THE PROGRAM
Sessions ::
 Day 1 :: Thursday 9th
Day 2 :: Friday 10th
Day 3 :: Saturday 11th
Day 4 :: Sunday 12th

(C) = Panel Chair		 Venues + Abbreviations ::

PPT ~ Prince Philip Theatre, Architecture Building
ST ~ Sisalkraft Theatre, Architecture Building
JHT ~ James Hardie Theatre, Architecture Building
EMB ~ Theatre A, Elisabeth Murdoch Building

Map
Click Here for PDF version
Thursday 9th June ::
3:00-5:30

Registrations ::

Prince Philip Theatre, Architecture Building
5:30-6:40 Welcome Angela Ndalianis
  Opening Keynote Address Prince Philip Theatre, Architecture Building
  Professor Scott Bukatman
(Departments of Art History and Comparative Literature, Stanford University) 		Secret Identity Politics
6:40-7:45 Opening Night Drinks Foyer, Ground Floor, Architecture Building
Friday 10th June ::  
8:30-9:30 Registrations :: Foyer, Ground Floor, Architecture Building (Prince Philip Theatre)
9:30-11.20 Session 1 ~ PPT Being a Superhero: Definitions + Histories
The Definition of the Superhero Peter Coogan
Superman, Myth and Nostalgia Ian Gordon
The Mild-mannered Reporter: How Clark Kent Surpassed Superman Vanessa Russell
The Superhero as Labor: The Secret Corporate Identity Greg M. Smith (C)
11:20-11:40 Coffee Break  
11:40-1:20 Session 1 ~ PPT Anime + Manga
My Own Private Apocalypse - Shinji Ikari in Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion as Schreberian Paranoid Superhero Paul M. Malone (C)
Girl Power: the Female Cyborg in Japanese Anime Craig Norris
Super Villains and Not-So-Superheroes William Douglas
11:40-1:20 Session 2 ~ ST Purposes: Culture, Myth + Ideology
The Comicbook Superhero: Myth For Our Times Nigel Kaw
Superhero by Numbers Lisa Watson + Phil Stocks

The Superhero as the 'Conscience of the King'

Rod Marsden
11:40-1:20 Session 3 ~ JHT Holy Superheroes from the Past! - Religious Icons + Super Deeds
Enlightenment in a Dark Age: The Yogi as Spiritual Hero Gary Hickey
Someone to Watch Over Me: the Guardian Angel as Superhero in Seicento Rome Lisa Beaven (C)
Gibson's The Passion: The Superheroic Body of Jesus Peter Horsfield
  Creating a Private Space for the 'Superhero' - The Private Rooms of San Filippo Neri Glenys L Adams
11:40-1:20 Session 4 ~ EMB Flora + Fauna: Mythic Reinvention and the Blurred Lines of Human Identity
The Quest for Identity in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing Kevin Meaux
Entering the Green: Imaginal Space in Black Orchid Sallye Sheppeard
It's a Jungle In Here - Separating Man from Animal, and Author from Subject, in Grant Morrison's Animal Man Steven Zani (C)
  Men of Muscle Mystery: Superhero Slugfests versus Postmodern Angst! Martyn Pedler
1:20-2:20 Lunch Break  
2:20-3:40 Keynote Session Prince Philip Theatre, Architecture Building
Professor Henry Jenkins
(Head of Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)		 'Just Men In Tights': Genre , Popular Memory, And Silver Age Comics
3:40-4:00 Afternoon Break  
4:00-5:40 Session 1 ~ ST Ethnicity, Race + Superheroes
El Santo: Wrestler, Superhero and Saint Gabrielle Murray
'Oy gevalt!': A Peek at the Development of Jewish Superheroines Jennifer Dowling with Steven Saporito (C)
Reclaiming the Castrated Criminal: Comic Book Logic and Racial Binary in M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable Eliahiu Crudup II
Smack-Head Hasan: Why are all Turkic Superheroes Intemperate, Treacherous, or Stupid? Claire Norton
4:00-5:40 Session 2 ~ PPT Identities, Binaries and Mutations
The Triadic Self: Breaking the Binary in Superhero Character Construction James Francis Jr
  The Sounds of (a) Hero: Cataloguing Visceral Materiality Luke Stickels
Super-Simulacra Lucian Chaffey
Father for Hire, Son for Hire Darshana Jayemanne
4:00-5:40 Session 3 ~ JHT Fans, Collectors + Cross Media Convergences
RIPPED OFF! Cross-Media Convergence and 'The Hulk' Gareth Schott (C)
Snap, Crackle and Shop: Superheroes as Superbrands in the Advertising of Products to a Young Demographic Holly Stokes
  Spider-Man & Contemporary Adult Collector Culture Matt Knight
  I Outwit Your Outwit: Heroclix, Fans, and the Politics of the Collectible Superhero Tabletop Combat Game Michael G. Robinson
Miramax Films, the University of Melbourne and ACMI present a special preview screening of Frank Miller's Sin City courtesy of Buena Vista International. Co-directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, Sin City will be shown on Friday 10th June. The first 200 to register for the conference will receive a ticket to see the film. The screening will take place at ACMI, Federation Square at 7.30pm. More?

