Transitions 2

 5 November 2011 Transitions Comica Symposium is an annual one-day symposium promoting new research and multi-disciplinary academic study  of comics/ comix/ manga/ bande dessinée and other forms of sequential art.  The event takes place in the autumn, and is hosted by Birkbeck, University of London as part of the annual Comica London International Comics Festival. Transitions is currently the only regular academic comics event based in London. The symposium provides a platform where different perspectives and methodologies can be brought together and shared.  As an event devoted to promoting new research into comics in all their forms the symposium provides a forum for research from postgraduate students and early career lecturers. Comics studies occupy a unique multi-disciplinary middle-space, one that encourages cross-disciplinary pollination and a convergence of distinct knowledges: literary and cultural studies, visual arts and media, modern languages, sociology, geography and more. By thinking about comics across different disciplines, the Transitions team hopes to stimulate and provoke debate, to address a wide spectrum of questions, to map new trends, and to provide a space for dialogue and further collaboration to emerge. transitions.symposium@gmail.com The second Transitions event was held in November 2011. The event had now expanded to include parallel sessions and a large number of contributors. The primary organizer was again Tony Venezia (Birkbeck). Programme Keynote address: Professor Kent Worcester (Marymount Manhattan College): The Making of A Comics Studies Reader Panel 1: Archives & Publishing Chair: Dr. Paul Williams  (Exeter) Sina Shamsavari (Goldsmiths/artist): Gay Ghetto Comics: Constructing a Dominant Gay Habitus Casey Brienza (Cambridge): Manga Revolution or Logical Evolution? Field Theory on the Rise & Demise of Tokyopop's U.S. Publishing Programme Lina Ghaibeh (American University, Beirut): Propaganda in Comics in the Arab World: From Nationalism to Religious Radicalism Respondent: Dr. Roger Sabin (University of the Arts) Panel 2: Adaptation & Appropriation Chair: Paul Gravett Armelle Blin-Rolland (Bath): Fidelity vs. Appropriation in Comic Adaptation: Jacques Carelman's & Clément Oubrerie's Adaptations of Queneau's Zazie dans le metro Nicolas Pillai (Warwick): The Laughing Fish and the Killing Book: From Comic Book to Cartoon & Back Again Aswathy Padmasenan (University of Delhi/Consultant Editor, Campfire Publications): Adaption/Adoption of Hamlet: a Graphic Retelling of the Classic Respondent: Dr. Julia Round (Bournemouth) Panel 3: Histories & Reading                                  Chair: Daniel Marrone (London Consortium) Nina Mickwitz (UEA): After the Deluge – Everyday Tactics & Representational Strategies in a Time of Crisis Scott Jeffrey (Stirling): The Silver Age Superhero as Psychedelic Shaman Michael Goodrum (Essex): “Oh, c’mon, those stories can’t actually count in continuity!”: Squirrel Girl and the Problem of Female Power Panel 4: Transmedia & Remediation Chair: Zara Dinnen (Birkbeck) Daniel Merlin Goodbrey (Hertfordshire/artist): Game Comics: Read or Play? Craig Smith (Queen's U....