Category: Conferences

CFP ICADA-SIS 2015 (Thailand)

Call for Abstracts–The 4th  ICADA—SSIS 2015

The National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) organizes the Fourth International Conference on Advancement of Development Administration—Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies 2015 (the 4th ICADA—SSIS 2015) at NIDA, Bangkok Campus, Thailand, on May 28-30, 2015. The major theme is “ASEAN and Globalization: Transparency, Integrity, and Sustainability.”

At the conference, scholars in social sciences and interdisciplinary studies and those who have worked in the area of social and economic development will present their research/review articles related to the major theme. This will be beneficial to academia and professionals, both nationally and internationally.

We would like to extend our invitation to scholars, university instructors and students, and independent researchers to submit their abstracts of their research/review articles for presentation at the conference. The deadline for abstract submission is March 15, 2015.

CFP Communication History conference (Italy)

CFP: Bridges and Boundaries – Theories, Concepts and Sources in Communication History
An International Conference in Venice, Italy – September 16-18, 2015

Organizer: Communication History Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
Co-Sponsor: Centre for Early Modern Mapping, News and Networks (CEMMN.net) – Queen Mary University of London

Fernand Braudel in his seminal essay “History and the Social Sciences: The Longue Durée” pointed out that many academic disciplines/fields which study different aspects of social life inevitably encroach upon their neighbors, yet often remain in “blissful ignorance” of each other. Braudel and others have repeatedly called for historians and social scientists to overcome their deep ontological and epistemological differences in order to work together.

Despite much progress in this regard, communication history remains one of the fields where profitable interdisciplinary dialogue can still take place. Being aware of this need, the Communication History Section of ECREA invites researchers who focus on various aspects of the history of communication, media, networks and technologies (broadly defined), to come together with two main aims: 1) to explore the bridges and boundaries between disciplines; 2) to exchange ideas about how communication history is being done and how it might be done, while emphasizing theories, concepts and sources beneficial to their research, as well as emerging trends and themes.

A three-day conference will take place in Venice, one of the great hubs of early modern communication, at Warwick University’s seat in Palazzo Pesaro Papafava. The opening keynote address will be delivered by Professor Mario Infelise, a leading scholar of early modern print and journalism and the head of the graduate program in the Humanities at the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari. Instead of traditional panels and papers, the conference aims to foster dialogue among scholars of various disciplines through topically organized round-tables, master classes, and countless opportunities for informal discussions.

The organizing committee invites scholars to submit abstracts (max. 400 words) in which they address one of the main themes listed below and outline a short intervention that they might contribute to a round table on that theme. Such interventions should focus mainly on theoretical or methodological approaches, issues and experiences that the speaker has engaged with in his/her research. Historical case studies can be presented only so far as they contain a high degree of historiographical/theoretical significance. Interdisciplinary roundtable sessions will be organized in which participating scholars will also discuss questions raised by a chair and the audience, based on these proposals.

The deadline for abstract submission is January 10, 2015. The conference registration fee will be 140 euro and participants will be asked to cover their own travel expenses. Abstracts should be submitted through the conference website.

Main Themes:
(1) Theories and Models
Grand theories or meta-narratives often have at their core information networks and communication technologies. To what extent are theoretical premises advocated by scholars such as Braudel, Innis, McLuhan, Habermas, Luhmann, Benedict Anderson, Lefevbre – and more recently by Hallin and Mancini, Castells, Gitelman, Simonson, Mosco, Hendy, Hesmondalgh, F. Kittler, Fickers – applicable in historical inquiry? How has your own research in communication history been inspired by such concepts and theories?

(2) Space and Place
Communication networks and information technologies are always embedded in a material setting that can foster or hinder certain communication practices, call into being new forms of exchange, and drive technological development. What is the place of the geographical imagination in current communication history research? How valuable are the ideas of ‘place’ and ‘space’ in historical research? What are the current trends within the field of historical geography that can advance our understanding of communication history?

(3) News and Networks
How valuable is the idea of ‘the network’? What were the technologies that historically mediated the spread of information through networks? Who participated in networks used in advancing what Bourdieu later called cultural capital? To what extend did such networks contribute to the rise of public opinion and the public sphere? Can we talk about historical continuities between the early modern republic of letters and what Castells later popularized as the network society?

(4) Alternative Media
In order to understand communication history as a long-term, inclusive process, which alternative media or communication technologies (besides the familiar ‘mass media’ of the 20th century) need to be considered, and how? Possibilities might include migration flows, civic and religious ceremonies, theatre, preaching, fashion, the visual arts or architecture. What kinds of methodological or theoretical implications does their consideration carry?

