CFP Mobilizing at the Margins: Citizenship, Identity and Democracy

Mobilizing at the Margins: Citizenship, Identity, and Democracy
LAGO Graduate Student Conference
February 5-7th, 2015
New Orleans, LA
Deadline for Submissions: October 24th, 2014
Length of Submissions: 300 words or less

Tulane University’s Latin American Graduate Organization (LAGO) invites your abstract submissions for the 2015 Graduate Conference where you can meet graduate scholars, faculty, and community leaders interested in Latin America, explore the city, and experience the unique Mardi Gras season in New Orleans!

This year’s conference encourages participants to engage with historical and emerging confrontations and reconfigurations of national identification, expressions of individual or communal identity, performances of citizenship, and reimaginings of democracy within the context of Latin America. Latin America and the Caribbean encompass vast cultural, linguistic, and geographic diversity, making the region a subject of prolific scholarly study across disciplines. Within this complexity, conceptualizations of citizenship, identity, and democracy are constantly being negotiated, contested, and reframed in a multitude of contexts. These various encounters highlight the ways in which individuals interact with their communities, how communities define themselves within and/or beyond the framework of national borders, and how power and politics play out in an increasingly interconnected and decentralized global community.

With this broad theme in mind, LAGO invites graduate scholars across disciplines to submit abstracts exploring mobilizations of citizenship, identity and democracy from the physical, societal and theoretical margins of Latin America and the Caribbean region for LAGO’s 2015 graduate student conference. LAGO encourages participants to interpret this theme as they see fit. We invite submissions in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Haitian Creole for consideration.

Submit your abstract by Friday, October 24th, 2014. Please circulate widely.

“Movilización en los Márgenes: Ciudadanía, Identidad, y Democracia”
Conferencia de Estudiantes Licenciados LAGO
5-7 de Febrero, 2015
Nueva Orleans, Luisiana
Fecha para entregar Solicitaciones: 24 de Octubre, 2014
Extensión de Solicitación: 300 palabras o menos

La Organización Latinoamericana de Estudiantes Licenciados (LAGO) en la Universidad de Tulane le invita a hacer entrega de su solicitación para la próxima Conferencia de Estudiantes Licenciados donde podrá conocer a otros alumnos licenciados, facultad, y líderes comunitarios interesados en América Latina. Tendrá también la oportunidad de explorar la ciudad y vivir la especial tradición de ‘Mardi Gras’ en Nueva Orleans!

Este año la conferencia anima que sus participantes se comprometan con enfrentamientos históricos y emergentes, re-configuraciones de identificación nacional, expresiones de identidad individual o comunal, desempeños de ciudadanía, y re-imaginaciones de democracia dentro del contexto de América Latina. Latinoamérica y el Caribe abarcan una gran diversidad cultural, lingüística y geográfica, convirtiendo a la región en un tema de estudio académico prolífico a través de varias disciplinas. Dentro de dicha complejidad, conceptualizaciones de ciudadanía, identidad, y democracia son constantemente negociadas, disputadas, y se encuadran dentro de una multitud de contextos. Estos diversos encuentros destacan las formas en la cual personas interactúan con sus comunidades, cómo las comunidades se definen a sí mismos dentro y/o fuera del marco de las fronteras nacionales, y cómo el poder y la política se desarrollan dentro de una comunidad mundial cada vez más interconectada y descentralizada.

Con este amplio tema en mente, LAGO invita a alumnos licenciados a través de las disciplinas a entregar solicitudes que exploren las movilizaciones de ciudadanía, identidad, y democracia dentro de los márgenes físicos, sociales y teóricos de América Latina y el Caribe para la conferencia LAGO del 2015. LAGO invita que los participantes interpreten dicho tema como mejor les parezca. Para que se le considere, le invitamos que mande solicitudes en Inglés, Español, Portugués, Francés, y Criollo Haitiano.

Envíen sus solicitaciones. La fecha final de entrega de reseñas es el viernes, 24 de octubre del 2014.
Favor de difundir ampliamente.

