Call for Participation:
Visual Culture Papers at the 2026 American Studies Association October 22-25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois
The Visual Culture Caucus (http://www.theasa.net/caucus_visual/) of the American Studies Association (ASA) promotes the participation of visual culture scholars at the ASA annual meeting. Within the theme “Improvisation” we are looking for papers and panels that investigate or interrogate visual culture in its many forms. We link potential panelists with shared interests in visual culture topics to encourage the formation of strong visual culture-related panels. We aim to host three proposed sessions, with one of these explicitly about the politics of racial representation. If you, your colleagues, or graduate students are considering proposals for the conference, please email us your panel idea or paper abstract and we will work to connect you with similar panelists and papers. We are also happy to offer suggestions on complete panel proposals. Topics might include a variety of visual practices outside of the art world as well as those that seek to transform what is possible within the privileged space of the gallery, creative films, filmmaking, and television; the Internet and social media; methods of studying visual culture; and the instruction of visual culture across various disciplines and cultural contexts.
Please read about each of the submission options below and, if interested, send the materials requested to both co-chairs of the Visual Culture Caucus, Rebecca Kumar (rebecca.kumar@spelman.edu) and Carmen Merport Quiñones (cmerport@oberlin.edu) by February 15, 2026. Please put either “ASA proposal for scholarly paper/panel” or “ASA proposal politics of racial representation roundtable ” in the subject line. If you are particularly interested in helping locate other potential participants in a panel, please reach out as soon as possible.
The VCC will provide its decision on sponsored panels and roundtable participants by February 25. Panelists will then be responsible for following all posted instructions and for submitting their own panels or papers in proper ASA format to the ASA by the ASA deadline (March 1). For more ASA instructions on proposal submission, see: https://www.theasa.net/node/5681
Visual Culture Caucus Panel Sessions:
The “Improvisation” theme of this year’s conference asks us to consider “the ruins of what has been broken” while still “dar[ing] to imagine what might be built next.” It focuses on collaboration, experimentation, and creativity in light of the intersecting catastrophes of the present, on the urgent need for transformation. We hope to form two panels:
1. The Visual Culture Caucus invites proposals for conference papers/panels, especially from emerging scholars, that address this wide-ranging conference theme through analysis of visual practices that reflect past, present, and even future forms of creative interventions responding to injustice and social crisis. Please submit a paper abstract (maximum of 500 words per abstract), a 350-word (or less) biographical statement, and an abbreviated CV.
Some possible themes include, but are not limited to:
-Resistant and/or reparative mass cultural representation
-Speculative and futurist practice in the margins
-Social change through social media
-Alternative and community print and broadcasting media
-Collaboration and collective artistry
-Visuality and vision in sacred spaces
-Visual representations of activists and activism
-Creative approaches to counter-surveillance
2. The VCC also invites proposals for conference papers/panels, especially from emerging scholars, that address the conference theme with an eye toward film and television. Not only are we seeking work delineating the contours of the current visual order but we also welcome submissions on the material conditions/limitations/possibilities of visual cultural production.
3. Visual Culture Caucus – Politics of Racial Representation Roundtable: The VCC welcomes brief proposals (including individual submissions) for participation in a roundtable on visual culture centered on the politics of racial representation, broadly speaking. Topics might include classroom methods, exhibitions, film festivals, televisual culture, museum culture, social media, news media, and AI. We particularly welcome work that thinks about how visual culture is documenting and contesting our political moment. We also welcome alternative format presentations, i.e. show-and-tell or visual play. The session will feature short presentations by participants followed by a moderated discussion. Please submit a proposal or paper abstract (max 500 words), a 350-word (or less) biographical statement, and an abbreviated CV.
Contact Information
Carmen Merport Quiñones
Contact Email
URL
https://www.theasa.net/communities/caucuses/visual-culture-caucus
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