(5) Sources and Methods
The progressive digitization of archives and libraries is opening access to primary sources for increasingly wider circles of scholars. What are the advantages and challenges raised by this development? To what extent do issues of materiality matter particularly to the realm of media and human communication research? What are the most relevant sources that you use for your own research?

(6) ‘New’ Media
At one time, even the oldest communication technologies were looked upon as suspicious novelties. Socrates famously condemned writing; the introduction of print may have been hailed by some as a ‘revolutionary’ enterprise – a term now often applied also to the digital age. What are the lessons that scholars can learn from studying critical periods during which one dominant technology is replaced by a new mode of communication? How do such lessons serve our understanding of the phenomenon called new media?

Organizing Committee:
Dr. Rosa Salzberg, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Dr. Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Dr. Juraj Kittler, St. Lawrence University, USA

International Symposium on Intergroup Communication (Greece, 2017)

1st INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON INTERGROUP COMMUNICATION
Thessaloniki, Greece (precise location TBA)
JUNE 2017

Conveved by Antonis Gardikiotis (Aristotle U. of Thessaloniki) & Howie Giles (UC Santa Barbara)

Aims of this Symposium are:
• To provide the first concentrated forum for presenting and discussing current, cutting edge research on intergroup communication
• To bring international seasoned scholars and graduates together with a view to crafting collaborative international projects on intergroup communication across a range of topics
• To stimulate interest in research and teaching of intergroup communication in Greece and its neighboring countries

The study of intergroup communication now has wide appeal in terms of its relevance to organizations, families, health, media, intercultural, new technology, etc. as we well as different disciplines. Papers on all topics of intergroup communication and will include panels on the: family; social networks; news media; disability; stigma; multilingualism; border communication; group vitalities; intergroup contact; multilingual settings; language and identity; particular intergroup settings (e.g., Ukraine, European socioeconomic crisis), etc. A number of publishing contexts will be available for work presented here, including a special issue(s) of the Journal of Language & Social Psychology on language dynamics.

Keynote speakers include Mike Hogg (Claremont Graduate U) and Anne Maass (U of Padova).

Please convey ideas for panels, papers, creative activities to both the convenors: Antonis Gardikiotis and Howie Giles. Developments will be posted at regular intervals on the ICA Intergroup googlegroups site. Sponsorship is being sought for convention support from a number of potential Associations and particularly with a view to funding international graduate students.

Sponsored by the International Communication Association and the International Association of Language and Social Psychology

CFP Conflict Conference (Texas)

The Conflict Conference 2015 CFP

The Conflict Conference (TCC) will hold its 2nd annual conference at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) on April 10-11, 2015. TCC is a multidisciplinary annual conference promoting the study of conflict and conflict resolution. We invite Papers, Panel Proposals, and Posters on any relevant topic such as apologies, advocacy, dispute resolution, peace, negotiation, reconciliation, mediation, restorative justice, conflict management, and ethics.

The DEADLINE for submissions is December 10th 2014. Notices of acceptance will be sent no later than January 31st 2015. PAPER PROPOSALS must include the author’s name and institutional affiliation, the title of the paper, and an abstract of no more than 150 words for the program. In addition, proposals must include a 600 word extended abstract without personal information. PANEL PROPOSALS must include a maximum 150 word abstract for the program, names, titles, and abstracts for each participant.  POSTERS must include the author’s name and institutional affiliation, the title of the paper, and an abstract of no more than 150 words. Note that abstracts should be based on research that is clearly in progress (if not yet completed), with a well-formulated research question, and with a good description of the types of data used (if the work is empirical) and of the approach. For posters, a clear description of a research design may be acceptable, as this can lead to useful discussions in the early stages of a project. Documents must be attached to an email as a Word document. TCC welcomes submissions from students. Please indicate student status in all paper proposals. Please send all proposals to TCC via email.

Conference events will be held on Friday, April 10th and Saturday, April 11th 2015 on the UT-Austin campus. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Linda Putnam from UC Santa Barbara as our keynote speaker. A conference registration fee of USD $40.00 is required.