“Mobilizando às margens: cidadania, identidade, e democracia”
Congresso Estudantil de Pós-graduação de LAGO
De 5 a 7 de fevereiro de 2015
New Orleans, LA
Prazo de entrega: até 24 de outubro de 2014
Limite de palavras para entregas:  até 300 palavras

A Organização de Pós-Graduação de Estudos Latinoamericanos (LAGO) da Universidade de Tulane convida todos interessados a entregarem resumos para o Congresso de Pós-Graduação de 2015, onde poderão encontrar alunos de pós-graduação, professores e líderes na comunidade interessados pela América Latina, como também poderão explorar a cidade e aproveitar a época singular de Mardi Gras em New Orleans. O Congresso deste ano sugere que os participantes analisem confrontos e mudanças históricas ou emergentes referentes aos seguintes temas: identificação nacional; expressões tanto de identidade individual quanto popular; práticas de cidadania; e construções da democracia no interior da América Latina. A América Latina e o Caribe contêm uma ampla diversidade, tanto cultural, quanto linguística e geográfica, o que as tornam regiões importantes por possibilitarem numerosos estudos a partir de diferentes perspectivas e metodologias. Dentro dessa complexidade, conceitualizações de cidadania, identidade e democracia são constantemente negociadas, contestadas e reformuladas em uma multiplicidade de contextos. Esses diversos encontros demostram as maneiras de como os indivíduos interagem com suas comunidades, como as comunidades se definem dentro e/ou fora de uma estrutura do imaginário nacional e como poder e política acabam numa comunidade global que segue sendo ainda mais interconectada e descentralizada.

Considerando-se a amplitude desse tema, LAGO convida estudantes de pós-graduação de qualquer disciplina para submeterem à apreciação resumos que investiguem  mobilizações de cidadania, identidade e democracia, desde os aspectos físicos até os sociais e teóricos da América Latina e da região do Caribe para o  Congresso Estudantil de Pós-graduação de LAGO de 2015. LAGO incentiva que os participantes interpretem esse tema como considerarem. Nós aceitaremos os textos escritos em inglês, espanhol, português e crioulo haitiano.

Favor, submetam as suas entregas aqui. Prazo de entrega: 24 de Outubro de 2014. Favor compartilhem amplamente.

« Mobilisation aux marges : La citoyenneté, l’identité et la démocratie »
Une conférence de LAGO pour des étudiants de troisième cycle
5 février – 7 février 2015
New Orleans, LA
Date limite de soumettre un résumé : 24 octobre 2014
Prière de limiter le résumé à 300 mots

L’Organisation des Études Avancées d’Amérique Latine (LAGO) de l’Université de Tulane vous invite à soumettre un résumé d’exposé à la Conférence LAGO de 2015.  Cette conférence réunira des chercheurs et des leaders communautaires qui s’intéressent aux études d’Amérique Latine pour se faire des relations, pour partager leurs connaissances, pour explorer la ville de la Nouvelle Orléans et pour profiter de la saison de carnaval!

La conférence de 2015 encourage ses participants à s’engager aux conflits historiques et émergents et aux réorganisations de l’identité nationale, de l’expression individuelle ou communautaire, aux performances de citoyenneté et aux réorganisations de démocratie en Amérique Latine.  L’Amérique Latine et les Caraïbes englobent une diversité extrême des cultures, des langues et de la géographie : cette diversité explique la richesse et la prolifération des études latino-américaines dans toutes les disciplines académiques.  Dans le cadre de cette complexité, les conceptualisations de citoyenneté, d’identité et de démocratie existent dans un flux de négociation, de contestation et de recadrage dans des situations diverses. Ces rencontres variés mettent l’accent sur les façons par lesquelles l’individu communique avec sa communauté, les façons par lesquelles la communauté se définit à l’intérieur ou au-delà des frontières nationales et les enjeux de pouvoir, de puissance et de politique dans la communauté mondiale où tout est de plus en plus interrelié et de plus en plus décentralisé.

