These Discussions are brought to you by many of our guests, staff, and programming participants!
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* The Art of the Fantastic in Silent Film
* Between Castle & Sucker Punch: The Emergence of SP into Mainstream Media
* Building Steampunk Table Top Game Settings
* Clockwork Dolls & Coin-Operated Boys: Human Statue Workshop
* Dreams of Africa
* Drunken Tales of the Outlanders
* Envisioning a Better Steam Society: Social Issues & Steampunk
* Extraordinary Inventions – Bizarre Victorian Inventions that never took off
* How the British Empire Invented sport, exported it to the World, and then proceeded to systematically lose at everything
* How To Steampunk Your Favorite Characters
* HP Lovecraft: Legacy of Tentacles
* Kimono & Steampunk
* Mixing Genres in Steammpunk Lit.
* Modern Steampunk, Genre and Subculture
* Naughty Custom Art and the People Who Love It (18+)
* No-Sew Costuming
* Notable Non-associative Numbers of Victorian Mathematician Arthur Cayley
* The Philosophy Engine
* Podcasting for Steampunk
* Staging Your Steampunk & Victorian LARPs
* Steam Around the World: Steampunk Beyond Victoriana
* The Steam Engine
* Steam-Scholars Parts 1 & 2
* Steampunk & Art
* Steampunk & The Apocalypse
* Steampunk as a Community
* Steampunk at Home Depot
* Steampunk in Comics II: To the Dirigible and Beyond
* Steampunk in Comics: Capes & Steam!
* Steampunk in the Arts
* Steampunk on the Cheap
* Steampunk Literature: An Overview
* The Steampunk Soundtrack: Steampunk & Retrofuturist Music
* Steampunk Video on a Budget
* Social Media: Steampunk’s New Platform
* Swagger 101
* Theology in Steampunk
* Topics in Replacement Body Parts and Cyborgs
* The Victorian Vampire
* Victorian Ballroom Etiquette
* Victorian Sexuality
* Virtual Worlds of Steampunk
* What the Pulp is Dieselpunk?
* When to Doff Your Hat
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* No-Sew Costuming
With Laura Vaughn, of The Cyborg Seamstress
There are many ways of creating a successful costume without ever sewing a stitch! This panel offers a variety of tips and tricks on creating your favorite costume or original design with no sewing required! Discussion includes handouts and accompanying photo presentation with question and answer period to follow.
* How To Steampunk Your Favorite Characters
With Laura Vaughn, of The Cyborg Seamstress
The trend of “steampunking” existent characters has become popular within the steampunk community over the last couple of years. But what does it take to re-design and create a successful steampunk version of a character’s costume? What aspects of a character’s original design need to remain intact in their steampunk version, if any? Are there some characters who should simply not be subjected to “steampunk-ification?” This one hour panel consists of discussion and photo presentation with a question and answer period to follow.
* The Notable Non-associative Numbers of Victorian Mathematician Arthur Cayley
With Dr. Dubious Lie
In this presentation we discuss the mathematics of Arthur Cayley, often known as the Mathematician Laureate of the Victorian Age. We will begin with a biography and then focus on what is perhaps his most important work, the construction of an 8 dimensional algebraic structure called the Octonians (otherwise known as the Cayley Numbers.) The works of Sir William Rowan Hamilton from the same period will also be discussed to provide background and clarity for this great work of Cayley.
* Swagger 101
With A Count Named Slickbrass and the Crew of the Titilus
* Steam Around the World: Steampunk Beyond Victoriana
With Jaymee Goh and Ay-Leen the Peacemaker
Beyond Victoriana, what steampunk possibilities exist? Come join us as we take you on a trip around the world to see how steampunk manifests itself outside of Europe. We will also approach the ethical challenges that come up when engaging in multicultural steampunk and discuss matters of race, privilege, and cultural appropriation.
* Envisioning a Better Steam Society: Social Issues & Steampunk
With Jaymee Goh and Ay-Leen the Peacemaker
A panel where participants discuss their thoughts about finding aesthetic inspiration in a historical era rife with sexism, racism and classist thinking. We hope to engage in an open dialogue about whether steampunk confronts or condones the historical ideas behind its inspiration, how 19th century thinking is re-interpreted in the present day, and what makes steampunk actually “punk.”
* Steampunk on the Cheap
With Jaymee Goh and Ay-Leen the Peacemaker
You don’t have to hold an aristocrat’s purse-strings in order to look like one. Join a discussion about how steampunks can get the aesthetics they want without the cost. Share personal experiences, from thrifting and costuming shortcuts to more in-depth talks about the meaning of class and its impact in the steampunk community.
* Modern Steampunk, Genre and Subculture
With Austin Sirkin
This panel is an examination of Steampunk as a modern, rather than historic, movement that deals with modern issues and sensibilities. Additionally, we will look at Steampunk as both a genre and a subculture in order to explore how they may fit together into a larger explanation of what Steampunk is.
* Steampunk as a Community
With Austin Sirkin
Steampunk is about more than just the Victorian era and brass machines; it’s about you! In this panel, we’ll discuss notable members of the larger Steampunk community, Steampunk ideology (or lack thereof?) and what we present to outsiders.
* What the Pulp is Dieselpunk?
With Tome Wilson of Dieselpunks.org
A dieselpunk primer for people not familiar with the aesthetic. Includes a short talk defining dieselpunk, examples of source materials, and a Q&A.
