ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies (OJCMT)

Deadline (EXTENDED): October 31, 2020

Editors:

• Fábio Ribeiro, University of Trás-os Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) – Portugal, Communication & Society Research Centre – University of Minho (Portugal) , fabior@utad.pt
• Luís Bonixe, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre – Portugal, ICNOVA – Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal), luisbonixe@ipportalegre.pt

As Bob Franklin (1998) put forward in his book Local Media, academic appraisals of the local and regional media typically emphasise the declining number of local papers, their diminishing readerships and circulations, constant monopolies that tend to centralise media productions in large regional centres. Globalization, funding models (commercial, public or independent/grassroots), the insufficiency of human resources are often regarded by academics in this area. In his iconic Local Radio, Going Global, Guy Starkey (2011) enthusiastically defined local radio as “the sleeping giant”, baffled with concentration models and repressions, but still resisting: “a world-wide phenomenon”, Starkey asserted.

This special issue of The Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies (OJCMT) intends to contribute for a systematic review of worldwide experiences regarding the social, cultural, political impacts of local and community media within societies. In addition, it does not intend to romanticize these media, but rather a positive and empirical approach of experiences, examples of how local media engage with societies: what kind of experiences are being followed to involve local audiences? Is it possible to identify several key aspects to be define a valuable engagement with those communities?.

Taking this context as an inspiration, editors welcome all articles focusing the following range set of topics, not excluding other suitable ones:

• Citizens’ participation in the local/community media
• Economic models and audiences
• Journalism and audiences
• Community representations in local/community media
• Heritage/historical preservation
• Memory and local media
• Politics in a local/community media framework
• Rural ramifications of local media
• Hyperlocal media
• Local/community audiences and social networks.

Important dates:

• Start submission: May 1, 2020
• Manuscript Due: October 31, 2020
• Double blind reviewing process: from November 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020
• Authors’ notification towards decision: January 1, 2021
• Authors’ final versions: until February 28, 2020
• Editor’s final checks: from March 2021 to April 2021
• Publication: May 2021

Submissions: To submit your manuscripts, go to https://www.editorialpark.com/ojcmt and select special issue "Discussing local and community media: positive experiences and impacts on societies".

About the journal:

The Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies (OJCMT) is an international open access journal, rigorously peer-reviewed journal in the field of Communication and its related fields. OJCMT is interested in research not only on Theory and Practice of Communication and Media Studies but also new trends and developments, Communication in Education, Visual Communication and Design, Integrated Marketing Communication and Advertising.

Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies is listed by the following indexes/databases/directories/libraries.

• Web of Science - Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate)
• Database for statistikk om høgre utdanning (DBH)
• Google Scholar
• International Association for Media and Communication Research - IAMCR
• ROAD

Full call for papers: https://www.ojcmt.net/home/special-issues

Author Guidelines: https://www.ojcmt.net/home/author-guidelines

July 17, 2021

Leeds, United Kingdom, Venue: Queens Hotel, City Square, Leeds, LS1 1PJ

Deadline: April 15, 2021

Please note that the conference date is provisional and subject to change due to the epidemiological situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. We will not open a fee payment system until we are sure we can host the event. Please do not book flights and accommodation before the conference date is confirmed by the organizer.

 KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Professor Ángeles Moreno, University Rey Juan Carlos Madrid, Spain: Factors affecting women leadership in the Strategic Communication industry: An overview of diverse international contexts

RATIONALE

In the age of post-feminism when many are trying to argue that feminism is no longer needed because women have reached equality through the introduction of legislation and entry of women to all professions, the reality shows a different story. Women politicians, for example, are still scrutinised based on their looks and objectified. For example, in March 2017 British Daily Mail splashed a cover page screaming, ‘Never mind Brexit, who won the Legs-it’. The cover page was commenting on the meeting of British Prime Minister Theresa May and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Besides, many professions are still running according to masculine work patterns and thus many workplaces are still places for blokes. For example, in newsrooms women cannot succeed in obtaining editorial positions as the profession is still largely masculine with men reporting on politics, the main news of the day and business while women are still confined to lifestyle, food and health. However, when traditional women topics enter the agenda then we see male journalists writing about it. Also, female journalists hardly have any role models given the fact women who succeed in journalism become so bloke-if it becomes difficult for younger women to look up and see a role model or a type of women they may want to become in the future (Miller, 2014; Gallagher, 2017; Topic, 2018; Franks, 2013). The situation is similar in other professions, both those that feminised (e.g. nursing, teaching, public relations, advertising) as well as in traditionally masculine professions (e.g. construction, banking, finance) (Crewe & Wang, 2018; Siu & Kai-ming Au, 1997; Sandikci, 1998; Patterson et al, 2009; Kemp, 2017; Gee, 2017; Suggett, 2018; Topić, 2020). In public relations, scholars speak of the feminisation of the industry that saw women entering PR industry in higher numbers but because of it, the salaries diminished and even though women form the majority of the workforce they still face issues such as glass ceiling and the wage gap. In some countries, the number of women started to decline after a decade of the profession being feminized (CIPR, 2018). These are just a few examples from a few industries, but the situation is the same (or worse) elsewhere.

