The Monitor
News, Announcements and Paper Calls

Call for Papers:

Playing with Mother Nature: Video Games, Space, and Ecology

Editors Sidney I. Dobrin, Cathlena Martin, and Laurie Taylor seek proposals for a new collection of original articles that address the use and place of space and ecology in video games. This collection will examine video games in terms of the spaces they create and use, the metaphors of space on which they rely, and the ecologies that they create within those spaces. This collection will address the significant intersections in terms of how and why video games construct space and ecology as they do, and in terms of how those constructions shape conceptions of both space and ecology.

The editors seek proposals for innovative papers that explore the intersections between ecocriticism, theories of spatiality, and video games. Ecocriticism of video games straddles studying ecology as the Earth (or alternate world setting), nature, and land, while adding physical representation and experimentation through video game spaces and other technological spaces. These video games spaces create their own spatial practice through their representation and through the players' lived interaction with the gaming environments as constructed worlds. Video game spatial analysis comprises the created representation of space in the games, the players' experiences with those spaces, and the nuances by which those spaces are constructed and conveyed, including their portrayal of cultural norms for space and spatiality. In addition, the editors are looking for several papers that specifically address children's culture and education in terms of video games, space, and ecology.

Editors seek contributions which explore and initiate conversations using the triple lens of ecology, space, and video games about areas that may, but will not necessarily, pertain to:

All articles should pertain specifically to game studies scholarship and/or pedagogy. Articles that lend to the theoretical and critical scholarship of video game studies will be favored. The editors are less interested in submissions that simply offer readings of particular games in order to identify that a game might be "read" as ecological.

Please send a proposal of 500-750 words and a contributor's bio by November 1, 2004 to (preferably) e-mail or snail mail address below. (Early inquiries and submissions are highly encouraged). Authors will be notified of acceptance by December 1, 2004. Final drafts of articles will be due: April 1, 2004. For more information, please email the editors at Sdobrin@english.ufl.edu, Cmartin@english.ufl.edu, or Ltaylor@english.ufl.edu or see the longer CFP online: http://www.nwe.ufl.edu/~ltaylor/ecology.html

The Looking Glass

The Looking Glass invites submissions to all columns and sections for the following special issues:

Displaced Children
Deadline for submissions: 1 October 2004
Publication date: April 2005
Critical, theoretical, and inter-disciplinary articles are welcome on any aspect of displaced children in children's books, children's media, and our world. Some topics might include immigration and emigration, the position of refugee due to war or other conditions, child trafficking and slavery, homeless children, child migrant workers, and fostered and adopted children. Please see Contribute! for submission guidelines and editorial policies.

Japanese Children's Literature and Culture
Deadline for submissions: 1 October 2005
Publication date: April 2006
Critical, theoretical, and informative articles are welcome on any aspect of Japanese children's literature and culture. Some topics might include the history of children's literature and writing for children in Japan, genre surveys, analyses of modern and contemporary Japanese children's literature, technology and Japanese children's literature, manga and anime, World War II in Japanese children's literature, Japanese children's literature in translation into English and other languages, imported children's literature translated into Japanese, teaching children's literature in Japan, children's literature publishing in Japan, and various aspects of Japanese children's culture. Please see Contribute! for submission guidelines and editorial policies.

The Looking Glass also invites scholarly submissions for the following special topic to be highlighted in Alice's Academy, its scholarly refereed section:

Magic Realism in Children's Literature
Submission deadline: 1 September 2005
Publication date: January 2006
Articles are welcome on any critical or theoretical aspect of magic realism in children's literature. Please see Contribute! for submission guidelines and editorial policies.