SWPACA 2026: Taylor Swift & Swiftie Studies (SWPACA 2026)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Organization: Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)
Event: SWPACA 2026
Call for Papers
Taylor Swift & Swiftie Studies
Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)
47th Annual Conference, February 25-28, 2026
Marriott Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
https://www.southwestpca.org
Submissions open: September 1, 2025
Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2025
Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 47th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit https://swpaca.org/subject-areas/.
The Taylor Swift & Swiftie Studies area invites paper proposals on topics related to Taylor Swift and/or Swifties from multiple vantage points.
Since her debut in 2006, Taylor Swift has become a fixture of popular culture. Her career has been marked by incredible record-breaking highs and infamous tabloid-fodder lows. Known for her sharp lyrics, her evolving cross-genre musical styles, and her dedicated, creative fanbase (the Swifties), Swift’s influence has been noted within music, fashion, economics, politics, and other cultural spheres of power.
As an interdisciplinary area, we invite papers from multiple perspectives and disciplines. Topics might include, but are not limited to:
- Critical interpretations of Swift’s lyrics, eras, and/or personas
- Considerations of Taylor Swift and politics, feminisms, activism and social justice
- Interrogations of Swift and gender, race, class, and other identities/identifications
- Analyses of Swift’s connections to business, law, psychology, philosophy or other academic disciplines
- Arguments about fandom, belonging, relating, creating and other Swiftie concerns
- Examples of Taylor Swift’s pedagogical relevancy
All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at https://swpaca.org/app.
For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general (including submitting proposals for roundtables and preformed panels), please see the FAQS & Resources tab on https://swpaca.org/.
Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words and a brief summary of 100 words or less.
For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs & Resources link.
The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2025.
SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2026. More details are here: https://swpaca.org/graduate-student-paper-awards/. SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students as well as contingent faculty: https://swpaca.org/travel-awards-students-faculty/.
Registration and travel information for the conference is available at https://swpaca.org/albuquerque-conference/. For 2026, we will be returning to the Marriott Albuquerque (2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110), which boasts free parking and close proximity to shopping and dining.
In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dialogue/.
If you have any questions about the Taylor Swift and Swiftie Studies area, please contact its Area Chair, Juliette Holder at jholder5@twu.edu. If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@swpaca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.
This will be a fully in-person conference. If you’re looking for an online option to present your work, keep an eye out for details about the 2026 SWPACA Summer Salon, a completely virtual conference to take place in June 2026.
We look forward to receiving your submissions!
Juliette Holder