ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Review of Communication Research (RCR) invites the submission of systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses. We have three open calls listed below. Please, feel free to send a proposal before writing the article or consulting any doubt with the editors:

EMPATHY AND PROSOCIAL OUTCOMES IN COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

https://www.rcommunicationr.org/index.php/rcr/announcement/view/3

Contact: Benjamin Li Junting (benjyli@ntu.edu.sg) cc editor@rcommunicationr.org.

EMOTION IN HEALTH COMMUNICATION

https://www.rcommunicationr.org/index.php/rcr/announcement/view/2

Contact: Nathan Walter (nathan.walter@northwestern.edu), Jiyoung Lee (jlee284@ua.edu), cc editor@rcommunicationr.org.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE SELF-CONCEPT

https://www.rcommunicationr.org/index.php/rcr/announcement/view/1

Contact: Giorgio De Marchis (editor@rcommunicationr.org)

Moreover, we invite you to publish your best literature reviews in RCR. Please, consult us (editor@rcommunicationr.org) or upload your manuscript to the submission site (www.rcommunicationr.org). Thank you for considering RCR as a potential venue for your best work. With kind regards.

About the journal

Review of Communication Research (RCR, www.rcommunicationr.org ) is an open-access academic journal that has become a reference for the publication of literature reviews and meta-analyses for the field of Communication.

The articles we publish are highly cited. According to the SCOPUS SNIP indicator, RCR ranks in the top 2% journals in the Social Sciences, and #14/434 in Communication; Scopus SJR 2019: top 10%; Scopus CiteScore 2019: top 19%.

Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich

The position is based in the division "Strategic Communication & Media Management" headed by Prof. Dr. Nadine Strauß. This division is part of the Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich (UZH).

Your Responsibilities

• Completion of a dissertation in three to four years
• Collaborating in existing projects and developing new projects with members of the team "Strategic Communication & Media Management”
• Research and teaching in innovative areas of media management and related areas
• Teaching in German at BA level
• Conference participation, publications, further academic qualifications, academic service

Your Profile

• Excellent Master's degree in Communication Studies or related areas
• Strong interest in research of media management, sustainable business models (media enterprises), innovation and user-oriented content
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative methods and data analysis (e.g. content analysis, surveys, experiments, interviews); interest and first experiences in computational methods
• Fluent in English (spoken and written)
• Advantageous: Familiarity with the Swiss and/or German media systems

What We Offer

• The department offers an outstanding research and teaching environment, a wide range of work areas and an inspiring intellectual climate.
• The division "Strategic Communication & Media Management" fosters a culture of cooperation and mutual support towards new recruits. It offers new members excellent opportunities for national and international networking.

Place of Work

• Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zürich

Start of Employment

• From 1 April 2021 onwards or, in coordination with the candidate, at a later date.

Documents for Application:

• A letter of motivation addressing the match between your profile and the position
• Curriculum Vitae
• 1-2 page outline of potential dissertation idea that could fit the division's profile
• Copies of transcripts, degrees, relevant certificates
• A full text example of a representative academic work (e.g. MA thesis)

Deadline: 16 February 2021

More info: https://jobs.uzh.ch/offene-stellen/research-and-teaching-assistant-in-media-management/ba86ff14-d653-403e-bfbf-d071b04735c9

Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich

The position is based in the division "Strategic Communication & Media Management" headed by Prof. Dr. Nadine Strauß. This division is part of the Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich (UZH).

Your Responsibilities

• Completion of a dissertation in three to four years
• Collaborating in existing projects and developing new projects with members of the team "Strategic Communication & Media Management”
• Research and teaching in innovative areas of strategic communication, sustainable/environmental communication and neighboring areas
• Teaching in German at BA level
• Conference participation, publications, further academic qualifications, academic service

Your Profile

• Excellent Master's degree in Communication Studies or related areas
• Strong interest in research of strategic communication, organizational communication, corporate communication and sustainability
• High affinity towards the topics: sustainable business models, sustainable finance, climate change and sustainable development
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative methods and data analysis (e.g. content analysis, surveys, experiments, interviews); interest and first experiences in computational methods
• Fluent in English (spoken and written)

What we Offe

• The department offers an outstanding research and teaching environment, a wide range of work areas and an inspiring intellectual climate.
• The division "Strategic Communication & Media Management" fosters a culture of cooperation and mutual support towards new recruits. It offers new members excellent opportunities for national and international networking.