TCC is sponsored by The UT Project for Conflict Resolution. http://www.utpcr.org/The_Conflict_Conference.php

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CFP Intercultural Competence in Communication and Education (Malaysia)

Call For Papers
(Deadline for submissions: 31st December 2014)

International Conference on
Intercultural Competence in Communication and Education (ICCEd-2015)
8-9 April 2015

Presented by the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
In cooperation with the Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland and the Helsinki School of Interculturality

Plenary speakers:
*Adrian Holliday, Professor
University of Canterbury Christ Church, United Kingdom
*Fred Dervin, Professor
University of Helsinki, Finland
*Ingrid Piller, Professor
Macquarie University, Australia
*Ezhar Tamam, Professor
Universiti Putra Malaysia

About the Conference
Contradictorily the concept of intercultural competence is both polysemic and empty at the same time. Researchers, practitioners but also decision makers use it almost mechanically without always worrying about its meaning(s), the ideologies it represents, the impact(s) it has on those who are embedded in its discussions and the injustice it can (too easily) lead to such as neo-racism. A few ‘usual suspects’ – mostly derived from English-speaking researchers/practitioners who enjoy prestige thanks to the symbolic violence of English as a World Language and/or prestigious supranational support – whose work is systematically (and uncritically) mentioned have often managed volens nolens to keep mainstream global understandings of intercultural competence simplified, fuzzy, idealistic and/or unrealistic. For example the ‘faulty’ keywords of culture, tolerance and respect are still present in discussions of intercultural competence.

This call for papers is interested in new, critical and original discussions and approaches to intercultural competence that go beyond these problematic ‘macdonaldised’ models and ‘reinventing the wheel’ perspectives. The conference is interdisciplinary and covers the ‘broad’ fields of communication and education.

The organisers are looking for contributions which are questioning the most ‘influential’ models of intercultural competence and/or who have attempted (un)successfully to develop new understandings and models of intercultural competence. The organisers wish to promote the idea that failure is also inherent to intercultural competence. The question of assessment can be touched upon but the idea that intercultural competence can be summatively assessed should be abandoned. The organisers consider intercultural competence to be synonymous with multicultural competence, cross-cultural competence, global competence, etc. as these labels are also unstable and have many different meanings.

The organisers are especially interested in fresh perspectives from all parts of the world. Historical/diachronic papers ‘denouncing’ reinventing the wheel approaches as well as alternative methods and approaches are very welcome (e.g. use of bodily experiences).

The following themes (among others) can be dealt with:
–  What’s wrong with current approaches? What mistakes have been made in the past and today – especially from researchers’ perspectives?
–  What are the myths around the concept of intercultural competence?
–  Is the idea of intercultural competence a thing of the past? How does it compare to intracultural competence (if such a thing exists)?
–  Can the idea of intercultural competence be really useful for conflictual situations? How can we explain conflicts – which are necessary – beyond the usual suspect of cultural difference?
–   What can we do with old and tired concepts such as identity, culture and community when we talk about intercultural competence?
– How is Intercultural competence understood/taken into consideration in the context of Arabic/English/French/Mandarin… as a lingua franca?
– How do students and e.g. mobile students understand intercultural competence? What seems to influence them?
– How is the ‘teaching’ of intercultural competence implemented in second/foreign language classrooms? Does it echo the teaching of intercultural competence in communication/ management and vice versa?
–  (How) can we move from an individualistic approach to intercultural competence to interactive and co-constructivist ones?
– With increasing use of digital technologies, how does intercultural competence fare?
–  Can neurosciences contribute to renewing the idea of intercultural competence? What about art, music, etc.?

Proposal submission
We invite scholars and professionals to submit proposals (in English) before 31st December 2014. Abstracts should be submitted by email. Please embed your abstract in the body of your message – no attachment!

Paper and colloquia proposals are invited.
1 Individual paper proposals (200-300 words; duration: 30 minutes including a twenty-minute presentation, with an additional ten minutes for discussion).
2 Colloquia proposals (200 words for the colloquium concept and 200-300 words on each paper, duration: 3h, max. 5 participants – conveners and discussant included)

Please note that only one paper per person can be submitted.
Abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific committee for originality, significance, clarity and academic rigour. Decisions about the submitted papers: 15 January 2015

International publications will report on the conference in 2016-2017 (information forthcoming).