The societies are still based on patriarchal values. For example, even though it is legally possible for men to take paternal leaves and stay at home to take care of children and household, it is still women who have these requests approved more often than men, which testifies that patriarchal views of expected roles are still present. Besides, in some countries, women are still banned from exercising basic rights such as the right to vote, work in all positions and even the right to drive. While many men experience family violence, it is still women who mostly suffer from this type of abuse, while those men who do suffer from it fear to report it due to the expectation that the men are the boss in the house. Nevertheless, with the rise of Far-Right political candidates and public speakers started to question Feminism and argue that it fulfilled its purpose, while at the same time re-introducing old prejudices and practices against women where an emphasis is based on their appearance, birth-giving, etc.

COVID-19 that resulted in global lockdowns in 2020, with no end to the pandemic anticipated at the time of opening this call for papers, also has a potential to severely impact women. For example, it is well-known that women mostly work part-time and it is a question to what extent women lost jobs due to pandemic job losses. Some analyses already showed that the lockdown is hurting women with many women academics decreasing their academic production whilst men increased it, women reporting exhaustion because of having to look for children during the lockdown, domestic abuse skyrocketed, etc.

The questions the conference addresses are what is the position of women in a challenging world marked with the rise of the Far Right and the global pandemic and what can be done to reverse the trend that worsens the position of women and undermines decades of feminist activism?

Papers are invited (but not limited to) for the following panels:

• Women and the global pandemic
• Women in lookdown: narratives, experiences and effects of the lockdown on career, mental wellbeing and personal relationships
• Working-class women: issues and perspectives
• Middle-class women: issues and perspectives
• Women and Career progress
• Socialism, Marxism and Women
• Patriarchy
• Women and the rise of the Far-Right
• Women and labour
• Women and discrimination
• Women and sexual violence
• Women and religion
• Women in the media
• Women and politics
• Women and sexuality
• Theory and methodology in women’s studies
• Women and reproductive rights

Prospective participants are also welcome to submit proposals for their own panels. Both researchers and practitioners are welcome to submit paper proposals.

Submissions of abstracts (up to 500 words) with an email contact should be sent to women_conference@socialsciencesandhumanities.com by 15 April 2021. Decisions will be sent by 15 May 2021 and registrations are due by 30 June 2021.

The Conference fee is £180, and it includes,

• The registration fee
• Conference bag and folder with materials
• Access to the newsletter, and electronic editions of the Centre
• Opportunity for participating in future activities of the Centre (research & co-editing volumes)
• Meals and drinks
• WLAN during the conference
• Certificate of attendance

PUBLICATIONS

A special issue of journals will be edited and published in an Intellect journal. The topic of the special journal and the journal selection depends on conference submissions and the review process. From last year’s conferences, two special issues are currently being edited,

The Journal of Popular Television (Intellect), special issue topic ‘Women and Girls in Popular Television in the Age of Post-Feminism’ (eds. M. Topić & M. J. Cunha)

Facta Universitatis: Series Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History (University of Niš), special issue topic ‘#metoo movement: past, present and what next? (ed. M. Topić)

Participants are responsible for finding funding to cover transportation and accommodation costs during the whole period of the conference. This applies to both presenting and non-presenting participants. We will not discriminate based on the origin and/or methodological/paradigmatic approach of prospective conference participants.

The conference is a grassroots initiative led by Dr Martina Topić (https://www.martinatopic.com). Martina can be contacted on martinahr@gmail.com

The conference usually has five to six panels, and we can organise parallel sessions for panels (up to two parallel sessions per day).

Visa Information

The Centre will issue a Visa letter to participants with UK entry clearance requirement.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Ángeles Moreno is a professor at University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and currently executive director of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA). She leads the Latin American Communication Monitor. Her awards include Best Paper Award EUPRERA 2013, Faculty Top Research Award PRSA 2012 and Top Paper Award ICA2006. She is the president of EUPRERA, the largest public relations professional association in Europe and a chair of Latin American European Communications Monitor, as well as a full member of European Communications Monitor consortium. She currently leads EUPRERA project on Communicating COVID-19 and she is the lead of the Spanish team in the EUPRERA Women in Public Relations project exploring the position of women in public relations in Europe.

April 7- 9, 2021

Online conference / Erasmus University Rotterdam

Deadline: December 1, 2020

Keynote speakers:

• Dal Yong Jin
• Sangkyun Kim
• Mimi Sheller
• Peter U. C. Dieke
• Lúcia Nagib
• Matt Hills

In today’s globalized, transnational and digitalized media environment, popular culture plays a significant role in the establishment and (re)negotiation of place identities and the ways in which people relate to physical locations. Traveling to film locations, participating in fan re-enactments or visiting theme parks are some of the varied and multifaceted ways in which the ties between people’s worlds of imagination and the real worlds they inhabit are made tangible through place.

This conference highlights the interconnections between media, tourism and place and aims to bring together the diverse perspectives, approaches and actors involved in this process while focusing on critical issues accompanying this multifaceted phenomenon. We venture off the beaten track by adopting a decidedly global perspective and putting emphasis on the exploration, analysis and comparison of cases from around the world. Consider Bollywood, which produces more films, for a larger audience, than Hollywood does every year, and how Chinese, Indian and Russian travellers increasingly determine the face of international tourist flows. This conference aims to broaden the horizons by including and comparing research into, for example, Bollywood films, Brazilian telenovelas and South Korean K-pop culture.

