This special thematic dossier aims to offer different explorations and analyses of the ways in which US popular culture texts can offer both positive and negative representations of the STEM fields in connection to gender. We are looking for intersectional approaches that go beyond ‘white feminism’ and beyond a limited understanding of gender, paying attention to gender-nonconforming individuals, class-related issues, neurodivergence, and any instances of othered bodies in fictional and non-fictional popular culture from the United States.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
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The interrelationship between STEM, gender, and popular culture
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Representation of STEM in popular culture
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How popular culture representations of STEM and gender operate within the struggle for power among culture, ideology, and subculture
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Othered bodies: marginalization versus intersectionality in science and technology dissemination
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Race/Ethnicity and STEM with a gender perspective
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Representations of women, non-binary people, and non-normative gender explorations in sci-fi
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Pedagogy and education
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Digital technology and virtual realities as safe spaces for marginalized groups
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The use of science and technology in depictions of the future as critiques or reevaluations of current realities
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Cyborgs, AI, and the human
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Representation of health issues and technological advancement
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The gender gap through the science and technology behind superhero narratives
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Relevance of gender representation and STEM in hybrid genre narratives
We will publish two separate dossiers:
Deadline for submission: May 8, 2022 | to be published in vol 4 no 1 (Nov. 2022): Focused on films, TV series, comics and graphic novels, and genre fiction.
Deadline for submission: October 15, 2022 | DIGITAL MEDIA | to be published in vol 4 no 2 (May 2023): Focused on video games, new media narratives (i.e.: Twitter threads, meme accounts…), YouTube channels, and other productions within the digital realm.