Registrations fees:
Early bird (by 31 January 2015):
•    Local presenters/participants: RM400
•    Local students: RM250
•    International presenters/ participants: US175
•    International students: US145

Registration (1 February- 1 April 2015):
•    Local presenters/ participants RM500
•    Local Students: RM350
•    International presenters/participants US220
•    International students: US190

Partners:
•    Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia
•    University of Helsinki, Finland
•    Helsinki School of Interculturality, Finland

Scientific Chairs and Chairs of the Organizing Committee:
•    Chairperson: Dr. Régis Machart, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
•    Deputy Chairperson, Head of the Scientific Committee: Prof. Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki, Finland

International Scientific Committee:
•    Andreotti Vanessa, University of British Columbia, Canada
•    Baker Will, University of Southampton, UK
•    Barbot Marie-José, University of Lille, France
•    Brunila Kristiina, University of Helsinki, Finland
•    Byrd Clark Julie, University of Western, Canada
•    C. K. Raju, Albukhari International University, Malaysia
•    Du Xiangyun, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
•    Holmes Prue, Durham University, UK
•    Kaur Jagdish, University Malaya, Malaysia
•    Kyeyune Robinah, Makerere University, Uganda
•    Phipps Alison, University of Glasgow, UK
•    Risager Karen, University of Roskilde, Denmark
•    Skyrme Gillian, Massey University, New Zealand
•    Trémion Virginie, Catholic University of Paris, France
•    Tushar Chauduri, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
•    Wolf Alain, University of East Anglia, UK
•    Zotzmann Karin, University of Southampton, U

CFP Public Diplomacy & Development Comm

CFP Conference on Public Diplomacy & Development Communication: Intersections, Overlaps and Challenges

Public diplomacy and international development are usually considered separate fields, both for scholars and practitioners. However, for decades public and cultural diplomacy actors have received funding for activities such as scholarships, exchanges, information work and training out of official development assistance (ODA) budgets. Similarly, development organizations conduct their own international advocacy work and use culture, exchanges, training and other forms of public outreach to achieve their goals. The activities of non-traditional aid donors such as NGOs, foundations, as well as the emerging economies and South-South partnerships offer additional perspectives upon the issue.

The aim of this one-day conference is to bring interested scholars from different research disciplines together in order to explore the common ground between activities that blur the categories of PD, soft power, nation brands, international development and development communication. Each of these concepts uses communication techniques to influence foreign citizens. How can we best draw upon the insights from each field? How should we conceptualize activities that hold a dual purpose of promoting social development in fragile or developing regions while simultaneously promoting a donor country’s values, norms and foreign policies? Has the relationship between these activities intensified or changed since the decline of conditional aid?

We are particularly interested in receiving abstracts that explore theoretical approaches to these issues, and/or empirical examples that elucidate current or historical practices. Themes may include:
– Case studies of public diplomacy and/or official development actors at national, supranational and subnational levels;
– Comparisons of actors based in different regions, such as OECD DAC members, emerging economies, the Middle East;
– Comparisons with non-traditional actors such as NGOs, civil society representatives, foundations, corporations, and South-South Co-operation;
– Synergies, conflicts of interest, interplays or contradictions between PD and aid activities;
– Perspectives from recipient/partner countries, including critiques, challenges, resistance, alternatives and success stories;
– Explorations of the roles of values, norms and brands;
– Explorations of communication techniques, such as use of social media, culture, the arts, education, etc
– Comparative conceptualizations of two or more related terms, e.g. public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, soft power, nation brands, international development, participatory communication, development communication;
– The “ODAfication” of diplomacy, public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy, contra the role of politics and advocacy in aid.

Applications are welcome from scholars and practitioners with an interest in developing knowledge of the intersection between these fields. Deadline for abstracts of 500-1,000 words: 31 October. Notification of acceptance: 14 November. The conference will be held on 27 February 2015 at the Center on Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California. The best presentations will be invited to contribute to an edited collection, which will represent the first major publication on this topic. The conference is organized by Professor Karin Wilkins (University of Texas at Austin), Dr James Pamment (University of Texas at Austin & Karlstad University), and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Please send abstracts and any queries by email to James Pamment..

CFP International Association for Conflict Management

IACM 2015 Call for Conference Submissions

The 28th Annual Conference of the IACM (International Association for Conflict Management) will take place from 28 June to 1 July 2015 at the Hilton Clearwater Beach, Florida, USA. This is a resort-style conference on one of the most beautiful beaches in the United States.

IACM was founded to encourage scholars and practitioners to develop and disseminate theory, research, and experience that is useful for understanding and improving conflict management in family, organizational, societal, and international settings. The conference will present new and unpublished negotiation and conflict management work.

For details, down load the full conference call.