We proudly present the following keynote speakers: Prof. Dal Yong Jin (Simon Fraser University), editor of "Transmedia Storytelling in East Asia: The Age of Digital Media" (2020) and author of "Transnational Korean Cinema: Cultural Politics, Film Genres, and Digital Technologies" (2019); Prof. Sangkyun Kim (Edith Cowan University), editor of "Food Tourism in Asia" (2019, with Ian Yeoman and Eerang Park) and "Film tourism in Asia: Evolution, transformation and trajectory" (2018, with prof. dr. Stijn Reijnders); Prof. Mimi Sheller (Drexel University), author of "Island Futures: Caribbean Survival in the Anthropocene" (expected 2020) and "Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes" (2018); Prof. Peter U. C. Dieke (University of Nigeria), editor of "Research Themes for Tourism" (2011, with Peter Robinson and Sine Heitmann) and "The Political Economy of Tourism Development in Africa" (2000); Prof. Lúcia Nagib (University of Reading), author of "Realist Cinema as World Cinema: Non-cinema, Intermedial Passages, Total Cinema" (expected 2020) and "Brazil on Screen: Cinema Novo, new cinema and utopia" (2007), and Prof. Matt Hills (University of Huddersfield), author of "Fan Cultures" (2002) and "Doctor Who: The Unfolding Event" (2015).

This year the current Corona crisis has hit the world hard, also with regard to its media and tourism industries. The lockdown has seriously hampered filming and all other media production practices both on location and in the studio. At the same time, the tourism industry as a whole is suffering a disastrous year after a virtually constant annual growth since the late 1950s. At the time of writing there are modest signs the media and tourism industries are finding answers to the current crisis. It is clear, though, that the need to find more sustainable ways to deal with the interrelation between popular culture and tourism is even more relevant now that the Corona crisis has become part of the global agenda. This conference also aims to address this issue.

We seek to bring together scholars across disciplines, including, but not limited to, media studies, cultural studies, cultural geography, fan studies, tourism studies, and development studies. We invite papers that address all themes around media, place and tourism, such as:

• Media tourism
• Popular culture and heritage
• Film location production
• Film (and) tourism policies
• Impacts of filmmaking and tourism on locations and communities
• Imaginative geographies in media and tourism
• Fan re-enactments
• Place identity and belonging
• Media tourist experiences
• Theme-parks and tourism
• Critical issues in media tourism
• Comparative studies on media tourism
• (Interdisciplinary) theories on media tourism

Creative presentation formats are welcomed. Moreover, we warmly encourage participation by scholars from the Global South, early career researchers and filmmakers working at the intersection of media, place and tourism. The conference aims to include a special (online) movie screening session, where filmmakers are invited to showcase and discuss their work on this topic.

Due to governmental measures regarding COVID-19, the conference will take place predominantly online. We plan on organizing some live events in the city of Rotterdam (such as public lectures), but these will also be livestreamed for those preferring to participate fully online. The conference is organized by the ‘Worlds of Imagination’ research group consisting of Prof. dr. Stijn Reijnders, dr. Emiel Martens, Débora Póvoa, Apoorva Nanjangud, Henry Chow and Rosa Schiavone, and sponsored by the European Research Council (ERC).

Please submit your abstracts of max. 300 words and a short biographical statement (max. 50 words) to info@worldsofimagination.eu before December 1st, 2020. For more information, please access our website: www.worldsofimagination.eu.

July 10-11, 2021

Virtual/ on-campus at Maynooth University, Kildare, Ireland

Deadline: January 15, 2021

Sarah Arnold is happy to announce a call for papers for the conference 'Histories of Women in Film and Television: Then and Now' taking place as a hybrid virtual/on-site event on July 10th and 11th 2021. This conference has two strands: the first is a strand that is a refreshed call for papers that fall under the theme of 'Doing Women's Film & Television Histories'; and the second strand concentrates on the theme of Women and the BBC in anticipation of the BBC centenary 2022. Please see below for details:

DWFTH 5 revised for 2021: New call for papers--'Histories of Women in Film and Television: Then and Now.' A Hybrid Conference: July 10 - 11, 2021 (virtual and on-campus at Maynooth University, Kildare, Ireland) Supported by Women’s Film & Television History Network, this call for papers is made in collaboration with ‘Women and the BBC’, a special themed issue of Critical Studies in Television.

The year 2020 has caused a great deal of sorrow, anxiety and difficulty across the world. With health and safety of paramount concern, conferences and research events – including the planned Doing Women’s Film and Television History conference - have been either impossible to hold in-person or, given the challenges presented by the need to sustain teaching and student welfare, deprioritized. As we look towards 2021, we understand that social distancing measures and travel limitations will possibly continue. With this in mind, we plan to host a hybrid conference as an outlet for our research that will enable us to share our scholarship with others, form connections and offer potential for collaboration. If national and institutional public health measures allow, the conference will combine on-campus and virtual events. While virtual conferences present new technical and communicative challenges, we also see the opportunities that this type of conference affords. Not requiring travel, it both reduces expense and can broaden networks of scholars. The conference will be formed of pre-recorded talks, virtual live panels, live workshops, keynote talks with Q&As, and where possible, on-campus events. The conference is formed of two areas: 1) following the cancellation of this year’s ‘Doing Women’s Film & Television History 5’, we seek papers for the revised 2021 format that reflect the themes of diversity and transnationalism listed below; 2) in anticipation of the BBC centenary, we seek research on histories of women and the BBC, both past and in the making. Each strand is detailed below. If your proposals offered for the 2020 conference fall into either of these strands, please feel free to resubmit.