Place of Work

• Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zürich

Start of Employment

• from 1 April 2021 onwards or, in coordination with the candidate, at a later date.

Documents for Application:

• A letter of motivation addressing the match between your profile and the position
• Curriculum Vitae
• 1-2 page outline of potential dissertation idea that could fit the division's profile
• Copies of transcripts, degrees, relevant certificates
• A full text example of a representative academic work (e.g. MA thesis)

Deadline: 16 February 2021

More Info: https://jobs.uzh.ch/offene-stellen/research-and-teaching-assistant-in-strategic-communication/ba3f48d9-636d-4db8-ae3d-82df1041fcdd

January 20-22, 2021

EJCAM

Link: https://univ-amu-fr.zoom.us/j/94343904478?pwd=U1d6bEcxeFU2SEI3TmFtT0RyOFJuQT09#success

Zoom open at 8 :30 AM (French hour), means 7 : 30 AM GMT.

This colloquium is sponsored by SFSIC (French society of information and communication sciences).

Wednesday 20th January:

09:00 am - 09:15 am: Opening session by Michel Durampart, Director of IMSIC et Alexandre Joux, Director of EJCAM

09:00 am - 10:00 am: Guest: Benoît Grevisse, Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium)

10:00 am - 10:30 am: coff ee break

10:30 am - 12:30 pm: Fighting against fake news, a reaffi rmation of journalism? (1)

• Ogunyemi O., University of Lincoln (UK), «An investigation of professional structure and accountable veriĕ cation at the BAME press in the UK.»
• Toursel A. & Useille P., Valencian University (France), «Quand le fact-checking bouscule le rapport entre journalisme et vérité : une approche épistémologique.»
• Chabbeh S., Lyon 2 University (France), «Fake news et fact-checking. Le journalisme tunisien à la recherche de professionnalisme et de légitimité»

12:30 pm - 14:00 pm: lunch break

14:00 pm - 16:00 pm: Fighting against fake news a reaffi rmation of journalism ? (2)

• Carlino V., Neuchatel University (Switzerland), «Un retour vers les publics ? Les journalistes entre vériĕ cation collaborative et transparence des pratiques professionnelles»
• Lelo, T. & Figaro, R., University of São Paulo (Brazil), « e Brazilian fact-checking landscape under the platforms’ guidance»
• Nicey, J., Bigot, L., Sourisce, N., University of Tours (France), «Réinterroger les relations des unités journalistiques françaises de fact-checking avec les plateformes numériques : entre opportunismes et instrumentalisation»

16:00 pm – 16:30 pm: coff ee break

16:30 pm – 17:30 pm: Guest: Lucas Graves, Wisconsin University, Madison (USA)

18:00 pm: cocktail

Thursday 21st January

09:00 am - 10:00 am: Guest: Elsa Fornero, University of Turin (Italy)

10:00 am - 10:30 am: coff ee break

10:00 am - 12:30 pm: Political journalism and health journalism: specialised journalism to confront fake news

• Gerguri D., University of Pristina (Kosovo), «Infodemic and use of social media by citizens in Kosovo during Covid-19»
• Thimm C., University of Bonn (Germany), «Fake news in the Corona Crisis – Public Broadcasting Strategies on Instagram»
• Bassoni M. & Lukasik S., Aix Marseille University (France), «Fake news et publicisation d’une controverse médicale. Le « cas Raoult » à l’heure de la pandémie Covid-19»
• Theviot A., Catholic University of the West (France), «Les «localiers» face à la propagation de fausses informations en période de campagne électorale »

12:30 pm - 14:00 pm: lunch break

14:00 pm - 16:00 pm: researchers & professionals workshop-debate

16:00 pm - 16:30 pm: coff ee break

16:30 pm -18:30 pm: Reception of false information and platforms: a reinforcement of cognitive biases ?

• A. Cordier, C. Dolbeau, P. Georget, E. Jaubert-Michel, F. Millet, Vassili Rivron, University of Rouen & Université of Caen (France), «Perception des infox et mobilisation de l’esprit critique en temps de crise sanitaire : les apports de la méthode Living Lab»
• K. Nuvoli, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), Aix Marseille University/CIVIS (France), «Manipulation de l’information et radicalisation»
• F. Dauphin, University of Picardy (France), «Fake News et complotisme : comment YouTube renforce les biais cognitifs ?»

