimes­their economic exploitation, genetic 
engineering, indoctrination, oppression, genocide.  References to current 
or historical repressive policies appear in the dialogue, images, plots, 
and soundtracks of films like Alien Nation, Blade Runner, A Clockwork 
Orange,  Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaiden’s Tale, The Island, 1984, 
Ultraviolet, V for Vendetta, and X-Men.

This area examines how cinema and television connect human rights abuses in 
future societies with past or present crimes against humanity.  Panel 
presentations can interpret how individual films, programs, or series draw 
these parallels and advocate forms resistance to such policies.  Papers 
also could compare and contrast how several films, programs, or series have 
handled the same topic.  Another approach might analyze the influence of 
genre (i.e. action adventure, comedy, drama, horror, science fiction, etc) 
on the portrayal of these themes.

Paper topics might include ecological decimation, encounters between 
indigenous and alien societies, eugenic attempts to create inferior and 
superior classes, euthanasia, genocide, medical experimentation, robotics, 
technological surveillance, terrorism, and war.

Please send your 200 word proposal by November 1, 2007 to

Lawrence Baron, Chair, “Future of Genocide and Repression” Area
Department of History, San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182  USA
Phone: 619-594-5338
Email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]

Panel proposals for up to four presenters are also welcome, but each 
presenter must submit his or her own paper proposal. Deadline for 
first-round proposals: November 1, 2007

This area, comprising multiple panels, is a part of the 2008 biennial Film 
& History Conference, sponsored by The Center for the Study of Film and 
History. Speakers will include founder John O’Connor and editor Peter C. 
Rollins (in a ceremony to celebrate the transfer to the University of 
Wisconsin Oshkosh); Wheeler Winston Dixon, author of Visions of the 
Apocalypse, Disaster and Memory, and Lost in the Fifties: Recovering 
Phantom Hollywood; Emmy award-winning writer and producer John Rubin, and 
special-effects legend Stan Winston, our Keynote Speaker.  For updates and 
registration information about the upcoming meeting, see the Film & History 
website (http://www.filmandhistory.org).

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