Jon Anderson
Jeff State Shelby-Hoover campus
The Judy M. Merritt Health Science Building is one of three primary buildings at Jefferson State Community College's Shelby-Hoover campus in Hoover, Alabama.
Jefferson State Community College will host Pioneer Con on Thursday, Oct. 27 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m at the Shelby-Hoover Campus on Valleydale Road.
Pioneer Con is an opportunity for JSCC community members to express themselves through discussions and events centered around science fiction, fantasy, and popular culture. It's part comic-con and part academic conference.
In 2016, Jefferson State’s chapter of the Sigma Kappa Delta National English Honor Society created Pioneer Con, and what started as a little movement has turned into a wonderful event hosted every October to give students, faculty, and members of the community a chance to release their inner geek.
Events Include:
•Keynote by Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters, trivia, Panels and presentations, roundtable discussions, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, an art gallery, a dramatic presentation and writing contest.
Registration will take place from 8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Here is the schedule for the rest of the day:
10–10:45 a.m. - Breakout Session A
Production of A Game by the Jefferson State Drama Club
“‘To Say What I Cannot Write’: Queer Themes in Brom Stoker’s Dracula”
“‘American Horror Story: Mental Illness’: Monsters and Monstrosity in Popular Culture and Horror in Popular Culture”
Game Room hosted by Valhalla Board Game Café
11-11:45 a.m. - Breakout Session B
“The Haunting of House Greysbane”: A Dungeons & Dragons campaign
“Figurative Monstrosity in Mexican Gothic”
“Games that Bite: The Vampire in Modern Tabletop Games”
Game Room hosted by Valhalla Board Game Café
Noon-12:45 p.m. - Session C
Keynote Presentation by Shaun Hamill, author of A Cosmology of Monsters (followed by a book signing with books for sale from Thank You Books)
12:45 p.m.-1:30 p.m. - Lunch Break
Trivia
Door prize winners announced
1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. - Breakout Session D
“The Haunting of House Greysbane”: A Dungeons & Dragons campaign
“The Addams Family’s Surprising Support of 1950s Ideals”
“Taming the Monster: Mental Health Awareness Before and After Covid”
Game Room hosted by Valhalla Board Game Café
2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. - Breakout Session E
“Irish Folklore and Myth”
Pioneer Con Writing Contest Award Ceremony
Game Room hosted by Valhalla Board Game Café
Admission is free. For more information, visit library.jeffersonstate.edu/PioneerCon.
--Submitted by Stephen Dawkins, JSCC