18:00 pm: cocktail

Friday 22nd January

09:00 am - 11:30 am: At the source of information: media education facing the logic of platforms

• Berriche M., Paris Institute of Political Studies (France), ««T’as vériĕ é la source ?» la vigilance des publics aux «fake news» à l’heure du numérique.»
• Paulino F. O., Guedes Coelho J. F. , Bolaño C. R., Molina F., Yuri Soares Franco, Milena Marra, Luana Cavalcanti, Luiggi Fontenele, Patricia Bezerra, University of Brasilia (Brazil), «Journalism, Ethics and education in the Federal District»
• Nouaille N., Paul Sabatier University (France), «Mentir : c’est dire, inventer, transformer la vérité ?»
• Cordier A., University of Rouen-Normandie (France), «Le journaliste : une ĕ gure d’autorité dans la tourmente»
• Petit L., Sorbonne University (France), «EMI et plateformes : de la nécessité de repenser l’approche critique. Le cas Google»

11:30 am - 12:30 pm: Guest: Nathalie Pignard-Cheynel, University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland)

12:30 pm: closing session by Pauline Amiel, Deputy director of EJCAM

Scientific c committee

• Amiel Pauline (IMSIC, Aix Marseille University)
• Bousquet Franck (Lerass, Paul Sabatier University – Toulouse 3)
• Cabrolié Stéphane (IMSIC, Aix Marseille University)
• Graves Lucas (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
• Grevisse Benoît (MiiL, UC Louvain)
• Jeanne-Perrier Valérie (GRIPIC, Paris Sorbonne University)
• Jenkins Joy (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford)
• Joux Alexandre (IMSIC, Aix Marseille University)
• Mercier Arnaud (CARISM, Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University)
• Pignard-Cheynel Nathalie (Université of Neuchatel)
• Sebbah Brigitte (Lerass, Paul Sabatier University – Toulouse 3)
• Smyrnaios Nikos (Lerass, Paul Sabatier University – Toulouse 3)
• Vovou Ioanna (ICCA University of Sorbonne Nouvelle, Panteion University, Athens)

Organization Team

• Coordination : Joux Alexandre (IMSIC) & Amiel Pauline (IMSIC)
• Bassoni Marc (IMSIC)
• Belgacem Fetta (IMSIC)
• Cabrolié Stéphane (IMSIC)
• Cappuccio Alexia (IMSIC)
• D’Aiguillon Benoît (IMSIC)
• Lukasik Stéphanie (IMSIC)
• Pélissier Maud (IMSIC)

Special Issue of Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies

Deadline for abstracts: March 7, 2021

Expected date of publication: April 2022

Guest editors: Daniela van Geenen (University of Siegen), Dr. Karin van Es (Utrecht University) and Dr. Jonathan Gray (King’s College London)

The criticism of knowledge technologies has a long tradition in science and technology studies (STS), feminist studies and media studies approaches often addressing the ways in which technologies frame epistemic processes in scientific and technical settings (e.g. Latour, 1987; Latour and Woolgar, 1979; Haraway, 1988 and 1997; Chun, 2011; Galloway, 2012; Manovich, 2013). Knowledge technologies are not just the preserve of natural scientists and engineers, but also present in a wide variety of everyday and professional settings – including social and cultural research, in particular, in critical approaches to ‘Big Data’ and algorithmic systems. Importantly, these tools frame how we approach our objects and sites of study; they are not neutral, but active mediators impacting the ways knowledge is produced and disseminated.

This special issue explores the contemporary relevance of the notion of ‘critical technical practice’ (Agre, 1997a) to digital research in the humanities and social sciences including internet studies, critical data studies (e.g. Iliadis and Russo, 2016), critical algorithm studies (Gillespie and Seaver, 2016), and software studies (e.g. Rieder, 2020). Philip Agre (1997a and b) coined the notion of critical technical practice (CTP) in his work on artificial intelligence, proposing the challenge of having ‘one foot planted in the craft work of design and the other foot planted in the reflexive work of critique’ (Agre, 1997b: p. 155). The issue aims to bring together, advance, and reflect on recent work on the relevance of critical technical practice(s) for scholarship, pedagogy, and public engagement around digital devices and computational tools in the context of social and cultural research. It takes up recent calls advocating the relevance of such approaches to tool development, research, and education in cultural and social studies in order to approach digital media as both objects and instruments of investigation (e.g. Dieter, 2014; Gray, Bounegru, Milan, and Ciuccarelli, 2016; Gray and Bounegru, forthcoming; Rieder & Röhle, 2012 and 2017; Van Es, Wieringa, Schäfer, 2018; Van Geenen, 2018 and 2020).