1. Doing Women’s Film & Television History goes virtual

We are interested in topics focusing diversity and transnational histories, including but not limited to:

• Women’s film and television histories at the margins of institutions and of research

• Global women’s film and television histories
• Researching women in film and television during the pandemic and times of crisis

• International and comparative perspectives on women in film and television
• Histories of women’s creative practice, production and technical work in various national, regional, or local contexts, including transnational film and television, migration and diasporas

• Approaches to histories of women’s indigenous production, including Third Cinema and grassroots film and television production

• Motherhood and film and televisions' working practices

• Histories of motherhood represented in film and television
• Debates and controversies in women’s film and television histories

Please submit proposals of 250 words along with the paper’s title and a 50-word biography in one Pdf document to dwfthv@gmail.com January 15th 2021.

2. The BBC at 100: Women and the BBC, then and now

Recent controversies around equal pay, misogynistic abuse towards BBC personalities and a lack of female representation at the top of the corporation suggest that the institution has far to go in matters of gender equality. How might we characterise the relationship between corporate and on-screen representation of women? And how has the BBC responded to changing socio-cultural attitudes and discourses defining women over time?

We are particularly interested in contributions that address the historical and contemporary stories of female workers at the BBC; that analyse how BBC programming gives representation to women's lives, serves female audiences or explores experiences of genders and sexualities.

Selected papers will be invited to publish in the special themed issue of Critical Studies in Television in Autumn 2022 on 'Women and the BBC'. Please submit proposals of 250 words along with the paper’s title and a 50-word biography in one Pdf document to sarah.arnold@mu.ie, Hannah.Andrews@edgehill.ac.uk and j.mccabe@bbk.ac.uk by January 15th 2021.

Hosting of this conference is supported by Maynooth University and ‘The Motherhood Project’ at Maynooth University.

Chapters proposals, Istanbul University Press

Deadline (chapter proposals): December 1, 2020

Chapter Drafts Due June 1, 2021

New Media / New Society? will focus effects of new media on social relations. This volume has a question: Can we describe our society as a new media society? It intends to open new discussions on new media and social relations. The volume interrogates the question of whether (or not), and to what extent, new media have spawned new varieties of social organization, new practices of social interaction and identity, and new structures of material or symbolic social relations. There have been so many claims regarding how postmodern/postindustrial media modalities are contributing to various iterations of utopian and anti-utopian futures, beyond those traditional views of Orwell, Huxley, Marx, and Weber, for example. In the past decades, we have heard academic claims about a variety of effects, for example, including (but not limited to) simulation, misinformation, balkanization, intersectionality, assemblages, affordances, liquification, disruption, fragmentization, saturation/distraction, propaganda, mediatization, culture wars,(de/post/neo)colonization, modes of signification, gamification, crowdsourcing, participatory media, hypertextualization, assimilation, chaos, spectacles, virtuality, augmented reality, digitization, disconnection, mass surveillance, and cyborgology. On the other hand, there have been so many descriptions of society, for example including (but not limited to) information society, post-emotional society, consumption society, network society, internet society, cyber society, new media society, post-modernism, post-humanism, the Anthropocene, and digital society.

The volume /New Media / New Society? /Interrogates these claims from the perspective of the long view, meaning it looks at such changes over the last half-century (since 1970), and for the same period moving forward (until 2070). Also, there are methodological questions within sociology regarding the examination of new media forms and their relation to the social construction of reality. How media studies/social theory can explain the nature and nuance of new social relations under new media forms, if such new social realities exist?

This volume will be an “agenda for new media and new society discussions,” in that it will clarify the effect of new media on social relations, including specific recommendations for action by researchers, policy makers, and the public. The volume will provide new topics for our projects and books.

This work is tentatively to be published in electronic format by Istanbul University Press, an academic publisher at the Istanbul University, Turkey (https://iupress.istanbul.edu.tr/en/). As a project in academic sociology, the volume will cover important national-level and international-level new media and society.

We ask you, individually or with colleagues, to consider submitting a brief proposal (500 words max.) identifying a significant idea/trend from media studies/social theory, to include the following items:

1.Clarify the emergence and development of one or more key concepts from media studies/social theory.

2.Clarify key media technologies and techniques which are interwoven in such dynamics.

3.Explore conceptual and/or empirical aspects of the concept and media practices over the last half century (since 1970).

4.Take stock of the development at the present moment (year 2020).

5.Offer insight into future directions foreseen for the next half century (until 2070).

6.Assess whether (or to what extent) these new media dynamics have resulted in new social forms. That is, clarify if new media leads to new society or vice versa.

We invite researchers to prepare draft statements for proposed contributions to this volume. Please submit a copy of your 1- to 2-page proposal via email to each of the editors by December 1, 2020. Final contributions will be limited to 5000 words maximum (or roughly twenty double-spaced manuscript pages). Chapter drafts will be due June 1, 2021, and final manuscripts will be due November 1, 2021. The e-volume is expected to launch in February 2021.

