The University of San Diego’s Copley Library invites proposals for our inaugural Comic Studies & Practices Symposium (CSPS) to be held mid-July 2022 on the beautiful USD campus in San Diego, California.

CSPS is designed to complement existing conference offerings like Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians (CCEL) by providing a higher education-focused space for approximately 150 LIS professionals, scholars, & graduate students to discuss comics studies and practice. Due to generous funding from the SCELC Project Initiatives Fund (SPIF), registration fees will be no more than $50 for general attendees. Accepted presenters will receive a special discounted registration code.

We welcome proposals addressing, but not limited to:
~Collections (management, acquisitions, etc.)
~Academic & Pleasure Uses of Comics/Comic Studies (teaching, comics in pop culture, derivative use of comic characters, etc.)
~Cataloging/Technical Services (subject analysis, metadata, discovery, etc.)
~Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (representation, critical analysis, etc.)
~Archival or historical comic studies (representation, collections, etc.)

**We’re using comics & comics studies to encompass comics, graphic novels, manga, webtoons, and other sequential arts.**

Session formats include:
45 minute interactive session with 15 minute Q&A
45 minute roundtable discussion with 15 minute Q&A
15 minute poster session

We encourage a wide variety of proposals from LIS professionals, scholars & graduate students. Proposals from those identifying as a member of an underrepresented population (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, disability, etc.) are especially encouraged.

Proposals due: Monday, December 13, 2021 at 11:59pm PT
Initial notification of acceptance or rejection: February 2022--