The editors welcome contributions from a range of disciplinary perspectives that explore questions such as:

● How can researchers organise critical inquiry with and about such digital tools, methods, and data collections?

● How can devices such as network graphs, spreadsheets, scrapers, APIs, machine-learning tools, and code libraries be repurposed in cultural and social research, with a critical sensibility towards their genealogies and sociocultural lives?

● How can methods be taken as sites of experimentation around the composition of collective life, between research and other areas of practice (e.g. activism, education, journalism, or policy)?

Deadline abstracts: 7 March 2021

Please send a 500-word abstract and a 100-word bio to the guest editors: daniela.vgeenen@unisiegen.de, k.f.vanes@uu.nl and jonathan.gray@kcl.ac.uk

Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to send full contributions by 2 August 2021.

April 13-14, 2021

Online conference

Deadline: January 29, 2021

Crises signify conflicts, danger and chaos. Global crises, from health crises like COVID-19 pandemic to political crises, from war and terror to humanitarian disasters, represent the dark side of a globalized world. This year’s conference theme focuses on how do global crises emerge from, and result in, social, political, cultural, institutional, economic, technological and environmental changes. The conference aims to analyze the ongoing multi-dimensional crisis of global world and provide interdisciplinary approaches to the current global crises. The major themes to be covered with respect to global crises may include health crises (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic), wars and terrorism, global displacement and mass migration, legal crises and legitimacy, economic crises, disasters, catastrophes and risks, environmental challenges, poverty, politics (e.g. rise of populism, rise of nationalism), security (e.g. national security, digital security), the role of media in crisis time, disinformation and power relations. The conference also aims to understand how global crises are spawned by and shape our global age, and how they are represented in the media.

By structuring the discussion around potential topics, the 9th International Conference on Conflict, Terrorism and Society (ICCTS) welcome paper submissions that examine a key issue from different theoretical or methodological approaches.Within this perspective, the conference aims to bring together leading scholars from across disciplines to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of ‘global crises’. Potential topics for presentations include but are not limited to:

●  Global crises

●  Health crises

●  Wars and terrorism

●  Economic crises

●  Political crises

●  Legal crises

●  Global displacement and mass migration

●  Refugee crisis

●  Contemporary risks in digital age

●  Security

●  Crisis in digital media

●  The role of media in crisis

●  Media, representation and narratives of crises

●  Gender inequality

●  Poverty

●  Climate change

●  Natural disasters

●  Environmental crisis and challenges

For everyone’s health and safety, ICCTS2021 will be organized and run as a virtual conference.

Please, submit a maximum 300 words abstract to: Mine Bertan Yılmaz, Faculty of Communications, Kadir Has University, Istanbul-Turkey mine.yilmaz@khas.edu.tr

Proposals should be submitted in the following order

• Name of the author(s)
• Telephone, fax, and e-mail address Affiliation
• Title of proposal
• Body of proposal

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: 29.01.2021

You will be notified by 12.02.2021 regarding the status of your proposal.

Previous years the selected papers have been published in edited volumes with respected publishers.

The organizing committee is planning to edit a new volume with selected papers from this year’s conference.

For further information about conference, please visit our website: http://iccts.khas.edu.tr 

For further information about the conference in general, contact: Prof. Banu Baybars-Hawks: banubhawks@khas.edu.tr

July 13-15, 2021

Online conference

Deadline: January 31, 2021

The International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) is pleased to announce its 27th annual conference to be held on the July 13 – 15, 2021

PhD Workshop July 12 2021 hosted by the Faculty of Science, Technology and Media, Mid Sweden University, Sweden

Conference special topic: Accelerating the progress towards the 2030 SDGs in times of crisis

This online conference covers sustainability in relation to all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the virtue of the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. It aims to investigate the most current trends and implications for the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development in the Global North and Global South.

The new track Communication for sustainability was created in response of the urgency to take action and interact to achieve the UN Sustainable Development goals of the UN and contribute to new solutions for large scale societal challenges that we are experiencing. Communication scholars have an important role in counteracting social and environmental crises in developing and developed countries and provide knowledge that contributes to social transformation and sustainable development.