En tenant compte de ce thème général, LAGO invite des étudiants de troisième cycle à soumettre des résumés d’exposé qui explore les mobilisations de la citoyenneté, de l’identité et de la démocratie à partir des marges physiques, culturelles et théoriques d’Amérique Latine et des Caraïbes afin de faire un exposé à la conférence de 2015.  LAGO encourage chaque participant d’interpréter ce thème à sa guise.  Nous considérons des soumissions en anglais, en espagnol, en portugais, en français et en créole haïtien.

Prière d’envoyer vos propositions de communication ici. Date limite: 24 Octobre, 2014. Prière de diffuser largement.

Mobilize nan marges yo: Sitwayènte, Idantite, ak Demokrasi
LAGO Konfersans Etidyan Gradye
5-7 Fevriye, 2015
New Orleans, LA
Dat limit pou soumèt: 24 Oktòb, 2014
Longè soumèt: 300 oswa mwens

Òganizasyon Amerik Latin pou Etidyan Gradye (LAGO) nan Inivesite Tulane envite ou a soumèt abstrè ou pou Konferans Etidyan Gradye a pwochenn ane 2015 kote ou ka rakontre lòt entelektyèl gradye, fakilte, ak lidè kominote ki enterese nan Amerik Latin nan, eksplore lavil la, epi fè eksperyans inik sezon an de ‘Mardi Gras’ nan New Orleans !

Konferans ane sa a ankouraje patisipan angaje avèk istorik ak émergentes konfli, re-konfigirasyon de idantifikasyon nasyonal, ekspresyon ki montre idantite pèsonèl oswa kominal, pèfòmans de sitwayènte, ak re-imajinasyon nan demokrasi nan yon kontèks de Amerik Latin nan. Amerik Latin ak Karayib la kouvri yon gwo divèsite kiltirèl, lengwistik ak jeyografik yo, ki fè rejyon an yon sijè prolific nan etid akademik ki atravè plizyè disiplin. Nan konpleksite sa a, konsèptualizasyon nan sitwayènte, idantite, ak demokrasi yo toujou ap negosye, konteste, ak tonbe nan yon foul moun nan kontèks. Sa yo reyinyon dives kalite mete aksan sou fason yo ki nan ki moun ki kominike avèk kominote yo, ki jan kominote defini tèt yo nan lespas ak/oswa lwen fondasyon an nan fwontyè nasyonal, e kouman pouvwa ak politik pran plas nan yon kominote global sa se pli zan pli konekte ak desantralize.

Avèk sa a sijè laj nan tèt ou, LAGO envite etidyan gradye nan tout disiplin yo soumèt rezime ki eksplore mobilizasyon de sitwayènte, idantite, ak demokrasi soti nan fizik la, sosyete a, epi teyorik marges de Amerik Latin ak nan Karayib la pou konferans etidyan gradye “LAGO” nan ane 2015. LAGO ankouraje patisipan ka esplike nou rèv tèm sa a menm jan yo wè anfòm. Nou envite soumèt nan lang angle, panyòl, pòtigè, franse, ak kreyòl ayisyen.

Soumèt abstrè ou isit la. Dat limit pou soumèt: 24 Oktòb, 2014. Tanpri sikile lajman.

Symbolic Dimensions of Mediated Activism in Inter-Asia

Symbolic Dimensions of Mediated Activism in Inter-Asia
9/26/2014 Daylong PARGC, Penn SAS, SSRC Symposium

Location: Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Room 108
From 8:30 AM To 5:00 PM

A symposium presented by the Social Science Research Council. Co-sponsored by PARGC of the Annenberg School for Communication and Department of Sociology of the School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania.

About the Symposium:

Symbolic Dimensions of Mediated Activism in Inter-Asia is one of many workshop discussions organized as part of the SSRC’s Transregional Virtual Research Institute (TVRI) on “Media, Activism, and the New Political in InterAsia.” Directed by Guobin Yang, this daylong workshop will explore, through comparative and historical discussions, the empirical, theoretical, and methodological issues in the analysis of the production, circulation, and impact of icons and symbols of protest and opposition in inter-Asia (China, India, and MENA). Our goal is to understand the discursive and symbolic connections and interactions of mediated activism in inter-Asia. In popular imagination, incidents of dissent and popular protest are often remembered for some critical moments with great symbolic value – the storming of the Bastille, the tank man in Tiananmen Square, the death of Neda Agha-Soltan in Iran. How are they preserved, passed down and absorbed into the repertoires of contention? How are new political symbols created and disseminated? What is the role of social media? Under what conditions do local and national political symbols become trans-local and trans-national? How do global media spectacles impinge on regional and local mobilization? These are some of the questions we will explore in this conference.