Papers could address, but are not limited to, the following subjects:

• Alienation
• Authority
• Communities
• Crime, Violence
• Drugs, Alcohol, Addictions
• Economy, Work
• Education
• Environment, Technology
• Ethics
• Family, Marriage
• Globalization
• Health Care, Mental Health
• Inequality, Poverty, Wealth
• Law, Justice
• Media, Communications
• Methods
• Modernity
• Politics
• Pop Culture, Sport, Leisure
• Population, Migration
• Privacy / Surveillance
• Race, Ethnicity
• Religion, Cultural Issues
• Secularization
• Social Conflict, Social Change
• Social Movements
• Social Welfare
• Theoretical Perspectives
• Urban Issues, Rural Issues
• Youth, Aging, Life Course

Important Dates

-5 October 2020: Call for Chapter Proposals Sent Out to Contributors for Books.

-1 December 2020: Proposed Abstracts Due for Chapers.

-1 January 2021: Invitations to Contribute & Author Guidelines Distributed.

-1 June 2021: Full Manuscripts Due / Begin Review Process.

-1 September 2021: First Round of Reviews Completed / Revisions Start.

-1 November 2021: Revised Manuscripts Due.

-1 December 2021: Submission of Book to Publisher.

-1 February 2022: Publication

Editors

Murat Şentürk, Istanbul University, Turkey, murat.senturk@istanbul.edu.tr

Massimo Ragnedda, Northumbria Universtiy, UK, massimo.ragnedda@northumbria.ac.uk

Glenn W. Muschert, Khalifa University, UAE, glenn.muschert@ku.ac.ae

Managing Editor

Hamdüsena Eşrefoğlu, Istanbul University, Turkey, hamdusenaesrefoglu@istanbul.edu.tr

July 18, 2021

Leeds, United Kingdom, Queens Hotel Leeds, City Square, Leeds, LS1 1PJ

Deadline: May 1, 2021

Please note that the conference date is provisional and subject to change due to the epidemiological situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. We will not open a fee payment system until we are sure we can host the event. Please do not book flights and accommodation in the UK before the conference date is confirmed by the organiser.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• Dr Audra Diers-Lawson, Leeds Beckett University, UK: Are women better crisis leaders? A reflection on lessons learned about gendered, leadership, and communication from the Covid-19 pandemic
• Erene Hadjiioannou, Therapy Leeds, Leeds, UK: ‘Sexual Violence and Gender: Findings from Psychotherapy in the UK’

RATIONALE

All recent research on gender demonstrates that patriarchy is alive and well and that both men and women suffer from patriarchal perceptions of expected roles. For example, women still face difficulties and inequality of opportunities for jobs, and when equality is achieved and they enter a certain industry; they face difficulties in being promoted to managerial positions (glass ceiling). On the other hand, men face difficulties in embracing roles traditionally seen as feminine such as staying at home with children or applying for paternal leaves, which are still approved more to women than men.

When it comes to gender perceptions the situation becomes even more complicated because if one refuses to identify with the sex assigned at birth and chooses to express gender differently, patriarchy kicks in even stronger and these individuals face not just discrimination in access to employment but also public mocking and even assaults. It is stating the obvious to say that many countries in the world still ban homosexuality and that LGBT individuals and couples are not just discriminated but also targets of public campaigns to ban them from ever having the same rights as heterosexual couples such as marriage and adopting children (before they even asked for these rights), assaults, threats and intimidation, etc.

The question we can ask is how far have we got in achieving not just gender equality (for the vast amount of research testifies we have indeed not got far albeit lots of progress has been made), but how far have we got in achieving an understanding of gender? What kind of culture needs to be created to embrace diversity beyond positive laws (that exist only in some countries), but a true diversity where nobody will think they should have the right to question someone’s self-perception and self-expression, and a culture where all genders will be equal?

This conference, therefore, invites papers in the following (but not limited to) themes:

• Definitions of gender
• Positive practices of gender equality legislation
• Positive practices of cultural and social understandings of genders
• Discriminatory practices
• Feminist studies
• Women’s studies
• Masculinity studies
• LGBT rights
• Women, LGBT identities and patriarchal society
• Men, LGBT identities and patriarchal society
• Transgender identities
• Discrimination against LGBT and transgender people
• Gender and Culture
• Gender activism: case studies
• Personal stories and biographies

Submissions of abstracts (up to 500 words) with an email contact should be sent to gender_conference@socialsciencesandhumanities.com by 1 May 2021. Decisions will be sent by 1 June 2021 and registrations are due by 30 June 2021.

The Conference fee is £180, and it includes:

• The registration fee
• Conference bag and folder with materials
• Access to the newsletter, and electronic editions of the Centre
• Meals and drinks
• WLAN during the conference
• Certificate of attendance

PUBLICATIONS

A special issue of journals will be edited and published in an Intellect journal. The topic of the special journal and the journal selection depends on conference submissions and the review process. From last year’s conferences, two special issues are currently being edited,

The Journal of Popular Television (Intellect), special issue topic ‘Women and Girls in Popular Television in the Age of Post-Feminism’ (eds. M. Topić & M. J. Cunha)

Facta Universitatis: Series Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History (University of Niš), special issue topic ‘#metoo movement: past, present and what next? (ed. M. Topić)

Participants are responsible for finding funding to cover transportation and accommodation costs during the whole period of the conference. This applies to both presenting and non-presenting participants. We will not discriminate based on the origin and/or methodological/paradigmatic approach of prospective conference participants.