This track invites communication scholars and scholars from other disciplines to present and discuss research focusing on the role of communication in relation to sustainable development. Communication research has an important role to play in this transformation.

https://2021.isdrsconferences.org/communication-for-sustainability/

Universität Siegen

https://jobs.uni-siegen.de/job/Wissenschaftlicher-Mitarbeiterin-Medienwissenschaft%2C-SFB-%E2%80%9ETransformationen-des-Popul%C3%A4ren-57072/641171901/

We are looking for:

In Faculty I ­– Faculty of Philosophy, Media Studies, the German Research Foundation (DFG) Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1472 “Transformations of the Popular” is looking for a postdoctoral research associate at the earliest possible date under the following conditions:

100% = 39,83 hours

Salary category 13 TV-L

fixed-term period until 31.12.2024

CRC "Transformations of the Popular"

The CRC is an interdisciplinary research network consisting of 18 projects and more than 60 scientists from the fields of literature studies, media studies, linguistics, history, music, education, social sciences, art history as well as theology and business administration, collaborating with national and international cooperation partners for a period of four years. The CRC will be funded by the DFG from January, 1st 2021. The CRC deals with interrelated, interdisciplinary research on the causes and consequences of the epochal erosion of the culturally dominant high/low axiology in the course of the development of quantifying methods of measuring attention and its popularisation. The CRC is divided into three areas of research „pop“, „popularisation“ and „populisms“.

Further information on the CRC’s research agenda and subprojects can be found at https://popkultur.uni-siegen.de/sfb1472/

Your tasks:

• Conceptualisation, organization and realization of the project “Fabricating ‘the people’ – Negotiating Claims of Representation in Social Media in Post-Gezi Turkey” as part of a team. The project explores how public opinion is both measured and fabricated in the context of post Gezi-Turkey drawing on ethnographic, digital and software studies methodologies
• Development of digital ethnographic methodologies
• Conducting fieldwork on Twitter related practices, networks, software ecologies and automation in the context of Turkey drawing on ethnographic methods

• Presentation of the research project at relevant international conferences
• Publication of research outcomes in relevant international journals
• Conceptualisation and organisation of international conferences, workshops and data-sprints
• Regular participation in the interdisciplinary event program and collaborative working groups of the CRC (including colloquia, lectures, conferences, research labs and workshops)
• Contributions to main topics of the CRC, including socio-technics of popularization in social media, popularization and quantification, popularization and populism

Your profile:

• Above-average doctorate in a discipline relevant to the project such as media studies, cultural studies, ethnology, sociology or science and technology studies
• Research expertise and interest in the field of social media, software- and platform studies, digital culture in Turkey or Twitter research
• Experience with (digital) ethnographic methods, interest in methods of software and platform research and the willingness to participate in methodological development

• Relevant academic achievements (publications, conference presentations)
• Experience with workshop or conference organisation
• Readiness for interdisciplinary cooperation
• Ability to work in a team, conduct tasks independently and very good communication skills
• Fluency in spoken and written English
• German and/or Turkish language skills would be desirable

Our offer:

• This position aims to promote the candidate’s scientific or artistic qualification (e.g. Habilitation) according to the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contracts (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz), for which the ongoing media research in Siegen together with the Collaborative Research Centre 1187 “Media of Cooperation” and the GRK 1769 “Locating Media” offers an enabling environment.
• Responsibility for a field with great creative potential
• An agile environment that supports engagement with innovative educational work.
• The opportunity to make a visible contribution towards modern accounts of leadership, cooperation and diversity culture
• Numerous offers such as flexible working hours, company pension scheme, dual career service, coaching/mentoring and a comprehensive personnel development program

We look forward to receiving your application by 28.02.2021. Please apply exclusively via our application portal: https://jobs.uni-siegen.de. Unfortunately, we cannot consider applications in paper form or by e-mail.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Carolin Gerlitz

+49 (0) 271 740 4692 (Sekretariat)

Carolin.Gerlitz@uni-siegen.de

Prof. Dr. Mine Gencel Bek

Mine.GBek@uni-siegen.de

The University of Siegen is an equal opportunity employer. The call for applications is explicitly aimed at people of all genders (m/f/d); applications from women are given preference in accordance with the North Rhine-Westphalian Equal Opportunities Act (Landesgleichstellungsgesetz). We also welcome applications from people with different personal, social and cultural backgrounds, people with severe disabilities and people of equal status.