Speakers include:
Payal Arora (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Radha Hegde (NYU)
Annemarie Iddins (University of Michigan)
Min Jiang (UNC-Charlotte)
Joe Khalil (Northwestern University in Qatar)
Marwan Kraidy (University of Pennsylvania)
Wazhmah Osman (Temple University)
Aswin Punathambekar (University of Michigan)
Steven Schrag (University of Pennsylvania)
Guobin Yang (University of Pennsylvania)
Elaine Yuan (UI-Chicago)

Please email rsvp@asc.upenn.edu to RSVP

CFP Culture(s) in Sustainable Futures (Finland 2015)

Culture(s) in Sustainable Futures: Theories, Practices, Policies

Is culture the fourth pillar of sustainability alongside the ecological, economic and social aspects? How does culture act as a catalyst for ecological sustainability, human well-being and economic viability?  What would our futures look like if sustainability was embedded in the multiple dimensions of culture?

This landmark conference that takes place in Helsinki, 6-8 May 2015 explores the roles and meanings of culture in sustainable development. The new ideas generated in the conference will inform and advance understandings of sustainability with cultural studies and practices, and vice versa.

The conference explores theories and concepts; policies and governance; and practices and methodologies that explicitly analyse multiple dimensions of culture in sustainable development. Examples that illustrate and reveal the roles of culture in sustainable futures may be found in livelihoods, everyday life practices from housing to consumption, food systems, tourism, landscapes, heritage, media, education, planning, architecture, design and more. These experiences will be brought together by scientists, practitioners and policy-makers in plenaries and smaller sessions based on scientific, artistic, dialogical and hybrid presentational formats.

Call for proposals is now open. The deadline for research paper session proposals is 1st October 2014 and for papers and other forms of presentation 5 th December 2014.

Selected full papers and other contributions will be published in conference proceedings and in a book within the recently-launched book series Routledge Studies in Culture and Sustainable Development. The conference is organised by COST Action Investigating Cultural Sustainability  and hosted by the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy.

Submit your proposal and join the dialogue!

On behalf of the Scientific and Local Organising Committee of the Conference,
Katriina Soini
Chair of the COST Action (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)

CFP IAICS Culture, Communication – Hong Kong 2015

IAICS-2015 Call for Submission

The 21st International Conference of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS) cum The 11th Biennual International Conference of the China Association for Intercultural
Communication (CAFIC)

Conference Theme: Culture, Communication, and Hybridity in an Age of Globalization
Conference Time: July 15-18, 2015
Conference Venue: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Topic areas are broadly defined as, but not limited to, the following:
Advertising and marketing across cultures
Bilingual and multilingual communication
Bilingual education
Comparative literature
Conflict, mediation and negotiation across Cultures
Corporate culture and management
Crisis/risk communication
Cross-cultural adaptation
Cross-cultural interaction
Culture and diplomacy
Digital communication across cultures
Ethnic studies
Gender issues and communication
Glocalization
Group/Organizational communication
Health communication
Intercultural communication competence
Intercultural communication and politics
Intercultural and multilingual education
Intercultural pragmatics
Interethnic communication and relations
Interpersonal communication and relations
Language and cultural hybridity
Language planning and policy
Media and transcultural communication
Multiple cultures and interculturality
Philosophy and human behavior patterns
Psychological communication studies
Public opinions and public policy
Public relations
Rhetorical communication
Second language education
Social media and communication
Sustainability and globalization
Transculturality in global context
Translation studies
Verbal and nonverbal communication

Guidelines for Submissions
Categories: Abstract, panel proposals, and workshop proposals may be
accepted.
1. Abstract, 150-250 words in English, including positions,
affiliations, email addresses and mailing addresses for all authors.
2. Panel proposals reflecting the conference theme may be submitted. All
panel proposals should provide a 100-word rationale and a 100-200 word
abstract of each panelist’s paper; include affiliation and email
addresses for each panelist.
3. Workshop proposals relevant to the conference theme may be submitted.
Proposals should be 3-5 pages in length, single spaced.

