The Popular Culture and American Culture Associations recently circulated a call for papers on the themes of the films of James Cameron:

With Avatar Canadian-born filmmaker James Cameron now has the top two all-time money making films in history, yet little in the way of critical attention has been paid to his work. His movies are often “the most expensive ever made,” and continually set new standards for special effects and the “movie event.”

Having received preliminary encouragement from an academic press we seek proposals for chapters for an edited volume of critical essays on Cameron’s work. We do not seek essays on individual Cameron films, but rather essays on the major themes of his work.

Proposals are encouraged from all disciplines. Final essays will be in the range of 7,000-10,000 words.

Proposals could include, but are not limited to:

The military
The female hero/heroine
gender
Special effects and filmmaking techniques
Corporate culture
Political culture
Ethnicity and “race”
Humanism and the humanistic impulse
Cameron’s documentary films
Dystopian imagery
Re-writing history

Proposals should be sent, by 15 March 2010, to the editors, Matthew Wilhelm Kapell and Stephen McVeigh at: cameronthemes@googlemail.com.

We encourage general queries and questions concerning proposals and possible topics.

Preliminary decisions will be made by 1 April 2010.

Proposals should include:
An abstract of 200-400 words
A brief C.V.

Essays are expected by the end of July, 2010, with revisions due by the end of November. Dates are subject to change should the project move forward.