ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

The 2nd Biennial Conference on Food & Communication

September 23-25, 2020

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Deadline: January 15, 2020

Keynote speaker: Prof. JOSÉE JOHNSTON, University of Toronto

Food is a key means through which we construct and represent ourselves discursively. Food features as a powerful cultural signifier, often evoking associations with issues of gender, class, race and power. Food-related activities, such as grocery shopping, meal preparation, and eating, along with the public and private spaces in which these activities occur, provide the basis for many of our complex daily communicative practices. Food also is located at the core of many of the most challenging social issues of our time, often manifested in oppressive relations of inequality, and in the placement of food at the center of calls for social justice.

We are witness to major changes in how the relationships between food systems and consumers are constructed discursively.

Not surprisingly, food has been an important focus of research across the humanities and social sciences, from history to sociology, cultural studies, political studies and beyond. This conference extends that focus by providing an international platform that foregrounds the role of communication in the production, distribution and consumption of food. The aim of the conference is to address discourses, texts and communication evolving in relation to both widespread dissatisfaction with existing food systems and to visions for a more sustainable and regenerative future of food.

Scholars are invited to explore the cultural and discursive construction of food. This may include analyses of political and policy texts on food sovereignty, and security, food safety and nutrition, food waste, sustainability and climate change; texts produced by the food industry, including advertising, packaging, labeling, menus, social media and other means of food marketing; consumer and media narratives on “the pleasures of the table”; and texts promoting gastronomic tourism, to name just a few.

Today, cumulative food-related crises and controversies have become central to ongoing attempts to address the health of the global population and the planet. As a result, we are witness to major changes in how the relationships between food systems and consumers are constructed discursively.

In response to these issues, scholars are welcome to explore narratives about the emergence of alternative solutions to, and new imaginaries about, the future of food.

1

• Food as cultural signifier / text / medium, including food as:
• Expression of cultural identity
• Cultural capital
• Object of commodity activism
• Expression of cultural appropriateness
• Expression of cultural appropriation
• Basis of ritual and community bonding

2

• Representations of food, including:
• Journalistic and documentary coverage of the food and agricultural industries
• Food as the focus of entertainment television (narrative cinema, reality TV, celebrity programs, etc.)
• Food in social media
• Commercial communication about food (advertising, PR, lobbying, industry narratives)
• Political discourses (e.g., food safety, sovereignty, security; sustainability; regenerative agriculture; access to food; food deserts; animal welfare; etc.)
• Scientific and technical communication

3

• Public knowledge (and lack of knowledge) about food, including:
• Food literacy (health, nutrition, safety and risk, etc.)
• Environmental impacts (e.g., waste, pollution, climate change)
• Cultural origins, history, appropriation

4

• The mediation of food activism:
• Communication for direct action (protest, demonstration, petition, boycott, etc.)
• Commodity activism

5

• Imaginaries about the future of food, including:
• New sources (e.g., insects, algae, in vitro meat)
• Genetic engineering of plants and animals
• Hydroponics
• Aquaculture
• Transparency, traceability, blockchain, etc.

Abstracts of 300-500 words and queries can be submitted to: foodandcommunication@fdv.uni-lj.si

Abstracts may also be submitted via the web page below where further information can be found.

http://www.foodcommunication.net

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out in March 2020.

Associated costs Fee

Fee for conference attendance is 120 EUR and will cover the cost of food and drink during the conference plus materials.

An optional conference dinner costs 35 EUR (three courses of local dishes and local wine). Dinner will take place on Thursday evening, September 24th 2020 atGostilna na Gradu.

Travel and accommodation costs will need to be covered by participants themselves.

Dr. Andreja Vezovnik, University of Ljubljana, Chair of Local Committee (contact person)

Dr. Ana Tominc, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, Chair of Program Committee

Special Dossier of Comunicação Pública No. 28 (June 2020)

Deadline: February 10, 2020

Editors: Patrícia Silveira (IADE – Universidade Europeia, FCH – Universidade Católica, CECS – Universidade do Minho) and Inês Amaral (FL – Universidade de Coimbra, CECS – Universidade do Minho)

Languages: Portuguese; English; Spanish

Issues inherent to the dynamics of production, distribution and consumption of news content have in recent years been the subject of numerous academic studies. It is, however, of significant import that we should have, today, more scientific production in those fields of research that specialise in examining and understanding the new digital-born media and information scenes. These scenes co-exist alongside analogical outlets, with clear implications both for the typical operating mode of media and newspaper organisations and the ways we access information and for the uses and perceptions that inform the concept of ‘news’. It is within this context that the proposal for our Special Dossier is set.

