[Commlist] Call for Abstracts - Heated Rivalry: A Symposium on Contemporary Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Desire

*Call for Abstracts*
*/Heated Rivalry /*
*A Symposium on Contemporary Culture, Identity, and the Politics of Desire*
*Friday 9 April 2027*
In Person
Bath Spa University, UK

*Keynote*
/Heated Rivalry/: a distinctly feminine televisual phenomena
Dr Jessica Ford

Dr Jessica Ford is a feminist media studies scholar whose work examines 
the political, textual, and cultural function of popular scripted media 
aimed at women. She is the author of /Televising Feminism: How Gender 
Politics Shapes Scripted TV /(Illinois UP, 2026), which advances a new 
framework for understanding feminism on TV as a sensibility, rather than 
a politic, identity, or ideology. Jessica is a Senior Lecturer in 
Media at Adelaide University, Australia.
_Adelaide University_ 
<https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/jessica.ford>
_LinkedIn_ <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-ford-5a40b22a3/>
_
_
/Heated Rivalry /has rapidly become one of the most discussed queer 
romance narratives of the decade, not simply because of its popularity 
but because of the cultural moment it crystallises. As a story that 
blends sports celebrity, queer identity, digital fandom, and the 
aesthetics of contemporary romance, it captures a particular zeitgeist: 
the collision of hyper-visibility and vulnerability, the performance of 
masculinity under public scrutiny, and the shifting boundaries between 
private longing and public narrative.
The in-person symposium invites scholars, practitioners, and 
postgraduate researchers to interrogate /Heated Rivalry /as a cultural 
text that speaks to broader transformations in media, identity politics, 
and the global circulation of queer storytelling. We welcome papers that 
analyse the show, stars, locations, source material, its reception, and 
its wider cultural implications.

*Suggested Themes and Topics*
As we await the much anticipated second season of the show, we encourage 
submissions that engage with /Heated Rivalry/ from any disciplinary 
perspective, including media studies, gender studies, literature, 
sociology, psychology, cultural studies, and creative practice. Possible 
topics include:

  *
    The rise of queer romance as a significant cultural form
  *
    The shifting dynamics of celebrity and emotional labour
  *
    The public gaze and contested sites of parasocial intimacy
  *
    Digital Fandom, TikTok edits, fanfiction, shipping, and
    participatory audience
  *
    The politics of visibility, masculinity, and vulnerability in sport
  *
    Queer masculinity, male intimacy, athletic identity, and emotional
    expression
  *
    Sports celebrity culture, performance, branding, and public personas
  *
    Global queer media and international patterns of LGBTQ+ storytelling
  *
    The global appetite for narratives of longing, rivalry, and
    emotional intensity
  *
    Adaptation studies, translating queer romance from page to screen
  *
    The tension between authenticity and performance in contemporary
    narratives
  *
    Clothing, costume and fashion on and off screen
  *
    The importance of place, space and geographic context
  *
    Aesthetics of desire, cinematography and the visual language of longing
  *
    Queer sex on screen
  *
    Actor safety, consent, boundaries and intimacy co-ordinating
  *
    Representation, authenticity and the ethics of mainstream queer
    narratives
  *
    Impact and legacy

We invite proposals for:

  *
    20-minute academic papers
  *
    Practice-based or practice-led presentations
  *
    Creative-critical contributions
  *
    Panel proposals

Abstracts (250–300 words) and a short biography should be submitted to 
Rebecca Feasey ((r.feasey /at/ bathspa.ac.uk)) by January 1, 2027. 
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the end of January and 
registration details to be sent via TicketSource nearer the time of the 
event.

*Location*
Bath Spa University
School of Creative and Cultural Arts
_Locksbrook Campus_ 
<https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/student-life/campuses/locksbrook-campus/>
Locksbrook Rd, Bath, BA1 3EL
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries ...
Dr Rebecca Feasey
Bath Spa University, UK
(_r.feasey /at/ bathspa.ac).uk_ <mailto:(r.feasey /at/ bathspa.ac.uk)>
_Bath Spa University_ 
<https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/our-people/rebecca-feasey/>| _LinkedIn_ 
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rebecca-feasey/>

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