The conference is a grassroots initiative led by Dr Martina Topić (https://www.martinatopic.com). Martina can be contacted on martinahr@gmail.com

The conference usually has five to six panels, and we can organise parallel sessions for panels (up to two parallel sessions per day).

Visa Information

The Centre will issue a Visa letter to participants with UK entry clearance requirement.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Audra Diers-Lawson: In her career of more than 20 years, Dr Diers-Lawson has been a practitioner, researcher and instructor in strategic communication with an emphasis on crisis response and brand management. She is also the Chair of the Crisis Communication Division of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). As a practitioner, Dr Diers-Lawson has worked across industries like IT, health, agriculture and the public sector in multinational, national, regional and local contexts. For example, she worked with the Applied Materials Shared Services Division on a global change initiative. She has been a part of many projects like the successful campaign for emergency contraception availability in Texas. Additionally, she has worked with small businesses in the agricultural industry to develop effective integrated marketing campaigns — developing cross-platform public relations and advertising campaigns. She has also lead a team that conducted a strategic communication audit and recommendations for an NHS health trust and part of a team that created a strategic communication toolkit for the European Public Employment Service. As a researcher, Dr Diers-Lawson’s research explores the relationships between socially responsible organisations, crisis prevention or mitigation, and crisis response. As a result, her research focuses heavily on understanding public attitudes and the factors driving behaviour and decision-making.

Erene Hadjiioannou: Erene is an integrative psychotherapist​ with over ten years of experience of working with adults in a variety of settings. She is currently in her private practice, Therapy Leeds, which is an LGBT+ affirmative service. Her specialist area is the impact of sexual violence. Between 2014 and 2018, Erene created and coordinated two specialist services for women with complex needs (offenders, and survivors of sexual violence). Erene incorporates activism into her work, believing that practitioners have a responsibility to create social change in the wider world as well as an individual change in appointments.

University of Sheffield

Rank: Postdoctoral Researcher

Area: Online Political Advertising

Deadline: 4th November 2020

Link: https://bit.ly/34ySBPo

We are seeking to recruit a Research Associate to join an innovative new project funded by the Leverhulme Trust entitled ‘Understanding Online Political Advertising: Perceptions, Uses and Regulations’. Working as part of an interdisciplinary team that spans Politics, Psychology and Computer Science, you will be generating new insights on how online political advertising is perceived by the public, how it is understood and described by practitioners, and how it actually appears online. This work will generate vital new insights on legitimate and trusted practices, and perceptions of effectiveness – findings that will be used to inform current policy making debates. Based at the University of Sheffield, you will conduct interviews, undertake literature reviews, design and analyse public opinion surveys.

Find more information about the post here: https://bit.ly/34ySBPo

Post is for 3 years. If you have any questions please contact Kate Dommett: k.dommett@sheffield.ac.uk.

University of Sheffield

Rank: Postdoctoral Researcher

Area: Data-driven campaigning

Deadline: 5th November 2020

Link: https://bit.ly/3nmTtiS

This post offers the chance to join an innovative new project ‘Data-driven campaigns: intended and unintended consequences for democracy [DATADRIVEN]’. This international research project will be gathering insights on the practice, regulation, impact and perception of data-driven campaigning activity.

This job will see the successful candidate work as part of a wider collaborative team based in the UK, Amsterdam and Vienna to conduct interviews, undertake literature reviews, gather and analyse relevant documents and data, inform survey design and data analysis. Based in the UK, you will be gathering data on four countries – the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Austria - to build up unprecedented insight into data-driven campaigning activity.

Find more information about the post here: https://bit.ly/3nmTtiS

Post is for 3 years. If you have any questions please contact Kate Dommett: k.dommett@sheffield.ac.uk.

University of Passau

The University of Passau owes its strong visibility and good repute to excellent research, innovative teaching and its tight-knit international academic networks. Some 12,000 students from 100 countries and more than 1,200 staff study and work on our University campus, which is located a stone’s throw from the historical Old Town of Passau and combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning architecture. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich culture and Lower Bavarian traditions, give Passau and the surrounding area a special appeal that makes it a great place to live and work.

The Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region (Professor Florian Toepfl) invites applications for the position of

Assistant Professor – Akademische Rätin/Akademischer Rat auf Zeit (1.0 FTE)

for immediate start. This is a 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) position, based on a fixed three-year contract with the option of extension. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade E13 of the German public-sector collective agreement TV-L; the salary step is dependent on your qualifications and experience. If you meet the criteria, you may receive temporary civil servant status (‘Beamter auf Zeit’) and obtain remuneration in accordance with pay grade A13.

Job description

• Working largely independently, you will have manifold opportunities to advance your own research agenda and develop an internationally competitive track record of publications with leading academic journals or publishing houses, centred on the field of political communication.

• You will have the chance to collaborate and exploit synergies of your own work with the ERC RUSINFORM research group (please visit www.rusinform.uni-passau.de for details).