Sin City is due for national release on July 14. For more information and the trailer, go to: www.incinemas.com.au
Saturday 11th June ::  
9:30-11.15 Session 1 ~ EMB Post-Feminist Superheroes
'How did the Bride Become so Deadly?' Violence, Feminism and the New Girl Hero Jennifer Stokes
Clotheshorse or Heroine? The Dilemma of Postfeminism and the Aesthetics of the New Wonder Woman Rikke Schubart (C)
Dark Angel: Kicking Ass Without A Gun - Justification for Max Guevera as a Modern Feminist Superhero Bronwen Auty
Recruiting an Amazon Clare Pitkethly
9:30-11.15 Session 2 ~ JHT Collisions: Classical Myth + the Contemporary
  'Xena's Double-Edged Sword: Sapphic Affairs and the Judaeo-Christian tradition in Xena: Warrior Princess Ivar Kvistad
  Hercules Psychotherapist Ruby Blondell
  Plato and Pop: Aquaman, Sub-Mariner and the Morality of Myth Djoymi Baker (C)
  'I'm Dying for a Good Slay': Death and the Inversion of Gender Roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Medea Sophia van Gameren
9:30-11.15 Session 3 ~ ST Delving into Unconscious Realms
How Real is the Supervillain? A Lacanian Look at the Symbolic Nature of Evil Erma Petrova (C)
Harry Potter and Oedipus: Marked Men with Strong Characters Babette Pütz
Dreaming Superman: Exploring the Action of the Superhero(ine) in Dreams,Myth, and Culture Jamie Egolf
Superheroes, Superegos: Icons of War and the War of Icons in the Fiction of Kazuo Ishiguro Pascal Zinck
9:30-11.15 Session 4 ~ PPT The Blockbuster Renaissance
"Moral Economy" and the Contemporary American Superhero: Analyzing the Summer Blockbuster Robert Peaslee
Reign of the Superman: Power, Patriarchy and Paternalism In The Man of Steel James McLean (C)
Panel Beating: Adapting Comics to Cinema Through 'Panelling' Michael Cohen
"My Name is Neo": Reimagining the Noir Hero as Computer-Age Superman Marie C. Hyland
11:15-11:35 Morning Break  
11:35-1:15 Session 1 ~ PPT Entering the Labyrinth: the Hero's Journey
The Spirits Within: The Shamanic Hero in Final Fantasy Lucy Wright
Men of Darkness Chris Mackie (C)
Yearnings for Paradise: The Quest of the Silver Surfer B J Oropeza
Theseus Versus Hannibal Lecter: Heroic Quests Into The Labyrinth In Modern Cinema Paul Salmond
11:35-1:15 Session 2 ~ EMB Gender Identities + Queer Desires
To 'Infinity and Beyond': Women Action Superheroes and the Transformation of Gender Identities Vicki Karaminas (C)
Alien(ated) Subjectivity: Triangulations of Desire in Smallville Nisha Kunte
Whose Queer Hero? - An intertexual reading of Doctor Who, Queer as Folk and Russell T Davies Patrick Porter
Smallville's Sexual Symbolism: From Queer Repression to Fans' Queered Expressions Anne Kustritz
11:35-1:15 Session 3 ~ ST Digital Worlds + Super Gamers
4,000 Years before the Galactic Empire: Expanding the Star Wars Universe in Knights of the Old Republic Scott Knight (C)
God Mode On - Digital Killing Fields and the Unheimlich Architecture of FPS and Adventure Games Sean Pickersgill
Changing Costumes, the Neo-Baroque and Japanese Popular Culture: Sentai, Hentai and Final Fantasy David Surman
Power Up Patrick Crogan
11:35-1:15 Session 4 ~ JHT Bodies that Hammer + Pulse
  The Stunt Double and the Heroic Body Miranda J. Banks
  America vs Japan: The influence of American comics on manga through the work of Katsura Ludovic Graillat
  Conquerer of Flood, Wielder of Fire: Noah the Hebrew Superhero Estelle Strazdins (C)
  Gods Amongst Us / Gods Within: The Black Metal Aesthetic Aleks Michalewicz
1:15-2:15 Lunch Break  
2:15-3:35 Keynote Address Prince Philip Theatre, Architecture Building
Dr Louise Krasniewicz
(Senior Research Scientist, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology) 		"True-Lies" Superhero: Do We Really Want Our Icons to Come to Life?"
3:35-4:00 Afternoon Break  
4:00-5:45 Session 1 ~ PPT The Superhero Universe: Time, Anarchy + Parallel Universes
The Time of Heroes - The Still Image and the Construction of an Epic Past in Miracleman Paul Atkinson (C)
"Worlds Within Worlds" - The Role of Superheroes in the Marvel and DC Universes Jason Bainbridge
  “A Different Sort of Time” - Time of the Human and Superhuman in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen Mark Rosenthal
  The Bold and the Forgetful: Amnesia, Character Mutability and Serial Narrative Form in the X-Men Radha O'Meara
4:00-5:45 Session 2 ~ ST

