Abstracts are an academic genre of writing; they offer a summary of the argument that the author plans to make, usually in response to a specific CFP (Call for Papers). The purpose of this abstract is to do the following:
Show the conference organizers that your talk fits the theme and scope of the conference.
Lay out the argument you are intending to make. This means establishing the following
What text/texts (fandom) do you intend to discuss;
Your theoretical investment/approach;
What, specially, you intend to argue about the texts—essentially, what ideas will you be exploring;
Positioning your work in the field—this may include some name dropping of scholars and theorists.
An abstract is a pitch to sell your ideas to the conference organizers, as you write yours, be mindful of the following:
The word count: Do not exceed it, but you also don’t want to write too little either. A very short abstract might signal to conference organizers that you don’t have much to say about your topic. You want to keep your abstract specific, but concise.
Write in present tense: Very often, scholars pitch papers that they haven’t written yet. Even if that is the case, write your abstracts as if the paper has already been written (“this presentation argues…” not “this presentation will argue…”)
The CFP: It is always good if you can echo some of the language from the CFP in your proposal. You don’t want to plagiarize the CFP but pull out the key words from it that matches your approach best. This shows the organizers that your paper is a good fit.
Sample CFPs
NEPCA: Fan, Fandoms, and Celebrity Studies
Current Chair: Shelly Jones, SUNY Delhi, This area encourages submissions that focus on interrogating the ideas and the ideals of fans and fandoms, and why we idolize celebrities. We welcome submissions from all theoretical and philosophical perspectives. We are open to submissions in any area of fan and celebrity studies including but not limited to:
Creation and authenticity of fandoms
Fandoms, diversity and inclusion
Celebrity marketing, advertising, and public relations
Social media use and celebrity status
Defining fandoms
Fandoms and politics
Celebrities and illness
Sport fandoms and celebrities
Issues of fame and what it means to be famous in our culture
Fandom comparisons between cultures
Trust and value of celebrity
An individual celebrity
Submissions for the 2024 FSNNA Conference
FSNNA warmly welcomes submissions from early career researchers, graduate students, and independent scholars, as well as established scholars. Likewise, contributions are welcomed from across disciplines and need not be limited to just fan studies: we are interested in work from media studies, the humanities, the social sciences, library science, and more.
In the interest of making our discussion as vibrant, inclusive, and interdisciplinary as possible, we’ve decided not to list specific topics this year. Instead, we encourage contributions that consider all forms of fandom.
This may include specific media texts (e.g., film, television, print texts/series, games, video streaming, etc.), other fan-objects (e.g., sports, music, celebrity culture, etc.), specific national or regional contexts, theoretical approaches to studying fandom, investigations of fanwork genres or fan practices, and more.
The fandom I have chosen is the One Direction fandom!