In the current communication ecosystem, the media have been generalising the assumption of informed audiences. Several issues have been examined in the newsmaking field which explores the apparent potential of the new media to promote a larger public debate and to foster a more informed political engagement, while at the same time questioning the permanence of the media as privileged managers of the information public sphere.

Such topics have clear implications for citizens’ everyday lives, particularly for the lives of younger generations (who, by definition, find themselves in the process of learning, acquiring knowledge and interpreting the world) who are increasingly choosing digital platforms as their preferred means of access to news content. The everyday life of the younger generations is nowadays inextricably linked with these tools that shape what these individuals are, how they act, how they socialise and how they get to know the immediate and the mediated world (Silveira & Amaral, 2018).

It is thus in the context of the mentioned issues that we would like to propose a few lines of inquiry and debate, focusing the approach on furthering the current scientific understanding of the (present and future) dynamics of media and news reception, with an emphasis on the development and acquisition of management, comprehension and critical thinking skills to address the media and current news. In recent years, research developed in this field has become salient. With this Special Dossier, our aim is to contribute to a more robust knowledge, drawn from academic studies and texts that favour a scientifically sound analysis on how citizens – and among these, Generation Z in particular – are nowadays consuming information via digital platforms. Additionally, it finds it pertinent to explore how such practices are impacting those citizens’ understanding of the world, their awareness of societies’ “serious” issues, and their civic participation; it would be especially pertinent to shed some light on how the variously sourced information with which they are permanently in contact (and we would here highlight their exposure to ‘fake news’) is ultimately shaping their worldview.

The knowledge gathered in our Special Dossier may come to work as a basis for the development and implementation of effective strategies in promoting intellectual autonomy and interpretation skills to address news content. In the area of media literacy, News literacy becomes all the more relevant in a media landscape where fake news is propagated – the truth being questioned and disinformation being instigated is one the biggest challenges journalism is now facing. The present state of affairs can have serious repercussions for society in general, and for its younger (thus likely more susceptible) members in particular.

We would, therefore, like to encourage a debate on the interaction dynamics that develop between audiences and current affairs/news, with an emphasis on the younger generation audience segment. We are especially interested in research that examines the younger generation’s perceptions of, and interactions with, news content and online information consumption, while also taking into account alternative sources of news, such as Instagram or WhatsApp. It is necessary that those new trends be placed in the wider context of studies on news content emission and reception. With this goal in mind, we aim at contributing to a wider debate which, and in light of the landscape just outlined, we also welcome proposals which put forward and strengthen strategies designed to provide citizens with those skills that give them the ability to be more critical of their own worldview – and of the worldview, they receive from the media – so that they at the same time develop their civic and political values.

This Special Dossier aims at advancing the existing scientific knowledge on the consumption of news content, particularly digital-born news content. For this purpose, manuscripts addressing the topics below (but not limited to them) are welcome.

• News content consumption practices and digital platforms
• New generations and news literacy
• Online media and future trends in news consumption
• The era of ‘fake news’ and critical skills in information analysis
• New media, engagement and civic participation
• ‘Alternative’ narratives and post-truth
• Social media, algorithms and disinformation
• Critical literacies

KEY DATES:

• 1st Call for Papers: 28 October 2019
• Deadline for Submissions: 10 February 2020
• Deadline for Notification of Acceptance: 30 April 2020
• Deadline for submitting final version of accepted paper: 15 May 2020
• Publication date: 30 June 2020

Submission guidelines:

Manuscripts should follow the preformatted template (https://static.escs.ipl.pt/old/pdfs/investigacao/comunicacao_publica/CPublica-ESCS-Modelo.docx) and be submitted by e-mail (sent to: cpublica@escs.ipl.pt). Please include ‘Dossiê temático 03_NPENM’ in the subject of your e-mail.

Papers can be written in English, Spanish or Portuguese, always using Microsoft Word. They are to include an abstract of up to 900 characters, five keywords written in both the language of the paper and in English, and the author’s details (name, affiliation, position, contact information and field of study). The full paper, with reference list, annexes and citations should not exceed 50.000 characters (including spaces, endnotes, reference list, tables, images, etc.). Studies, Notes and Book Reviews should not exceed 10.000 characters. (For more information, please see https://www.escs.ipl.pt/investigacao/revista-comunicacao-publica/normas-de-publicacao ).

Upon acceptance of a paper for publication, the individual or collective author(s) will be asked to assign copyright to Comunicação Pública.

