CALL FOR PAPERS: “Social Science on the Final Frontier” August 23 – 25, 2010, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario

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Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, has issued a call for papers for an academic conference entitled “Social Science on the Final Frontier.” Guest authors at the event will include Robert J. Sawyer, Karl Schroeder, and Julie E. Czerneda.

Paper proposals of roughly 250 words should be submitted to Tim Nieguth by May 15, 2010.

Full text of the call for papers follows. For more information see the conference website: http://inord.laurentian.ca/SF.html

Call for Papers:
Social Science on the Final Frontier
August 23 – 25, 2010
Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario

MIGRATIONS: THE LAURENTIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SCIENCE FICTION is pleased to invite paper proposals for a conference on science fiction and society.

As a genre, science fiction entails implicit or explicit assumptions about social ontology, societal values, norms and traditions, the operation of power, the production, distribution and consumption of goods, the motors of social change, and the nature of social laws. It therefore offers a rich field of inquiry and a valuable heuristic device to social scientists. We welcome any proposals that aim to explore the terrain of science fiction from the perspective of political science, economics, or other social sciences.

Given the conference location in Northern Ontario, we are especially (but by no means exclusively) interested in paper proposals that address the “Canadian dimension” of science fiction, internal colonialism, the relationship between frontier and utopia, or the nature of resource extraction societies.

The organizers will consider selected papers for publication in an edited collection.

Please submit paper proposals of roughly 250 words to Tim Nieguth by May 15, 2010.

Proposals should be accompanied by a brief author bio and full contact information (including email). Please feel free to contact the conference organizers for additional information about the conference.

Conference organizers:

Tim Nieguth Department of Political Science Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario Canada P3E 2C6 Tel.: (705) 675-1151, ext. 4329 tnieguth@laurentian.ca

David Robinson Department of Economics Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario Canada P3E 2C6 Tel.: (705) 675-1151, ext. 4285 drobinson@laurentian.ca