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Paper Awards

MPCA/ACA Competitive Paper Award

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Description: The Midwest Popular Culture / American Culture Association welcomes submissions for its conference paper competition. The deadline for entry is August 1, before the conference. Papers should be sent to the appropriate email address below.

Amount: Award (1)

 

Competitive Award Category for 2026:

Indiana Contemporary Popular Culture

 

This call invites papers that examine Indiana, and particularly Muncie, as a meaningful site of popular culture production, circulation, and fandom. Long framed as “Middletown” through landmark sociological studies, Muncie occupies a distinctive position in American cultural imagination as both a lived community and a symbolic reference point for national norms. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches that engage with areas such as regional media, sports fandom, comics, community arts, the city’s industrial and post-industrial histories, and more! Submissions should offer critical insight into broader questions within popular culture and fandom studies.

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Diversity Paper Award Category for 2026:

Diverse Perspectives in Pop Culture from 2020 to Present

 

This call invites papers that examine diversity in popular culture from 2020 to the present, a period marked by heightened public discourse around race, gender, sexuality, disability, class, nationality, and intersectionality. We welcome analyses that engage with media texts, fan practices, cultural industries, and digital platforms emerging in or reshaped by the post-2020 sociopolitical landscape, including movements for racial justice, pandemic-era cultural production, and evolving debates around representation and inclusion. Submissions should offer critical insight into broader questions within popular culture and fandom studies.

 

Submission Process for Paper Awards

  1. To be considered for the competition, submitters must first submit a proposal to any area of the conference. If the proposal is accepted for the conference, the presenter must submit a completed paper to the award committee.

  2. In the title page (separate from the remainder of the document), include the name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation(s), and contact information. All author references must be removed from the text of the paper. In addition, the author(s) are required to state the category that they are entering. For papers that cross boundaries, one should use one’s best judgment regarding the overall thesis of the paper and its contribution to popular culture studies.

  3. Competitive papers should range between 15 and 25 pages of double-spaced text in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, including all images, endnotes, and Works Cited pages. Papers should be written in clear US English in the active voice and in a style accessible to the broadest possible audience.

  4. Winners will be determined by a selection committee appointed by MPCA/ACA.

  5. Applicants who do not receive the Award are still expected to attend the conference. ​

Send your email to: Awards@mpcaaca.org. The deadline for receipt of submissions is August 1 of the year of the conference.

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Paper Guidelines:

MPCA consists of scholars from across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Thus, completed papers should be written for a general scholarly audience.

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Conference presentations may take the form of an informal talk or a more formal speech (or reading). The former is common in the social sciences and in presentations that use charts or graphs, or that discuss art, music, or other media forms.  In the latter format, presenters frequently read a paper; this is more common in the humanities.  Some presenters read formal papers, while others read a more accessible “reading version” of a formal paper.

 

Entrants may present a paper in any format they choose, and are encouraged to consult with their professors regarding presentation style.  Papers may use any style (MLA, APA, etc.). The length of the paper can vary depending on how it will be presented.  If the paper will be read, it should be the appropriate “reading length” for a 15-minute panel presentation; this is typically about seven pages (two minutes per double-spaced page, excluding notes/bibliography).  If, on the other hand, the paper won’t be read, but is the basis of a talk/presentation, then longer papers may be submitted.  While there is no page limit, it is assumed that the content of the paper can be presented in 15 minutes.  In other words, the paper will be evaluated based on the assumption that it will be condensed into a 15-minute presentation.  Thus, if a presentation is based on a lengthy research project – for example, a senior thesis – the committee would recommend submitting a shortened “reading version” for the competition.

 

Please only submit to 1 award or grant category. Submissions to more than one category will not be selected.

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