Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Queerness and Games Conference 2015, call for proposals, due by July 1


The good folks at QGCon at UC Berkeley need YOUR session proposals for their third year running. I participated in the first year it ran, 2013, and I enjoyed the mix of scholarly rigor and casual atmosphere, there a pleasant mix of academics and not-academics that's very refreshing.

You can be a super academic-y academic and present a paper, or you can talk about a game you made, or discuss a specific games community you're part of, or even relate your personal experience with games and/or run a workshop. They're pretty accommodating and welcoming and supportive, even if you've never given a talk before. It's also pretty unique, there's really no other conference on the circuit that even tries to approach these topics.

I highly recommend submitting a proposal by July 1st, especially if you live around the Bay Area or along the west coast, it's just a short trip over.

Here's an excerpt of the call:
The Queerness and Games Conference
October 16-18, 2015, UC Berkeley

The Queerness and Games Conference is an annual, community-oriented, nationally-recognized event dedicated to exploring the intersection of LGBTQ issues and video games.Accessibility, inclusion, and creativity are key values of QGCon. We seek to foster dialogue between scholars, game developers, and game players. That makes QGCon different from many other conferences, and it means the audiences for your presentations will be diverse. We encourage you to envision talks that are welcoming and engaging for attendees of all backgrounds. To get a sense for the tone of QGCon talks, feel free to check out the recordings of the 2014 and 2013 sessions. Proposals that incorporate opportunities for interaction and/or play are especially appreciated.

QGCon embraces an intersectional approach to queerness. We welcome submissions that address topics of gender, race, ability, body type, and class. This work reminds us that the struggles (and victories) of those of us who play from the margins are interconnected struggles.

What type of talk can I propose?
– Sessions types include presentations, panels, micro talks, workshops, roundtables, and performances
– You may propose to present solo, in pairs, or in small groups
– Let us know how much time you would like for your presentation. Solo talks normally run between 20 and 60 minutes, while workshops and performances sometimes need more time.