February 1-5, 2021

NOVA University of Lisbon (Portugal)

Deadline: January 18, 2021

iNOVA Media Lab invites applications for the SMART Data Sprint 2021, which will be held from 1 to 5 February in a hybrid format — online and in-person, at NOVA University of Lisbon. The Sprint is part of the Digital Media Winter Institute, an annual meeting focused on digital methods. The next edition theme is about The Current State of Platformisation.

Participants from around the world will connect to attend keynote lectures, short talks and join applied research projects. This year we will bring even more innovative formats for practical labs, including an exclusive track made for researchers non-familiar with digital methods. Applications open on November 1st and close on January 18, 2021.

Main audience: doctoral students and scholars interested in developing research from the perspective of digital methods.

See the call for applications on the #SMARTDataSprint research blog: https://smart.inovamedialab.org/2021-platformisation

Keynotes

• José van Dijck (Utrecht University)
• Anne Helmond (University of Amsterdam and Digital Media Initiative)
• Fernando van der Vlist (App Studies Initiative and Digital Methods Initiative)

Masterclass

Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández (School of Communication at QUT and Digital Media Research Centre).

Projects

Participants can choose from different projects to work on. More information on projects will be available on the website soon.

Practical Labs

An International team of senior researchers, doctoral students and designers will also be leading Short Talks and Practical Labs. In 2021, SMART Data Sprint will offer an innovative format for practical labs, including an exclusive track made for researchers non-familiar with digital methods. More information on practical labs will be available soon.

If you have questions, contact the organising committee at smart.inovamedialab@fcsh.unl.pt.

• Ana Marta M. Flores, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, iNOVA Media Lab, Portugal
• Elena Pilipets, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Austria
• Janna Joceli Omena, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, iNOVA Media Lab, Portugal

May 10-13, 2021

University of Bologna (Italy)

Deadline: February 10, 2021

The deadline for paper proposals is postponed! Please submit your abstracts in English language by 10 February 2021. Authors will be notified by February 28, 2021.

All information at https://eventi.unibo.it/…nce

Covid-19 update: Please be advised that the conference will take place as planned and will be carried out in person AND remotely (or fully remote modality, depending on the health conditions of the moment), in conformity with Covid-19 emergency regulations.

Organized by University of Bologna: Dipartimento di Scienze per la Qualità della Vita, DAR (La Soffitta), Scienze Politiche e Sociali, INC (Italian Research Network in Celebrity Culture), in collaboration with CFC (Culture, Fashion, Communication) e CoMediaS (Comunicazione, Media e Spazio Pubblico).

The emergency and exceptional situations linked to crisis contexts involve a series of urgencies and perspectives that also affect the world of celebrities. Depending on the type of crisis in progress, the media define new celebrities, or place an emphasis on the actions of already known personalities. An example is Greta Thunberg, who has become an icon of the climate crisis, known to the general public above all for the importance that mass media have given to her words and actions. Or the recent "celebrities with white coats", so called to emphasize the social importance and media presence of medical experts in the Covid 19 emergency.

When cases of this type appear in the media, opinion makers and commentators usually rush to define the specificities of the celebrity on duty, also motivating the reasons for its rapid notoriety. Observations on his behavior are activated only randomly, following, in fact, the very trend of the crisis, which appear suddenly, reach the peak and then return to a stabilization logic. In other words, there seems to be a lack of systematic reflection, which instead leads to an analysis of the effects and consequences of the actions of celebrities in crisis situations.

It is possible to trace two reference macro-groups: celebrities who are born in crisis situations (and who are therefore closely connected to them) and celebrities already known, who change their behavior during crises. For the latter, the reflections usually seem to concern the differences that crises determine with respect to a normal routine, due to a change undergone with respect to the public image (for example the breakdown of a relationship due to the betrayal of the partner) or, on the contrary, for the realization of an 'out of the box' action, managed and voluntarily activated (such as participation in humanitarian aid). Some studies have been carried out in this regard, but remain liminary for the moment, such as Ilan Kapoor's 2013 work entitled “Celebrity Humanitarism. The ideology of global charity”which gave rise to a series of important considerations on the role of celebrities and the meaning of their work in crises.