• You will plan, administer and deliver classes of five teaching contact hours per week (i.e. you will teach approximately 2.5 courses per semester). Your teaching efforts will be centred on the discipline of communications. The courses you will teach may range from introductory classes for bachelor’s programmes all the way to advanced, research-oriented seminars for master’s programmes. In addition, some of your classes will reach out to students of other social science disciplines with a strong interest in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet Region.

• You will take on responsibility for a fair share of administrative and organisational tasks at the Chair of Political Communication (www.phil.uni-passau.de/en/political-communication).

Person specification/selection criteria

• An excellent doctorate in the discipline of communications or an adjacent social science. You need to have your doctoral certificate in hand by the time you start the position.

• A master’s degree or equivalent in communication science, a related social science discipline such as sociology or political science, or an interdisciplinary, social-science-oriented course of study with a geographical focus on the post-Soviet region.

• Evidence of an emerging, strong track-record of peer-reviewed publications in major international communications journals, or of book publications with internationally leading publishing houses.

• A strong interest to pursue research that focuses on Russia, Eurasia, or Eastern Europe.
• Highly motivated candidates with or without prior work experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Experience with the application of traditional (qualitative or quantitative) methods of socialscience research (essential).
• Knowledge and experience with new computational methods (highly desirable).
• Excellent English-language skills (essential).
• Good knowledge of German or willingness to learn German (essential).
• Very good knowledge of at least one language spoken in the post-Soviet region (highly desirable).

• Evidence of ability and willingness to work as part of a team of researchers (desirable).
• Evidence of flexibility, autonomy and creativity (essential).
• Evidence of strong communication skills (desirable).
• Evidence of strong analytical and critical skills and clear academic writing (essential).
• Willingness to assist in organisational and support functions (essential).

What we offer

• This postdoctoral position comes with an internationally competitive salary, stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E13; minimum gross salary: 49,900 euros per annum) or the A13 pay grade for civil servants (both at the 1.0 full-time equivalent level).

• You will have the opportunity to cooperate closely with the RUSINFORM ERC consolidator research group, its principal investigator, Professor Florian Toepfl, and leading international scholars affiliated with this research project. The community of researchers affiliated with the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region aspires to be a vibrant, friendly and energetic academic environment with flat hierarchies, in which everyone has great enthusiasm for their shared research interests.

• Assistant professors may invite leading scholars in their field to join this community for a limited period of time in the framework of the visiting fellows’ programme of the ERC project.

• You will be encouraged to vigorously pursue your own ideas, strengthen your track record of independent academic publications, and energetically advance your own academic career.

• Generous support for participation in a wide range of conferences, workshops and methods-training courses.

• A high level of freedom when it comes to establishing your work processes.
• An enjoyable work climate in a family-friendly research environment, in a medium-sized town offering a high quality of life, on a modern, verdant university campus situated a few minutes’ walk from the historic Old Town.

As the University of Passau wishes to raise the proportion of women in research and teaching, female academics are expressly encouraged to apply. This post may be available part-time, provided a suitable number of candidates are willing to work on a work-share basis. Furthermore, this post is suitable for those who are registered disabled. Registered disabled persons are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.

How to apply

Your full application (in English or German), sent as a single e-mail attachment in PDF format, should include the following documents:

• Your curriculum vitae.
• Your bachelor’s and master’s degree certificates as well as your doctoral certificate.
• Letter of motivation (maximum two pages) stating why you would like to join the Chair of Political Communication, the avenues of independent research you would like to explore, and potential areas of collaboration with the RUSINFORM project. Please provide evidence with regard to the selection criteria listed above.

• One to three pieces of academic writing (for instance, your doctoral thesis, a book chapter, or a journal article).

• Contact details and phone numbers of one to three referees (at least one academic, for instance, the supervisor of your master’s or doctoral thesis).

Please send your application by e-mail to sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de, using the subject line ‘POLCOMM-PROF’, by 1 November 2020 (whilst we may be able to consider applications received after this date, this is not guaranteed.)

We look forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions related to this vacancy, please feel free to contact Professor Florian Toepfl (florian.toepfl@uni-passau.de), Sarah Miedl (sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de) or one of the doctoral researchers at the Chair.

Once the application process has been completed, we will retain your application on file for six months before deleting it from our computer systems. Please visit www.unipassau.de/en/university/current-vacancies for our data privacy statement.

The University of Passau

The University of Passau owes its strong visibility and good repute to excellent research, innovative teaching and its tight-knit international academic networks. Some 12,000 students from 100 countries and more than 1,200 staff study and work on our University campus, which is located a stone’s throw from the historical Old Town of Passau and combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning architecture. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich culture and Lower Bavarian traditions, give Passau and he surrounding area a special appeal that makes it a great place to live and work.

The University of Passau is conducting a five-year ERC (European Research Council) Consolidator project (2019–2024) titled The Consequences of the Internet for Russia’s Informational Influence Abroad (RUSINFORM). Receiving approximately two million euros in funds from the European Research Council, RUSINFORM will involve six researchers and a series of visiting fellows. The project aims to investigate how, and with what consequences, new Internet-based technologies have contributed to the emergence of novel resources, techniques and processes by which political elites in Moscow can influence media audiences abroad. More information is available at www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en.