Deadline: Please submit abstracts by January 11, 2015, and panel/workshop proposals and roundtable discussion sessions by February 1, 2015.

Conference Working Languages: English and Chinese
Conference host: Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

CFP World Peace Day e-conference

Call for Papers
Multidisciplinary International e-Conference dedicated to World Peace Day

All accepted papers will be published as a special publication with a unique ISBN number. The authors will be also sent a printed copy of the publication after the conference finishes. The papers will be also published in a special edition of European Scientific Journal. The authors of all the accepted papers on the conference will be given the opportunity to present them online. However the authors of the accepted papers are not obliged to present their works. Supporting the concept of interdisciplinarity, we welcome submissions in all academic fields.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE : 10th September 2014

Organizers: European Scientific Institute, ESI (affiliated institution with the UN Academic Impact) and Center for Law and Economic Studies, University of the Azores (Universidade dos Açores), Portugal. For submissions or any other information please send an email to the conference organizers.

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Digital Transformations, Social Media Engagement & the Asian Century (Australia)

Planning is highly advanced for the International Communication Association Regional Conference, Digital Transformations, Social Media Engagement, and the Asian Century, to be held at the Queensland U of Technology (Gardens Point campus) from 1-3 October 2014.

The conference has a very exciting range of keynote speakers, including incoming ICA President Peter Vorderer (U of Mannheim), Mohan Dutta (National U of Singapore), Cynthia Stohl (U of California Santa Barbara), Jack Linchuan Qiu (Chinese U of Hong Kong), Yi-Hui Christine Huang (Chinese U of Hong Kong), ICA fellows Cindy Gallois (U of Queensland) and John Hartley (Curtin U), Lance Bennett (U of Washington), Christoph Neuberger (LMU U, Munich), and Stuart Cunningham (Queensland U of Technology).

There will be a range of special events taking place, including a forum on “Science Communication in the Digital Age” hosted by the U of Queensland at the historic Customs House, and “Crisis Communication in Chinese Context”, sponsored by the Public Relations Institute of Australia. There are also special lunchtime sessions on academic publishing convened by the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) and Taylor & Francis, as well as over 50 paper sessions, panels and poster sessions.

Information on the conference can be found on the conference website. Early bird registration ($300 for faculty and $150 for graduate students) is available until 22 August 2014, with final registration by 12 September 2014. A draft program can be accessed from the conference website, as well as information about accommodation in Brisbane.

CFP Irish regional press (Dublin)

Proposals are invited for papers to be presented at an upcoming interdisciplinary conference on the Irish regional press to be held at Dublin City University (DCU) on Friday 12 December 2014. The conference aims to address the historical and contemporary development of the regional press in the major urban centres and rural areas across Ireland. This conference is organised in association with the Newspaper and Periodical History Forum of Ireland (NPHFI).

Papers might address, but are not limited to, the historical and contemporary consideration of the following themes in relation to the Irish regional press:
·         Biographies of reporters, editors or owners
·         History of individual newspapers
·         Corporate and business organisation
·         Political influence and / or affiliation
·         Professional networks
·         Sport
·         Gender
·         Technological and communication developments
·         The community and social role of the regional press
·         The Irish Language and the regional press
·         The urban-rural divide
·         Union organisation

Papers which address these themes, and others, from an historical or regional perspective, through case studies or quantitative and qualitative analysis are welcome. The conference is open to all disciplines. Early career researchers and postgraduate students are particularly encouraged to contribute.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words, for papers of twenty minutes, should be emailed to irishregionalpress@gmail.com by Friday 3 October 2014. Abstracts should clearly indicate the proposed title, the paper’s main aims, and the name and affiliation of the author(s ). Abstracts should be accompanied by a brief biography and contact details.

