Listen Up, Potter-philiacs! Important Announcement for those with Important Thoughts to Share on the Hogwarts Saga: UNC Charlotte’s Harry Potter club is sponsoring the second annual Potter watch this April and you need to send in your talk descriptions now… Here is the letter I received from Michael Burson, the head of the club:
Hi, Mr. Granger, and Happy New Year!
My name is Michael Burson and I would like to announce the second annual Potter Watch Conference, Potter Watch 2013, taking place at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on April 6, 2013! The conference is being put together by the members of Potter Watch, the Official Harry Potter Club of UNC Charlotte, and we are so happy to be able to hold our conference for the second year
running!
Potter Watch was founded in 2008 and is dedicated to bringing Harry Potter fans at UNC Charlotte together to celebrate the books and films, discuss theories, share news, and hold great events like our annual Deathday Party, Yule Ball, Triwizard Tournament, and End of Year Feast.
At our conference last year, we had participants come from 4 states and over 11 universities and we hope to increase that number this year. We were also fortunate to have Dr. Amy H Sturgis, noted Harry Potter scholar, as our Key Note Speaker. We are currently contacting individuals to be key note this year.
We are already in the process of accepting papers to be read by their authors at Potter Watch 2013. The main focus of the conference will be on ways the fandom has changed over the years and where we think it is moving in the future. However, we will accept papers from any area of discussion, from literary to sociological to religious.
The information about the conference, our Call for Papers, how to submit, and how to get to UNC Charlotte can all be found on our website: http://www.potterwatchconference.com/
We would be honored and so grateful for you and your staff to help us get the word out about this conference. The name John Granger is pretty much synonymous with Harry Potter Smart Talk, and we would be so grateful for any help you can give us in getting the word out about the conference.
Thank you so much for your time and please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for us.
Thanks again!
Michael Burson
Founder and Former President of Potter Watch
mburson@uncc.edu
Let’s get on this right away — and make Potter watch 2013 our first official HogwartsProfessor get together of the year. What will you be talking about?
Anyone submitting? I’m trying to decide (I just wish I knew whether the JMU symposium would get rescheduled, and if so when – don’t want to use my proposal for it for UNCC if it’s going to happen after all…) The fact that I’m co-heading a panel on “The Librarian in the Imaginative Fictions” at a library conference this summer means I don’t want to overload myself with presentations to prep – but I do need something to replace the JMU symposium not happening last fall…
I am wondering the same thing. I would certainly love to go.
I have an idea for a proposal still brewing around in my mind (that will at the very least be an essay I request for guest publication here, if I ever finish it), but I’m not sure it’s only 10-15 minutes of material, and as a West Coast Dweller, I’m not sure a trip to NC would be worth it for me… Unfortunately. The saturation of HP east coast vs. west coast is a bit disappointing. Then again, I’ve become involved in the HP fanfiction community, and my timezone is horrifically under-represented.
Rochelle – check and see if they would let you present by Skype… And re: the length – I had to chop my last presentation down to fit the time as well – it might not be as hard as you fear (in my case I chopped out more of the stuff only librarians would be interested in, and ended up adding it back in for a later local library presentation, so it was not for nought)
That’s an interesting idea, Alison! Wouldn’t have thought of it. I might just have to check. 🙂 My idea requires a bit of a base knowledge of literary alchemy and ring composition – sort of taking that in a new direction – and I had planned in 10-15 minutes of a crash course in that before taking on my own addition… not sure if it would work, but we’ll see I guess.
I only thought about Skype because there was a couple of presentations presented that way at the JMU symposium back in 2011 – and I’m pretty sure the conference at St. Andrews (? I think that was it) last year had said folks could present virtually as well… So it seems to be a direction that conferences are moving… (I just learned this morning of a completely online Biblical studies and theology conference that is being held this May!)
Will the procdeeings be published on-line or in a book? How will the submissions be reviewed?