Young Harris, GA, USA

Deadline: January 15, 2020

Description:

Young Harris College invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Psychology position beginning August 1, 2020. All applicants should share a strong commitment to teaching at a liberal arts institution. The successful candidate will hold a doctorate in Communication Studies, Psychology, or a closely related field by the time of appointment and possess the requisite knowledge and experience to lead courses in both Communication Studies and Psychology. The ideal candidate will have a doctorate in Communication Studies with a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in Psychology and can teach a variety of interpersonal communication classes and psychology classes. Preference will be given to candidates able to support one or more of the following areas: Organizational Communication, Strategic Communication, Persuasion, Health Communication, I/O Psychology, Statistics, Research Methods, or other topics in the candidate's area of specialization. An active program of research in the candidate's area of expertise is encouraged and supported by the institution.

Applications:

Candidates should apply electronically at https://recruiting.myapps.paychex.com/appone/MainInfoReq.asp?R_ID=2778535

Applications should include a cover letter, C.V., teaching philosophy, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and three professional references. Questions can be sent to the Co-Chairs of the Search Committee, Dr. Jennifer Hallett and Dr. Joe Tiu. Additional information that applicants wish to submit can be sent electronically to HumanResources@yhc.edu or by mail to Human Resources Director, Young Harris College, P.O. Box 68, Young Harris, GA 30582. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled with applications submitted before January 15, 2020 given priority. The selected candidate must successfully pass a background check.

Applicants who would enrich the diversity of the campus community are strongly encouraged to apply. EOE M/F/D/V

Contact: Human Resources Director, Human Resources, Young Harris College

Young Harris, GA, USA

Deadline:

Description: January 15, 2020

Young Harris College invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Communication Studies position beginning August 1, 2020. The successful candidate will hold a doctorate in Communication Studies or a closely related field by the time of appointment and share a strong commitment to teaching at a liberal arts institution. The candidate will possess the requisite knowledge and experience to lead courses in the major such as Introduction to Media Communication, Critical Approaches to Communication Studies, and Communication Theory. The ability to teach courses in relation to one or more of the following areas is desirable: Cultural Studies, Emerging Media, Industry Studies, Political Communication and Media Campaigns, and/or Screen Studies. An active program of research in the candidate’s area of expertise is encouraged and supported by the institution.

The Department of Communication Studies offers classes in the broad subfields of Interpersonal Communication and Media and Cultural Studies. It explores its subjects through rigorous analysis in a diverse range of qualitative and quantitative methods, employing critical and empirical approaches.

Applications:

Candidates should apply electronically at https://recruiting.myapps.paychex.com/appone/MainInfoReq.asp?R_ID=2778522

Applications should include a cover letter, C.V., teaching philosophy, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and three professional references. Questions can be sent to Chair of Communication Studies Department Dr. Chris Richardson. Additional information that applicants wish to submit can be sent electronically to HumanResources@yhc.edu or by mail to Human Resources Director, Young Harris College, P.O. Box 68, Young Harris, GA 30582. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled with applications submitted before January 15, 2020 given priority. The selected candidate must successfully pass a background check.

Applicants who would enrich the diversity of the campus community are strongly encouraged to apply. EOE M/F/D/V

Contact: Human Resources Director, Human Resources, Young Harris College

Vaia Doudaki and Angeliki Boubouka

Examining the news coverage of the economic crisis in Greece, this book develops a framework for identifying discourses of legitimation of actors, political decisions, and policies in the news.

This study departs from the assumption that news is a privileged terrain where discursive struggles (over power) are represented and take place. Incorporating systematic analysis of news texts and journalistic practices, the model contextualises the analysis in its specific socio-political environment and examines legitimising discourse through the prism of the news. Ultimately the book recognises the active role played by journalists and media in legitimating economic crisis related policies and decisions, and how they help dominant actors establish and legitimate their authority, which in turn helps journalists legitimate their own role and authority.

CONTENTS

Introduction: assumptions and foundations, Vaia Doudaki

1. The economic crisis in Greece: short account of events and actors, Angeliki Boubouka

2. Media and representations of the economic crisis, Angeliki Boubouka and Vaia Doudaki

3. Discourses of legitimation in the news: concepts and dimensions, Vaia Doudaki

4. Analysing discourse: legitimation and its mechanisms in the Greek bailout news, Vaia Doudaki

Concluding reflections, Vaia Doudaki

Eva Nowak (ed.)

Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2019

How is journalism education in Europe accredited and assessed? State organisations and the media industry influence the objectives, content and structures of such education and trainings through their accreditation. They set quality standards and, at the same time, interfere with the autonomy of journalism education. Through studies of twelve countries, this volume shows how accreditation influences journalism education in Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

A second part of the book provides a comparative analysis of these studies including an overview on accreditation in higher education in Europe and the European Higher Education Area, EHEA. Another chapter deals with the ACEJMC’s more than seventy years of experience in journalism studies accreditation in the USA.

