The DePaul Pop Culture Conference is an annual fan/academic event held at DePaul University in Chicago. We host fans, scholars, and media makers from around the world to engage in conversation about popular culture and cult media. Each year’s event is themed for an important pop culture moment.

We also support many charities, and have featured lots of fascinating Keynote speakers.  Our event is free to attend, and we encourage both academic and community presentations! Our conference books feature great essays by many of our speakers! 

The DePaul Pop Culture Conference is now open for submissions for the 2027 conference, “Spotlighting Musical Theater”. Click HERE to go to our submissions site.

We welcome submissions on any topic related to the musical!

• We’re looking for 100-200 word summaries of 7-10 minute presentations.
• Full panel (4-5 speakers) submissions are also welcome!

Everyone is welcome, regardless of experience.

• Deadline: Jan 11, 2027
• If interested in publishing in our annual Conference book, full papers are due March 08, 2027.

This conference will be held in person at DePaul University in Chicago on Saturday, April 24, 2027

We can’t wait to read your ideas!