Extra/Ordinary: Mutating the Superhero Across Media Spaces

Transforming Superheroics Through Female Music Style  Kim Toffoletti (C)
Touched by a Superhero: The Astronaut-Avatar in Cyberspace Leonie Cooper

No Apologies, No Regrets': Making the Margins Heroic on Queer as Folk

Joanna Di Mattia
  Baroque mutants in the 21st century? Re-thinking genre through the superhero Saige Walton
4:00-5:45 Session 3 ~ JHT From Gods to Super Men
Achilleus: Man of Bronze Annabel Orchard (C)
"I will be silent about his Doom" - a Mortal Superhero Among Jealous Gods Lina van 't Wout 
  "Restlessly, violently, headlong, like a river that wants to reach its end..": Nihilism, Reconstruction and the Hero's Journey Raymond Younis
  Homer and Rap: the Ancient is Fresh Erin O'Connell
8:00 Superhero Fancy Dress Ball ::
The Grand Buffet Hall, 1st Floor, Union Building @ Melbourne University :: Bring your favourite super-identity and your dancing moves to the Superheroes (+Villains) Fancy Dress Ball ::
DJ Batman will be in attendance

Full Fee :: $50
Student Concession :: $30
Drinks + Snacks will be provided. More
Sunday 12th June ::  
10:00-11.40 Session 1 ~ PPT Kicking Butt! Superheroics in the World of Buffy + Angel
  Supernatural superheroes: war and love in the lives of two vampire slayers - Anita and Buffy Ingrid Hofmann-Howley (C)
  Buffy and the Amazon Princess Jennifer K. Stuller
  The Superhero Versus the Troubled Teen: Parenting Connor, and the Fragility of 'Family' in Angel Gwyn Symonds
10:00-11.40 Session 2 ~ ST Gangsters, Sleuths + Mamalooks
Saving the World Today: Tony Soprano and the Parody of American Heroism Charles J. Stivale (C)
Surrounded by Danger: Adrian Monk, Supersleuth Eden Leone
Harold Bishop: Moral Superhero Peter Mattessi
  The Fight Between Superhero and Everyman - Betting On Different Kinds of Extraordinary Gabrielle Moyer
11:40-12:10 Morning Break  
12:10-2:00 Session 1 ~ ST Metaphors + the Slippery Super Body
  The Literary Cult Superhero Kieryn McKay
  Super Heroes in Future Pedagogies Mark Balnaves + Kim Tomlinson-Baillie
  Computer Ethics through Superhero Comics John Lenarcic (C)
  Antiquities as Superheroes: (Re)Presenting the Utopian Past in the Athens Olympics Louise A. Hitchcock
12:10-2:00 Session 2 ~ JHT On the Margins - Lassie, Tin Tin + the Not-So-Super Superhero
Animals as Superheroes in 19th Century Art Alison Inglis (C)
   
The Flip Side of the Super Hero Elizabeth Ferrier
Heroes are Closer than the Corner Comic Shop Andrew Tash
12:10-2:00 Session 3 ~ PPT Magic, Science and Engineered Bodies
  Magneto Was Right! - When 'Anarchy and Magic' Are the New 'Time and Space' Christian McCrea (C)
  Magical Myth and Super-Science: The Intersection of Past and Future in the American Super Hero Kelli Stanley
  Anthropomorphic Superbeings and Future Societies Russell Blackford
  Breaking Down the Gates of Hell Angela Ndalianis
2:00-3:00 Break  
3:00-4:30 Focus on Superheroes ACMI, Federation Square
Partner Event ::
Superhero Forum at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)

Join us in this final conference event, Focus on Superheroes, a public forum that further explores and sums up the conference's focus on the critical context and social analysis of the superhero.

Chaired by Melbourne pop-culture personality Martyn Pedler, the panel will feature international guests from the Melbourne University Superheroes Conference including Peter Coogan (Fontbonne University, Missouri, author of The Secret Origin of the Superhero), Ian Gordon (National University of Singapore, author of Comic Strips and Consumer Culture) and Djoymi Baker (University of Melbourne, author of Broadcast Space: TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek).

This is a partner event with ACMI. All conference delegates can participate in the event by showing their registration badge.

4:30 Closing Night Drinks @ ACMI :: Farewell to the Superheroes + their Tights



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