 

CFP Communications and the State: Toward a New International History

Communications and the State: Toward a New International History
International Communication Association Preconference
San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 20, 2015
Sponsor: ICA Communication History Division
Organizers: Gene Allen and Michael Stamm

In 2004, Paul Starr remarked that “Technology and economics cannot alone explain the system of communications we have inherited or the one we are creating. The communications media have so direct a bearing on the exercise of power that their development is impossible to understand without taking politics into account, not simply in the use of media, but in the making of constitutive choices about them.” Alongside Starr, historians have produced a vibrant new literature detailing the constitutive role of the state in the making of communications and the constitutive role of communications in the making and unmaking of states and empires. Indeed, communications – and the industries, infrastructures, and cultures that take shape around it – has been integral to state-related projects ranging from empire building to liberation movements and “great leaps forward.”

Though the range of state activities affecting and structuring communications is vast, it is possible to identify four broad themes in the literature: the state as communicator, the state as a regulator of communication, the state as a creator and/or subsidizer of structures of communication, and the state as an object of critique by citizens and subjects.

On the first theme, in the earliest days of print, state-building monarchs used the medium to celebrate their victories, minimize their defeats, and administer increasingly complex relationships with their subjects. Today, communications remains a key strategic function of all governments, whether democratic or authoritarian. How have these functions evolved over time?  How have they been used by different kinds of states and regimes at different times? The communication practices and requirements of, for example, the modern welfare state are very different than those of the pre-Revolutionary French monarchy.  The state in a democratic society communicates with its citizens differently than a colonial regime does with its subjects.

Along with attempts to shape public opinion, the state also restricts and regulates communication.  In democracies, this leads us to histories of licensing, censorship and other forms of repression and to histories of radical or revolutionary communication in opposition to the state. It also directs us to histories of regulatory institutions, legislation, court decisions and the myriad other ways that communication organizations have negotiated with states over access to public resources. Many of these issues have arisen in nondemocratic and colonial societies as well, though they often involve different strategies, tactics, and outcomes, and sometimes direct and violent repression.

Third, scholars have been broadening our understanding of the state’s role in creating communications networks and institutions. For example, Armand Mattelart has emphasized the importance of physical infrastructure, beginning with the systems of roads and canals constructed by the mercantilist state in the 17th and 18th centuries, in organizing communicative space. Richard John’s work on the US Post Office has been similarly influential in generating work on the state subsidy of information networks in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some scholars have taken a global and comparative approach to this theme, for example Daniel Hallin and Paolo Mancini, who recently extended their influential work on comparative media systems to include nonwestern societies. Others have interrogated how communication has been structured through the actions of supranational entities such as empires, international copyright or telecommunications conventions or agencies like UNESCO.

And finally, many scholars have examined how audience members, ordinary citizens, or colonial subjects have understood, interacted with, and responded to the state’s presence in their lives as it pertains to communication. Recent historical studies have examined such subjects as pirate radio, alternative journalism, media reform movements, public protests, court cases aimed at expanding or protecting the right to free expression, and forms of everyday resistance such as graffiti and public art. To many people in democratic societies, state power has not been seen as coincidental with justice or legitimacy. Opposition to colonial rule has often (justifiably) been more directly confrontational, though in postcolonial societies the idea of a new state can be seen as a path to emancipation. We seek to understand the various critiques and activist projects that have been generated as people communicate alongside or against the state.

Ultimately, the aim of this preconference is to bring together scholars studying diverse time periods and geographic areas with the goal of drawing conclusions about the state as an active element in the making of communications in general, rather than in one particular nation or another. We are also interested in what happens when communication systems reach across state boundaries and in historical formations that have important commonalities with states, such as alliances, kingdoms, juntas, and more.

Abstracts of 300 words (maximum) should be submitted no later than 15 November 2014. Proposals for full panels are also welcome: these should include a 250-word abstract for each individual presentation, and a 200-word rationale for the panel. Send abstracts to Gene Allen. Authors will be informed regarding acceptance/rejection for the preconference no later than December 15, 2014. In an effort to facilitate informed discussion of papers, the organizers will have the papers for this preconference posted online. For this reason, full papers will need to be submitted no later than April 15, 2015.

CFP Brand Jamaica Symposium

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Re-Imagine Jamaica: Unlimited Possibilities
A Brand Jamaica Symposium
July 16-17, 2015

The Re:Imagine Jamaica Project, in association with the Center For Leadership and Governance, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, invites paper proposals for the Brand Jamaica symposium entitled “Re-Imagine Jamaica: Unlimited Possibilities” to be held on July 16-17, 2015 at the University of The West indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.