Starting from these first considerations, the conference calls for the investigation of the active role of celebrities, understood as social phenomena, images, signs, in the culture of the crisis: in the contemporary context, but also following a historical perspective. We intend to examine the internal contradictions of the phenomenon of celebrity engagement with respect to crises and we invite to study the critical aspects of culture that they highlight. For example, public actions of celebrities (philanthropy, militancy, product-endorsement) aimed at offering support to crisis situations (climatic, environmental, political-social) embrace the global principles of ecology, sustainability, solidarity, national and cultural borders, but at the same time they reinforce a geopolitically circumscribed model of personality and individualism.

The conference therefore intends to investigate the role of celebrities in times and situations of crisis in many directions, considering this area of reflection as a generative and culturally rich territory. The crisis can in fact take the form of an opportunity, providing celebrities with the possibility of transforming their social role, which is too often rigidified within specific interpretative frameworks.

Consider the case of the article written by Giorgio Armani in March 2020, in which the designer claims the need for a slow time for fashion, giving rise to an immediately shared public and political reflection, far from the catwalks. Or to the many donations that Chiara Ferragni, Fedez or Armani himself have given to healthcare facilities for the Covid 19 emergency. These are cases in which celebrities take off their rigid masks, to tell about themselves also according to parameters that concern other contexts, political and cultural.

The following topics should be considered as an outline and an example, but they do not exhaust the proposals.

Topics:

- Celebrities and world crisis (general). Crisis between global and local

- World crisis as opportunity: celebrities' new roles and representations

- Celebrities and SARS-CoV-2: philanthropic messages/actions, public positions

- Celebrities and SARS-CoV-2: home entertainment

- Celebrities and SARS-CoV-2: figure of the ill celebrity

- Celebrities/stars and economic crisis (1929, 2008, 2020-21)

- Celebrities and Ecological crisis

- Celebrities and Terrorism

- The crisis of the celebrity (personal, career/economic) and the crisis of cultural models.

- Changing celebrities: shifts and transformations in celebrities public role

- The crisis of the celebrity connected to the crisis in the history of media

- Film Stars and the concept of crisis

- Fashion celebrities/Fashion system and crisis

- The rise/fall of celebrity culture in contexts of Fashion crisis

Steering Committee:

• Antonella Mascio, Roy Menarini, Sara Pesce with the collaboration of
• Ylenia Caputo (University of Bologna)

Scientific Board:

• Luca Barra (Università di Bologna)
• Claudio Bisoni (Università di Bologna)

• Giovanni Boccia Artieri (Università di Urbino)
• Donatella Campus (Università di Bologna)
• Giulia Anastasia Carluccio (Università di Torino)
• Fabio Cleto (Università degli Studi di Bergamo)
• Pamela Church Gibson (London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London)

• Michele Fadda (Università di Bologna)
• Leonardo Gandini (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
• Laura Gemini (Università di Urbino “Carlo Bo”)
• Joke Hermes (Inholland University, NL)

• Annette Hill (Lund University)
• Katharina Niemeyer (University of Québec)
• Catherine O’Rawe (Bristol University)
• Roberta Paltrinieri (Università di Bologna)
• Francesca Pasquali (Università degli Studi di Bergamo)

• Eugenia Paulicelli (City University of New York)
• Marco Pedroni (Università eCampus Novedrate)
• Valentina Re (Università degli Studi Link Campus University)
• Alberto Scandola (Università di Verona)
• Federica Villa (Università di Pavia)
• IoannaVovou (Panteion University, Atene)

Please submit your abstracts to quvi.eventicelebrities@unibo.it (max. 500 words) for papers and panels, including a short biography (max. 100 words) and institutional affiliation, in English language by 10 February 2021

The official website of the conference is http://eventi.unibo.it/…nce

Authors will be notified by February 28, 2021.

Please make sure to also attach a short CV (max. 150 words).

Language: English.

The Conference will take place in Rimini and Bologna on May 10-13, 2021.

After the conference, speakers are expected to send a full paper of their speech for publication of the official proceedings, by *August 31, 2021.

Keynote speakers will be announced soon.

Conference participants are required to pay a conference fee of EUR 100,00, or EUR 80,00 if they register before April 15 at: https://eventi.unibo.it/…nce.

The conference fee is EUR 70,00 for PhD, Graduate and Undergraduate Students of other Universities.

No conference fee for PhD, Graduate and Undergraduate Students of all courses at the University of Bologna.