Gameology 2.0

Mechademia is a new refereed journal from the University of Minnesota Press, for critical work on Japanese anime, manga, and the fan arts. We are currently seeking submissions on topics linked to manga or anime, as well as related material from fields like fashion, film studies, fine art, video game design, and international fan culture, among others.

Mechademia's goal is to promote critical thinking, writing, art, and creative activity that can bridge the current gap between professional, academic, and fan communities and discourses. To this end, we seek contributions in a variety of formats, by authors from a wide range of backgrounds and fields. Contributors should endeavor to write across disciplinary boundaries, presenting their unique knowledge in all its sophistication, but with a broad audience in mind. Each issue will have a theme that will focus the conversation and connect different pieces, but we encourage contributors to interpret these themes broadly in order to keep the way open for new and original kinds of work. Superior submissions that fall outside the theme will also be considered if space permits.

Mechademia will appear annually starting in Fall 2006. The first issue, "Worlds of Anime and Manga," will feature work that highlights the nexus of groups, practices, knowledges, and worlds that anime and manga have created. The essays connect these particular aesthetics to broader practices and social considerations. Submissions for this issue are now closed.

The theme of issue #2 (to appear in Fall 2007) is "Networks of Desire." This may be interpreted liberally and creatively: networks could be technological, social, economic, aesthetic, or other. Desire could embrace physical desire as well as consumption and gratification, nostalgic longing, political yearning, or existential hunger. And these suggestions are definitely not exhaustive. The submission deadline for issue #2 is January 2, 2006.

The theme of issue #3 (Fall 2008) is "Limits of the Human." The submission deadline will be in early 2007.

Further information is available on the journal's web site at http://mechademia.org.

Mechademia Submission Format and Procedures

Essays may be up to 5,000 words. Shorter pieces are also welcome, and we encourage submissions in creative, non-traditional formats.

Mechademia uses a double-blind refereeing system. The name of the author should not be included in the manuscript file, and the article should be free of identifying references (such as "I have argued elsewhere"). Name and contact information should be included separately in the email that accompanies the submission.

Mechademia encourages authors to include relevant illustrations, up to five black-and-white images per article. Color images may also be possible, with special permission from the publisher.

Video, interactive environments, or other media that cannot be accommodated in a print publication may be referenced in your article and hosted on the Mechademia web site. Mechademia uses Chicago style documentation. We prefer that submitted articles be in this format, but any consistent citation style is acceptable at the submission stage.

Articles should be submitted in electronic form, as Microsoft Word, Rich Text Format, or PDF documents. Email these as attachments to submissions@mechademia.org. Very large files may not transfer well through email, so please contact submissions@mechademia.org for instructions on how to submit files larger than 1 MB.