For further information or enquiries please contact either Ian Kenneally (ian.kenneally@gmail.com) or James O’Donnell (jamesthomasodonnell@gmail.com

). It is intended that the papers and discussion at this conference will contribute to an edited volume on the history of the Irish regional press to be published with a leading academic publishing house.

CFP Media, War and Memory (New Zealand)

Conference Call for Papers: Media, War and Memory
September 18–19, 2014
Venue: Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT University (Auckland, New Zealand)

Keynote Speakers: Andrew Hoskins, University of Glasgow and Fay Anderson, Monash University

A century after 1914, it is timely to consider how World War I was started, prosecuted and reported on, from different national perspectives. How does this conflict appear in retrospect? As a prequel to World War II? The ‘beginning’ of the 20th century? Or as an avoidable, stand-alone catastrophe? These questions provoke wider reflection upon the connections between media, war and memory. What are these connections? How have they changed over time? Conference participants will, we hope, respond to these questions.

To this end, the following themes suggest themselves:
World War I
• Paths to war, patterns of news coverage
• Diplomacy, communication and the telegraph
• Atrocities and propaganda
• Frontline testimonials, journalism, poetry
• Domestic dissent

Race, culture, genocide
• Imperialism, colonialism, indigineity
• Jewish holocaust
• Armenian massacres
• Testimonies, amnesia Gender and depictions of war
• Masculinity, heroism
• War and patriarchy
• War, rape, testimony
• Women war journalists
• Women combatants

Journalism, media, civil conflict
• Spanish civil war
• Sri Lanka
• Balkans, Bosnia, Serbia
• US civil war
• Occupation, resistance, testimony

War, historiography and revisionism
• War novels
• Non-fiction tomes, wars, battles
• Military biographies
• Documentaries
• Conflicting retrospectives of major conflicts

Australia and NZ coverage of ‘overseas’ conflicts
• Boer War, WWI, WWII
• Cold war conflicts; Malaysia, Vietnam, Timor, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan etc.
• ANZAC mythologies
• Wartime censorship
• War, mobilization and dissent

War, propaganda, ideology
• Chomsky, Herman and the ‘propaganda’ model
• News ‘framing’ and war coverage
• Orientalism and colonial wars
• War and national identity
• Memorialism; ceremonies, monuments, museums
• Forgotten wars

Frontline war reporting
• War correspondents
• ‘Embedded’ journalists • Journalistic ethics
• Patriotism and ‘independent’ reporting

Information-communication technologies and war
• Global television, 24/7 ‘real time’ wars
• War and media spectacle
• Media space, battle space, ‘full spectrum dominance’
• Information and cyber warfare
• Online journalism, blogospheres, social media

Media constructions of ‘terrorism’
• Legitimate vs. illegitimate violence
• Terrorists, revolutionaries, freedom fighters
• Post 9-11 media discourses in US, Middle East
• Terrorism and orientalism

Abstracts due: July 30, 2014 (400 words maximum)

Send to: Verica Rupar
Curriculum Leader, Journalism
School of Communication Studies
AUT University

CFP Urban Communities in Conflict and Dialogue preconference

Call for Submissions
Pre-Conference on Urban Communities and Communication at 2014 NCA Conference:
Urban Communities’ Present(s), Past(s), & Future(s) In Conflict and In Dialogue

Chicago, Illinois
Wednesday, November 19
Full Day (9 am – 5 pm)

Co-Chairs
Matthew Matsaganis, State University of New York – Albany, NY
Peter Haratonik, The New School, New York, NY

Respondents
Susan Drucker, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Gary Gumpert, Urban Communication Foundation, Great Neck, NY

DESCRIPTION & RATIONALE
Under the title “Technology is Not Driving Us Apart After All,” a recent New York Times article featured the research of Keith Hampton, a sociologist by training and a scholar of communication. Hampton’s (and his students’) work builds on the groundbreaking work of sociologist William H. Whyte. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Whyte, working with the New York City Planning Commission led a series of granular studies of the city’s public spaces. He and his collaborators spent many hours filming and photographing people in public spaces, taking detailed notes about how they behaved. The project became known as the Street Life Project. It was considered revolutionary in urban planning, both because of the methods employed and its findings. Whyte argued that this type of close and systematic observation of human behavior would provide insights into how policy could help people lead happier lives; lives in which individuals would not feel alienated from their neighbors.

