Harry Potter and Crossover Audiences
the 2011 PotterWatch Conference at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
April 9, 2011
Charlotte, NC
Call for Papers
The Harry Potter series has been translated into more than 60 languages, inspired a multi-million dollar theme park, and prompted the creation of an “International Quidditch Association” comprised of hundreds of teams. What began as a British children’s book became an international best-selling series. Much of the success of the novels can be attributed to crossover appeal—how Harry is loved by audiences of a variety of ages, genders, and religions. How do the books speak to so many different, sometimes opposing, audiences? Why do we love Harry so much?
PotterWatch, the official Harry Potter club of UNC Charlotte, will be hosting an academic conference focusing on the theme of audiences within the Harry Potter series and fandom. We invite submissions of paper and panel proposals that address the theme of audience and crossover appeal in relation to the Harry Potter series, looking at reader response from a variety of academic perspectives.
Suggested topics include:
- Harry Potter from an international perspective
- Religious responses to the series
- Generational appeal (the “crossover” novel)
- group response to Harry Potter (fan clubs, quidditch, book/movie premieres, etc.)
- is Harry Potter a “boy’s book?”
To be considered for presentation, please submit a 250-word abstract for individual papers or panel proposals to unccpotterconference@gmail.com by March 26, 2011. Please include the paper title, your name (and names of all panel presenters if applicable), your institution, and your affiliation (faculty, student, other). Individual presentations should be 10-15 minutes in length, while panel presentations should last for 45 minutes. Graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to submit proposals.
This is amazing. I never thought that there will be conference on Harry potter with presentations. One suggestion for topic: “Harry potter books as self-help literature”.
http://iandbooks.wordpress.com/
Interesting idea, pkg. If you’re able, you should submit a proposal for it. I’ll be participating in a religious studies discussion panel at the conference. I’m looking forward to it!