Possible HP Conference

[Stephanie Roark Keener]

No: HPFGUIDX 17981

I'm going to post this again since the first one is already far, far 
back on the msg list.  Remember, you don't have to be an "academic" 
to respond, just someone who would be interested in this kind of 
conference.  

Having read the well researched (and intellectually stimulating) 
posts that appear on HPFGU on a daily basis, I've begun to suspect 
that a great number of us are academics or graduate students.  This 
has piqued my interest about scholarly material on HP (or the 
potential thereof), and so I've also done a few quick searches and 
found a handful of scholarly articles that have been written on the 
Harry Potter series.

This makes me think that we really need to take the traditional next 
step in scholarship:  WE GOTTA HAVE A CONFERENCE.  And, since I'm 
completely mad, I'm willing to make an attempt at organizing one at 
the small college where my husband and I teach.  (http://www.lmc.edu )

However, I will issue a caveat about my idea:  This would be a 
serious (no pun intended) interdisciplinary scholarly conference, and 
in no way a fan convention.  While interested people outside academe 
would certainly be welcome, this conference would take the form of a 
traditional academic conference – papers, panels, plenary sessions, 
etc.

Of course, I would have to convince my Dean first, and in order to do 
so I need to be able to show proof that there are plenty of academics 
out there with enough scholarly interest in HP to make a conference 
possible.  Hence, our most gracious moderators  have granted me 
permission to conduct a little poll to get the statistics I need to 
persuade my Dean (if I could just get that Imperious Curse to work
) 
that there is a market for an HP conference.

Please reply to the following questions at the address: 
HPconference at yahoo.com.  DO NOT reply to the list (else, Neil might 
curse me).  What I need to know is:

1. What is your academic profession and area of focus?
2. Would you be interested in attending an interdisciplinary academic 
conference on the Harry Potter series?
3. Where are you (you may be vague and provide only the region, e.g. 
U.S. Pacific North-West, etc.)?
4. Do you already have an HP topic for a paper, etc. in mind?  
Remember, this would be an interdisciplinary conference, so it could 
be anything from Lit Crit to pop culture studies to mythology to 
Classics to History to the publishing business end of things.
5. Any other comments are welcome.

Please feel free to forward this post to any of your colleagues whom 
you think may be interested and who may not be on the list.  Again, 
DO NOT reply to the list, but instead reply to HPconference at yahoo.com 

Thanks everybody,

Stephanie