The volume contains contributions by Maarit Jaakkola, Pascal Guénée, Tina Tsomaia, Ana Keshelashvili, Andrea Czepek, Tibor Mester, Annamária Torbó, Catherine Shanahan, Nico Drok, George Prundaru, Elena Vartanova, Maria Lukina, Carlos Barrera, Manuel Martín Algarra, Guido Keel, Deborah Wilson David, Joe Foote and Eva Nowak.

The editor, Eva Nowak, is a professor of journalism at Jade Hochschule in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Her research focuses on journalism education and media freedom.

Contributions are invited for the new journal Anthropocenes - Human, Inhuman, Posthuman. Submissions are open at: https://www.anthropocenes.net/about/submissions/

Editors-in-Chief

• David Chandler, University of Westminster
• Jane Lewis, University of Westminster
• Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, University of Westminster

Anthropocenes welcomes submissions not so much on the basis of the ‘what’ of the topic covered but rather the ‘how’. Our core readership fields are the social sciences, arts and humanities (broadly construed), although often social and political thought will also be applied to aspects of the natural or ‘hard’ sciences. We are interested in the creative, disruptive and transformative potentials of thought and practices in the Anthropocene. Anthropocenes (published by the University of Westminster Press) is a peer review, open access journal, which makes no charge for publication. 

https://www.anthropocenes.net

Please advise if this suits your listings or if you need additional or re-edited material.

ATEE - Spring Conference 2020

May 20 - 22, 2020

Florence, Italy

Deadline: January 15, 2020

In 2020 the ATEE Spring Conference will be hosted by the University of Florence. As a main theme, the

Conference will take a critical perspective on the role of digital technology and media in teacher education by framing the relationship between technology/media and education in the light of the ever-increasing social inequalities. From this standpoint the Conference will focus on the new challenges and growing demands on education system committed to addressing all forms of disparities in access, participation and learning outcomes, social exclusion and discrimination. A critical approach to the understanding of the implications of technological developments for education is particularly significant in a world dominated by algorithms that are increasingly controlling and regulating the extent to which people do or do not participate in the social life. The central focus of this conference is the relevance of these critical perspectives and approaches in the field of teacher education's research and practice.

Main sub-themes are:

• Teaching critical media/digital literacy in multicultural societies.
• Decommodifying teacher (digital) education.
• Digital technology and equity for inclusive teaching.

We are pleased to invite you to submit an abstract to ATEE Spring Conference 2020.

https://www.ateespring2020.education/abstracts/

Important dates

Abstract Submission

• Abstract submission deadline: 15th January, 2020
• Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: 15th February, 2020
• Final Paper Submission Deadline: 15th July, 2020

Registration

• Opening of registration: 15th December, 2019
• Early Registration Deadline: 28th February, 2020
• Late Registration Deadline: 20th May, 2020

Koç University

Koç University, Department of Media and Visual Arts has two open rank, tenure-track positions: 1) Computational Social Sciences, 2) Interaction Design

1. Computational Social Sciences/Data Science

We are looking for scholars specializing in computational social sciences or data science. Areas of expertise include critical data studies, social media research, natural language processing. The ideal candidate should have applied experience in programming languages such as Laravel, Python, R. Prior experience of participation in interdisciplinary projects focusing on communication processes, critical algorithm studies, culture industries, and emerging media/ Related areas are also desirable. Awareness of and scholarly investment in how identity and social inequalities intersect with algorithms and big data is necessary.

Successful candidates will be expected to teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses and is expected to have an active research agenda. At the time of employment, candidates should have a PhD. We especially encourage applications from candidates whose research agenda is interdisciplinary. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Koç University is a foundation-funded, non-profit institution located in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is committed to the pursuit of excellence in both research and teaching. The medium of instruction is English. MAVA at Koç University offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes media studies, communications theory, media/arts management, film, production, visual and interaction design.

Applicants can submit applications electronically via https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/15515

Deadline for submission of applications is 23 December 2019

• Cover letter summarizing research and teaching approach and goals
• Curriculum Vitae
• Three reference letters

2. Interaction Design: 

Applicants should have a PhD in interaction design or a related field (product design, communication design, user experience design, and HCI) and have teaching and research track record in any one of the following areas:

• design (product design, visual communication design, user experience design, architecture or similar),
• engineering and sciences (computer science, human computer interaction, electrical engineering, or similar),
• social sciences (psychology, sociology, cognitive science or similar)

We are looking for an innovative and dedicated applicant who will strengthen the research and teaching profiles of the department nationally and internationally as well as contributing to Koç University’s core activities in the areas of research, teaching and supervision, talent development and knowledge exchange.

