Proposals for individual papers and panels are being accepted for the newly revised Material Culture and the Built Environment Area of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference, 11 – 14 February 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Material Culture and the Built Environment Area explores various ways that we shape and are shaped by man-made environments and objects. Presentations in this area may address any type of architecture or material good. This includes, but is not limited to, the impact of environmental conditions or cultural developments (including social, ideological, political, or technological) on the design of spaces (buildings or landscapes) or products. Topics from any time period or culture are welcomed. Those relating to the U.S. Southwest (architecture in particular) are especially desired as there is an opportunity for papers in this subcategory to be published in a future issue of the Journal of the Southwest. (Any paper presented in this area may be submitted for possible publication in the SWPACA’s new peerreviewed, quarterly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy. 

Proposals are welcomed for individual papers, full panels, or round-table discussions from faculty, graduate students, independent scholars and other experts in an area of the built environment or material culture. This is a great conference for young scholars and those working on topics relating to popular American culture. Graduate students should note that there is a series of awards available for the highest quality graduate student papers presented at the conference. 

Individual proposal abstracts should be 250 words, along with a CV. Panel proposals should include an abstract and CV for each proposed presenter. Submit abstracts to the SWPACA database by 1 November 2014. Please contact the area chair, Lisa D. Schrenk at lschrenk at email.arizona.edu, with any questions regarding potential submissions.