For the RUSINFORM project, the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region (Professor Florian Toepfl) invites applications for the position of

Doctoral student – Graduate Research Assistant (0.65 FTE)

for immediate start. This is a 65% full-time equivalent (FTE) position, based on a fixed three-year contract with the option of extension for an additional year. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade E13 of the German public-sector collective agreement TV-L; the salary step is dependent on your qualifications and experience.

Job description

• Working largely independently, you will pursue research that makes important contributions to the success of two of the subprojects (work packages 1 and 2) of the RUSINFORM project. The work packages’ titles are ‘Foreign audiences as co-creators and disseminators of Russia’s strategic narratives in Belarus, Germany and Estonia’ and ‘The audiences of Russia’s domestic media abroad’. In pursuing the research efforts required to accomplish these work packages, you will co-operate closely with the other doctoral students and the principal investigator of the project.

• Simultaneously, you will develop, design and conduct independent research that will qualify you for the award of a doctoral degree. The topic of this independent doctoral research should be closely related to the central topic of the research group. It may – but need not necessarily – be grounded in data collected in the framework of the RUSINFORM project.

• You will have the chance to author, or contribute as a co-author to, publications of the RUSINFORM research group.

• You will also support other work packages of the RUSINFORM project, if this is required and your specific project-related skills are needed.

• You will contribute to efforts in the area of project administration and outreach. The ERC project will organise a series of public events and workshops, invite visiting scholars from across the globe, and maintain a website and several social media accounts. Although routine tasks in these areas will be carried out by an administrative assistant and a student/research assistant, doctoral students are expected to take on management responsibilities and other leading roles in this work.

• You will present the results of your research at national and international conferences across the globe. 

Person specification/selection criteria

• A master’s degree or equivalent in communication science, a related social science discipline such as sociology or political science, or in a social-science-oriented, interdisciplinary course of study focusing on Russia or Eastern Europe as a geographical region. Highly motivated candidates with or without prior work experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Good knowledge of and/or experience with the application of traditional methods of socialscience research, ideally with a focus on survey research and/or the conduct of semistructured interviews.
• Good knowledge or willingness to acquire extensive skills in the application of new, so-called computational methods of social-science research, with a focus on the automated collection and analysis of web content.

• Excellent English-language skills (essential).
• Good knowledge of German (desirable)
• Very good knowledge of one or more of the following languages: Russian, Belarusian, or Estonian (desirable)

• Evidence of ability and willingness to work as part of a team of researchers (desirable).
• Evidence of strong self-management skills, as required to successfully complete a four-year doctoral project (essential).

• Evidence of intellectual flexibility, autonomy and creativity (essential).
• Evidence of strong communication skills (desirable).
• Evidence of strong analytical and critical skills and clear academic writing (desirable).
• Willingness to assist in organisational and support functions (essential).

We offer

• The doctoral position comes with an internationally competitive salary, which will be stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E13 at a 0.65 full time equivalent). Depending on the candidate’s work experience, the initial annual gross salary will be at least 32,400 euros (i.e. approximately 2,600 euros per month). From this gross salary, contributions to the German pension scheme, health insurance and other social insurances will be automatically deducted. Depending on the family situation, the doctoral candidate’s initial net salary will thus amount to at least 1,680 euros a month.

• The ERC group offers doctoral candidates a vibrant and international academic environment with flat hierarchies. In the course of the project, doctoral students will receive hands-on training in conducting world-class communication research. They will be closely supervised and supported by the principal investigator of the ERC research group, members of academic staff at the University of Passau, and international scholars affiliated with the project. Doctoral candidates will be encouraged to pursue their own ideas, make strong individual contributions to the success of the research project and develop an initial track record of independent academic publications that will qualify them for a career in academia.

• Generous support for participation in a wide range of project-related conferences, workshops and methods-training courses.

• A high level of freedom when it comes to establishing your work processes.
• A great work climate in a family-friendly city offering a high quality of life, on a modern, verdant university campus situated a few minutes’ walk from the historic Old Town.

More information about the project is available at www.rusinform.uni-passau.de/en.As the University of Passau wishes to raise the proportion of women in research and teaching, female academics are expressly encouraged to apply. Furthermore, this post is suitable for those who are registered disabled. Registered disabled persons are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.

How to apply

Your full application (in English or German), sent as a single e-mail attachment in PDF format, should include the following documents:

• Your curriculum vitae.
• University entrance qualification (usually your secondary-school leaving certificate) and bachelor’s or master’s degree certificate.

• Letter of motivation (approximately one page) stating why you would like to pursue doctoral study within the research group, envisaged doctoral thesis topic (or type of research you could imagine pursuing) and how you think you could contribute to the success of the project. Please also provide evidence with regard to the selection criteria listed above.

• One or two pieces of academic writing (for instance, a seminar essay, your bachelor’s dissertation or master’s thesis).

Contact details and phone numbers of one to three referees (at least one academic, for instance, the supervisor of your master’s thesis).Please send your application by e-mail to sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de, using the subject line ‘RUSINFORM–DOC’, by 1 November 2020 (whilst we may be able to consider applications received after this date, this is not guaranteed.)

We look forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions related to this vacancy, please feel free to contact the Principal Investigator of the ERC project (florian.toepfl@unipassau.de) or a doctoral student in the project.

Once the application process has been completed, we will retain your application on file for six months before deleting it from our computer systems. Please visit www.unipassau.de/en/university/current-vacancies for our data privacy statement.