Hampton’s work has taken on a similar set of questions, focusing though on what many deem to be the atomizing forces of our day: new communication technologies and, of course, the Internet.

Beyond the actual and fascinating findings of this work, the project undertaken by Hampton and his students reminds us that in our future-focused societies, researchers, too, frequently forget to look back to the past. Hampton revisited and learned from Whyte. Looking back can be enlightening.

Inspired by this example and in response to the call for submissions for the 2014 NCA conference, this preconference will bring together scholars and professionals from multiple areas within the discipline, but also from other fields of inquiry, to explore and discuss theoretical perspectives, new and ongoing field research findings, as well as case studies aimed at enhancing our understanding of:
(a) Communication patterns in urban communities;
(b) How these patterns are shaped by and shape the physical, built, and social environment of the places we live in;
(c) How the communication ecologies we construct in the process of our everyday lives impact our well-being; and
(d) The positive and negative ways in which policy interventions influence the communication environment of cities.
Historical perspectives on any of these topics, research revisiting old and persistent issues of everyday life in the city, and longitudinal studies will be particularly welcomed.

FORMAT
The pre-conference will unfold in a series of higher density panels, which will be organized thematically, and during which more colleagues (approximately 6) will be invited to present short position papers, research reports, or case studies (length: 7-10 pages, double-spaced). Presentations will be brief to allow more time for dialogue and debate among presenters and audience members. There will be 4-5 such panels held throughout the course of the day. The final number will depend on the number and quality of submissions, as well as the range of themes that emerge out of the submissions.

PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING ABSTRACTS & PAPERS To participate, please submit an abstract for the short position paper, research report, or case study you wish to contribute to the pre-conference. The deadline for submitting an abstract, which should be no longer than 200-250 words, is September 1. Abstracts should be submitted electronically to the co-chairs, Matthew Matsaganis and Peter Haratonik.

A committee composed of NCA members with UCF representation will review all submissions and inform the authors of the submissions rated the highest by October 1, 2014.

For colleagues whose abstract is accepted, full papers (7-10 pages in length, double-spaced) will have to be submitted by November 1. They will be made available in advance of the pre-conference, so that participants/attendees have a chance to review them prior to the actual meeting on November 19 in Chicago. The final seminar schedule will also be made available by November 15, 2014.

More information regarding the pre-conference at NCA will be made available later in the summer and over the first few weeks of fall via the Urban Communication Foundation’s website and Facebook page.

Statelessness and Transcontinental Migration conference (Spain)

‘Statelessness and Transcontinental Migration’
UNU-GCM’s Second Conference

UNU-GCM is organizing its second conference on ‘Statelessness and Transcontinental Migration’, on 24th and 25th July 2014. It will include five sections addressing issues of: citizenship, human security, urban vulnerabilities, non-state actors in migration management and sub-Saharan migration to the Mediterranean. Alongside the academic discussions, non-academic events will address statelessness through artistic production and activities.

This conference focuses on a range of issues related to the wellbeing and recognition of people who traverse continents devoid of citizenship. Issues related to refugees remain crucially unanswered in debates and policies surrounding migration. In the wake of acknowledgement within the academy that it is not always possible to isolate refugees from migrants, this conference analyses a range of contexts where dignity and human rights are compromised through the absence of legal and political recognition. By focusing on situations of extreme vulnerability and on lives lived on the borderline, this conference seeks to articulate and address urgent needs with regard to the stateless migrants who have entered Europe.

Keynote speakers:
Professor Eduard Sagarra iTrias, ‘The Necessity of Immigration in the Globalized World’, President of the United Nations Associations of Spain (ANUE), Barcelona / University of Barcelona
Professor Khadija Elmadmad, ‘Statelessness and Migration: The Case of de facto and de jure
stateless children in Morocco’, Director of The UNESCO Centre, The Law and Migration (CUDM)