* Steampunk in Comics: Capes and Steam!
With the Queen of Sanctuary of the Red Fork Empire
This panel covers steampunk influences in comics, including DC and Marvel superhero work as well as great indies and self-publishers. A great introduction to steampunk in sequential art and storytelling, and an excellent visual reference for readers and costumers alike.
* Steampunk in Comics II: To the Dirigible and Beyond
With the Queen of Sanctuary of the Red Fork Empire
A sequel to the ‘Capes and Steam!’ comic panel, this discussion covers more in-depth steampunk works and related genres, including dieselpunk, decopunk, and more. The edges of the steampunk movement will be explored, and we will see how far a steampunk comic can go in the world of art.
* Steampunk at Home Depot
With Pixel
Paint, pipes, hardware and more! When it comes to prop making, Home Depot is a veritable playground. Come get ideas, share suggestions, and show off props you’ve created. We’ll also be sharing other suggestions for where to get prop parts & supplies.
* Steam-Scholars Parts 1 & 2
Academics inside and outside the steampunk community are turning their attention to steampunk culture and literature. In these panels, we’ll look in depth at steampunk propmakers as folk artists, as well as steampunk in the context of issues such as postcolonialism, Marxism and workers’ movements, and environmentalism and the Industrial Revolution. Please come join us, hear about our work, and share your ideas. Nonacademics very, very welcome! With Jaymee Goh, Austin Sirkin, Leah Richards, Catherine Siemann (organizer)
* Victorian Ballroom Etiquette
With Susan de Guardiola
Victorian ballroom etiquette for beginners. Proper bows and courtesies, how to perform introductions (and what you can do when you have one) and the secret strategies of the dance card!
* Kimono & Steampunk
With Marina Gurland
A Dressing Demonstration in 4 parts. Ms. Marina Gurland invites you mix up your steampunk with a Japanese flair! Learn the history of kimono, why kimono mixes so well with steampunk, and marvel at the beauty of dressing in kimono. Will feature dressing demos in the traditional way with all 3 layers, the “cheater’s” way of dressing, how to put a corset on a kimono without causing damage to your garment, and how to steampunk your kimono dressing! Followed by Q&A!
* The Victorian Vampire
With Vikki
Why was the Victorian Vampire so scary? We’ll discuss Dracula, the folkloric vampires Stoker drew on, and Lair of the White Worm; plus Jack the Ripper!
* Steampunk and the Apocalypse
With Catstraphone Orchestra
In an era of climate chaos, peak oil and economic crises, steampunk’s imagination and DIY ethic may inform how we live in the future! Learn about the Victorian disasters that were apocalyptic and how they changed their societies, how has steampunk seen the future post-oil, and how we can help ourselves and our communities if we were to find ourselves without oil or the electrical grid. We will provide a demonstration of sand and coal water purification systems, solar steam boilers and other such old timey DIY survival contraptions. Presented by fiction authors who have organized relief efforts in New Orleans and the Midwest.
* Extraordinary Inventions – Bizarre Victorian Inventions that never took off
With Professor Mark P. Donnelly
History is full of ingenious inventions. Progress through civilization has always been fueled by scientists, engineers and inventors. But not all inventions lead to progress. This 60-minute presentation highlights some of the most bizarre inventions and ideas to come out of the industrial revolution.
* How the British Empire Invented sport, exported it to the World, and then proceeded to systematically lose at everything
With Professor Mark P. Donnelly
The Victorians invented sport. Of course sports and games have been played throughout history, but it was through the nineteenth century that most of the modern sports played around the world were developed, and codified. The Victorians invented and published rules for sports. For the first time these sports and games were played in the same way and with the same rules in widely different areas. Sporting equipment (croquet sets, tennis racquets, boxing gloves, etc.) was mass produced in factories for the first time and shipped with rule books throughout the British Empire and around the world.
Building Steampunk Table Top Game Settings
With Peter Woodworth
Staging Your Steampunk & Victorian LARPs
With Peter Woodworth
Steampunk in the Arts
Dr. Grymm and The Emperor of the Red Fork Empire (along with a few surprise guests) will host a discussion on how Steampunk has infiltrated the art scene and the direction Artists can take to become part of it. Discussions will also include methods of design, protecting your artwork, and future projects as well as a Q&A.
Dreams of Africa
With Dr. Gerrard D Evans, Dorothy Winterman, and Doyaun Raisuli De Valda-Martinez
The mind relates what the eyes show it. Africa has long been held a land of mystery. A world unto itself filled with hidden secrets that have made many an author, filmmaker and colonial power covetous. It is also a place filled with history and ripe with the fruit for the avid Steampunk. We seek to first shed some light on this history and expose you to elements you may not know, and show an example of how to use this insight into expanding into a largely untouched source to fuel your dreams.
The Art of the Fantastic in Silent Film
With The Outlanders
Do you love silent films? Come join us as we discuss the role of the fantastic in the silent films of early cinema. We’ll also discuss modern films made in the silent style, and if you’re interested in making your own silents, come on by…experienced filmmakers will be on hand to give you a few tips and tricks!
Drunken Tales of the Outlanders
With The Outlanders
Come listen in as the folks from Outland Armour regale you with tales of their exploits and possibly create new ones! You don’t want to miss this one, a good time will be had by all!