SFRA 2025
“Trans People are (in) the Future”: Queer and Trans Futurity in Science Fiction
University of Rochester, New York, USA
July 30th – August 3rd
REGISTRATION OPEN JANUARY 15, 2025:
Location:
Rochester, New York
Mode:
Hybrid Conference (in person and virtual attendance)
Email for queries:
Theme
“Trans People are (in) the Future”: Queer and Trans Futurity in Science Fiction
The tagline for this year’s conference is adapted from an art exhibit by Alisha Wormsley in which her art pieces assert that “there are black people in the future,” as a way to insist that unrelenting antiblackness will not steal the future from black people. Given the perpetual violence trans people are subject to, Wormsley’s insistence on black futurity resonates powerfully in trans contexts as well. Science fiction/Speculative Fiction writers, from Rivers Solomon to Kai Ashanti Wilson to Charlie Jane Anders, are all producing work that imagines trans and queer futurity in powerfully capacious ways, rejecting figurative and literal attempts at erasing trans and queer lives. This year’s conference focuses on issues related to trans and queer themes, though we encourage papers and panel proposals in all areas relevant to science fiction studies.
Keynotes include: Ryka Aoki and Rivers Solomon
Accepting proposals for the conference theme and open call of any topics related to sf studies.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Trans futurities
- Queer futurities
- Temporality and Gender/Sexuality
- Queer speculative economies
- Trans speculative ecologies
- Queer speculative ecologies
- Interrelations between climate change and gender/sexuality
- Queering the Canon
- Trans Fandom/Gaming Cultures
- BIPOC futurities
- BIPOC trans and queer futurities
- Transnational feminism and speculative futurities
- Speculative intersectionalities
- Queer and Trans Dystopias and Utopias
- Disability studies approaches to futurity, science fiction, and speculative ecologies
- Open topics: If you have a paper/panel you’d like to construct and you don’t see your theme reflected directly here, submit it and we will consider it.
Format: Both in-person and virtual participation options will be possible, and care will be taken to accommodate other requests related to the political climate in certain states that have adopted anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQIA laws. Please indicate in your proposal what kinds of accommodation are required for your situation. Also, please include any requests related to accessibility.
On Site Location: The conference will be held in the beautiful and highly accessible city of Rochester, with easy access to important sites like Niagara Falls, the Adirondacks, and the Finger Lakes; with easy connection through Toronto (two hours from Rochester) and New York City to the Frederick Douglass International Airport in Rochester. The city of Rochester, which was home to both Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, has a strong history of social justice and is a vibrant, welcoming community with great nightlife, restaurants, museums, and cultural events.
Submitting a Proposal: Submit either a panel proposal (for panels with up to 3 papers and a respondent and/or chair) or a single paper abstract by November 15th, 2024 to SFRARochester@gmail.com. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns related to the conference. All questions can be directed to SFRARochester@gmail.com.
Membership and Registration: All conference presenters must be members of the SFRA and pay the conference registration fee (membership runs calendar year). All SFRA members receive subscriptions to the journals Science Fiction Studies, Extrapolation, and The SFRA Review and have the ability to add discounted subscriptions to other journals, including Science Fiction Film and Television, Foundation, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Locus (more info here). SFRA members attending the conference in person are also eligible for travel grants of up to $500(US) to help subsidize conference costs (more info here). The call for travel grant applications will be included in conference acceptance notifications.
Overview
The Executive Committee of the Science Fiction Research Association invites travel grant proposals to attend and present at the annual conference of the Science Fiction Research Association. Maximum awards of $500 may be given. (In the past the SFRA has considered distance traveled primarily in terms of domestic vs. international travel. Starting with travel awards for the 2019 conference, the geographic criterion has been based on the estimated cost of travel, as one factor among many.)
While you do not need to be a current member of the organization to apply for this grant, please remember that you must be a member of SFRA to present at the conference. Grant checks will be presented to awardees during the conference funded by the grant.
Deadline for this year's grants: March 31st (notifications of awards will be sent around April 30th)
Please organize your proposal as follows:
- A cover page that gives the name of the applicant (please do not identify yourself or your institution in the rest of the proposal), mailing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, distance from the conference; please note your willingness to accept partial funding. Submit your cover page as a separate document from the remainder of your proposal.
- The abstract for your paper (as submitted to the conference director).
- A grant proposal of no more than 300 words in which you explain:
- the financial difficulty you face in attempting to attend the annual SFRA conference and
- the professional growth you intend to receive by attending the conference.
- A realistic, detailed budget for your conference attendance. Be sure to list alternative funding resources you have already applied for and/or received money from.
Criteria for Selection
You may find the following criteria useful in preparing your proposal. The Executive Committee will use these to conduct reviews of all proposals.
- Need: The proposal demonstrates a significant need.
- Distance: The proposal demonstrates that the applicant will have to travel far distances to attend the conference.
- Contribution: The project being presented makes an original contribution to scholarship in the field.
- Professional Growth: The proposal articulates clear objectives for professional growth.
- Cost: Budget expenditures are reasonable and the applicant has also sought funding elsewhere.
- Dollars Available: The organization will attempt to award as many travel grants as possible while remaining fiscally responsible.
Restrictions
No individual or organization may submit more than one proposal for SFRA funding per calendar year (conference travel, research travel, or other grants); this does not prohibit an individual applying for conference travel funding from preparing a small grant application on behalf of a collective to which he or she belongs. The first consideration will go to those who have not received an award in the last three years.
Expectations of Award Recipients
Grant recipients will be expected to do the following:
- Present at the SFRA Conference they are being funded to attend.
- Submit a final written report of 1 to 2 pages to the secretary of the SFRA Executive Committee by September 30 of the calendar year in which they attend and present at the SFRA conference.
Questions should be directed to SFRA Secretary Sarah Lohmann.
Proposals should be submitted to the same, as Rich Text File or Portable Document Format attachments.