Nations, regions and cities are today competing with each other for their share of the world’s tourists, investment, aid, students, for buyers of their products and services, for talent as well as for the attention and respect of the media and the global community. Indeed, the new global economy is thus imposing on all states the obligation to develop, manage and leverage their image in order to stand out in this increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Nation branding is the process by which nations construct their distinctive identity, culture and heritage and project their image in the world. This process is particularly important for developing nations as they try to attract investment, boost their economies and offer their citizens a meaningful life. Nigeria, Namibia, the Bahamas, Maldives, Ecuador and Costa Rica are among the countries of the Third World that have been taking steps to aggressively brand their nations. Over the last decade, Jamaica has also been actively engaged in a similar process of creating, positioning and managing its public image.

This is especially important given the dilemma confronting Brand Jamaica. Many aspects of the Jamaican brand exhibit extraordinary presence, influence and promise (e.g. tourism, sports; a vibrant culture and world famous export products). Yet, there are also dangerous deficits, and a prolonged crisis embodied in poor governance – violent crime, breaches of human rights, poverty and rising employment. These negative discourses have simultaneously served to undermine Jamaica in international public opinion, and disrupt its capacity to take full advantage of its moral, social, economic and cultural capital.

The Re-Imagine Jamaica: Unlimited Possibilities symposium aims to explore some of the key trends, issues, challenges and practices that are shaping Brand Jamaica. It aims to provide insights into:
– How Jamaica may define itself on its own terms and makes claim its own identity based on consensus among all stakeholders.
– How to promote and project its national identity and brand in the global arena beyond tourism.
– How Jamaica can make the most of its hugely popular global image and symbols created through sports, music, food and destination tourism.
– How to manage current reputational challenges and stereotypes that undermine and threaten Brand Jamaica, that is, how to develop measures to address, counter and challenge them.
– How different domestic sectors can develop a better understanding of Brand Jamaica and the role they have to play in it.
– Ways to protect Brand Jamaica from dilution, contamination and exploitation.
– How to handle communication challenges during times of crisis (such as natural disasters, political unrest, upsurges of crime, etc.).
– How to reposition the Jamaican brand, create a more complex narrative and project a more positive image of the country.
– How Jamaicans in the diaspora impact Brand Jamaica and how the image of the nation influences how Jamaicans are received and treated abroad.

Interested parties should sent a 300-500 word abstract via email by November 30, 2014. Abstracts should clearly address one or more of the conference themes, and also include affiliation and contact details.

CFP Discourses of Culture DiscourseNet (Belgrade)

Call for Papers

DN15. The 15th DiscourseNet Conference: Discourses of Culture – Cultures of Discourse
March 19-21, 2015
University Library “Svetozar Markovic” Belgrade

A topic of controversial debate today, “discourse & culture” points to fundamental questions in contemporary society such as the role of mass media in the construction and transformation of reality, the interrelationships between high and mass culture, or the interpellations of subjects in their communities. Discourse is seen as a set of enacted processes that establish, protect, or change conventions and thus reassemble the wide area of both the material and immaterial environment. Therefore, the question of how discourse affects culture through a long chain of mediated actions and
reactions stands at the focal point of many discourse researchers. The main aim of the DN15 conference is to open an interdisciplinary dialogue concerning discourse and culture. Contributors are invited to make (sub-)culture(s) a central concern within discourse studies or to explore discursive phenomena in terms of culture. DN15 welcomes critical reflection upon the discursive and cultural aspects of meaning, identity, and communication.

This conference welcomes new methodological and theoretical approaches dealing with the nexus of discourse and culture. Contributors are invited to focus on inter- and transdisciplinary approaches in media studies and digital humanities, sociology, political studies, linguistics, literary criticism, and cultural studies. The meeting also presents the opportunity to join the DiscourseNet network and to develop new projects and cooperations. The working language is English, all contributions will be recorded (with the consent of the presenters), and a publication is planned.

Conference participants are also invited to take part in the planning meeting of DiscourseNet which will take place on the Saturday, at the end of the conference. All those who wish to become members, propose new ideas, or talk about collaborative perspectives for the discourse re-search network
are most welcome. Please send an email to the organizers if you want to join this meeting.

The event is free, but a small contribution for coffee etc. may be charged. Travel assistance may be available for a limited number of participants who are in need of financial support (please justify). The deadline for conference paper proposals (with name, title, a half-page abstract and a short cv) is 1st  January 2015. Please contact the organizers via discoursenet15@ubsm.rs or dn15@ubsm.rs, and visit the conference webpage. DN15 is organized by Jan Krasni (Belgrade) and receives support from the ERC DISCONEX project led by Johannes Angermuller (Warwick).