Superman’s Cleveland Conference: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Cultural Icon!

Call for Presentations

Conference Location: Cleveland Public Library at 325 E. Superior Ave Cleveland, OH 44114

Conference Date: October 14, 2023

In honor of the 85th anniversary of the creation of Superman in Cleveland, Ohio, Ursuline College and the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library are organizing a conference dedicated to exploring the first superhero’s connections to the city of Cleveland, his relationship to the broader cultural environment, and Superman’s legacy within the medium of comics itself.

We encourage submissions of traditional academic conference presentations and panels as well as non-traditional proposals such as live podcasts recordings, comics-making workshops, and other creative programming.

Submissions should consider — but are not limited to — the connection between superheroes and:

  • the Rust Belt
  • the immigrant experience
  • local journalism
  • Jewish identity
  • comics history
  • the city of Cleveland
  • …or other creative interpretations of these topics

To submit your proposal, please visit our online form by clicking here.

Submission Deadline Extended to June 15, 2023!

Questions? Please feel free to contact project co-directors Dr. Valentino Zullo at valentino.zullo@ursuline.edu or Don Boozer at ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org.

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This event will be part of “Superman’s Cleveland: Lineage and Legacy,” a series of events to be held throughout Cleveland this Fall.

Header features original artwork by Sina Grace.

This program is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Ohio Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.