Yale has yet to create a graduate program in Slayerology, but folks in the Ivory Tower do seem smitten with Joss Whedon’s most enduring creation, seeking out every opportunity to apply the insights of Derrida, Foucault or, as this fan would have it, Schopenhauer, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (I’m not sure that Wagner would appreciate his operas being lumped into the same category as Firefly and Buffy… he was a bit of an egomaniac.)

If you just so happen to be a Buffy geek with academic street cred and a strong background in music, this call for papers might be right up your alley:

From bands at The Bronze in Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Angel singing karaoke at Caritas to the traditional-style fiddling and guitar playing in Firefly, music is an integral part of Joss Whedon’s universes. This collection seeks essays from both established and emerging scholars on the uses of and contributions made by music in the Whedonverse. Discipline-specific and interdisciplinary views are encouraged to address issues of power, relationships, identity, gender, communication, religion, multiculturalism, sanity and madness, and other topics present in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Serenity. Topics might include, but are not limited to:

• Music and performance
• Gender/identity/race and music (including traditional identity topics as well as those of non-human characters)
• Genre representations
• Scoring for action sequences
• Music and communication
• Musical characterization
• Music and camp
• Music and transformation
• Character vocality
• The use of silence and music in unique ways
• Levels and mixing of diegesis and non-diegesis

The deadline for submissions is August 15, 2008. The collection will be published by Scarecrow Press with an anticipated publication date in 2009.

Essays should be between 7,000 and 9,000 words and follow Chicago Manual of Style format. Only electronic submissions sent in a .doc (Word) formats will be accepted. Authors are encouraged to include photographs, but will be responsible for acquiring all materials and permission for use. Please send a cover letter including the title of the essay, an abstract of not more than 200 words, an author c.v, and author biography of not more than 100 words along with the complete blind essay (author’s name should not appear) to Kendra Preston Leonard at caennen_at_gmail.com.

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