The successful candidate will be expected to teach two undergraduate and/or graduate courses, have an active research agenda, as well as to contribute and collaborate effectively in our research and teaching community. Applicants with interdisciplinary research agenda and the ones who combine knowledge of design theory, methods and research techniques are highly encouraged. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. Koç University is a foundation-funded, non-profit institution located in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is committed to the pursuit of excellence in both research and teaching. The medium of instruction is English. MAVA at Koç University offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes media studies, communications theory, media/arts management, film,production, visual communication and interaction design.

Applicants can submit applications electronically via https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/15514

Deadline for submission of applications is 23 December 2019

• Cover letter summarizing research and teaching approach and goals
• Curriculum Vitae
• Three reference letters

Special issue of Science Fiction Studies

Deadline: December 31, 2019

We invite papers on the role of nostalgia as a structure of feeling that animates speculative, utopian, and (post)apocalyptic texts across media. Although there has been increasing critical attention to the role of memory in these genres, nostalgia is a neglected topic. We seek papers that explore nostalgia as affect and motif in the genre, following Jameson's description of sf as a mode of "apprehending the future as history" (1982), while discussing seemingly future-oriented texts such William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984) and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982). Nostalgia had already been consolidated within mainstream popular culture via George Lucas's Star Wars (1977) which self-consciously harkened back to earlier eras, texts and subgenres, from the space operas of E.E. Doc Smith to the film serials of the 1930s, from Fred Wilcox's Forbidden Planet (1956) to Frank Herbert's Dune (1965). In contemporary media, Star Wars itself is now one among many rebooted titles, as mainstream science fiction reanimates its own popular history. As Judith Berman argues in "Science Fiction without the Future" (2001), even the stories of Golden Age pulp sf were less about the future than "full of nostalgia, regret, fear of aging and death."

The genre has frequently been preoccupied with the past as it imagines the future even in cinema, evident in films such as Code 46 (Winterbottom 2003) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry 2004) which are driven by almost futile search for the lost object.

Further connections may be detected between nostalgia and gernes such as utopia and dystopia. If utopianism produces future-orientated discourses that seek to transform the present into an idealised future, nostalgia might be described as inverted utopianism that generates an ameliorated, utopianized recollection of the past, as is evident in

nineteenth-century utopias, such William Morris's News from Nowhere (1890) whose post-apocalyptic future betrays a yearning for a pre-industrial, pastoral era. In The Future of Nostalgia (2001) Svetlana Boym contends that nostalgia can function as as a critical form of remembering that is not bound to a single version of the past, enabling texts to revisit the past to animate different realities and futures, a technique central to works such as Joanna Russ's The Female Man (1974) and Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time (1974). Classical dystopias, on the other hand, such as Eugene Zamyatin's We (1920-21) and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948) often look to the past as a time of more authentic existence, a motif that continues in recent television series such as The Walking Dead (2010-) and The Handmaid's Tale (2017-), especially in their use of flashback sequences.

Most recently, we have seen widescale interest in sf that nostalgically engages with the 1980s, often through allusions to sf of that era. Netflix has been a major agent in this trend, exemplified by the phenomenal success of Stranger Things (2016-), whose 1980s setting is also contemporary with Jameson's theorization of sf and history.

Other Netflix projects indicate an ongoing interest in nostalgia and this particular decade, such as the German series Dark (2017-), which uses time travel and alternative histories to evoke the 1980s as a consequential turning point in history, or the "San Junipero" episode of Black Mirror (2011-), whose recreation of the 1980s in an online virtual afterlife is often described as the only optimistic episode of the series. This recent cycle of sf might be thought of as second-order nostalgia, that is, texts that encourage young audiences to feel nostalgia about a period they did not live through, one they experienced only via media made at this time. Drawing on Marianne Hirsch's theorization of "post-memory," we suggest the term "post-nostalgia" as a way to conceptualize the affective and thematic preoccupations of such work.

We invite submissions that explore these complex intersections of nostalgia and sf. We are interested in papers that revisit the dominant perception of nostalgia as a conservative affective response to a contemporary sense of crisis, and we especially welcome those that explore reflective, critical, or transformative examples of nostalgia that enables a dialectic relationship to the past. We encourage papers that explore how and why nostalgia has resurfaced in genres of the speculative at this particular historical moment. We welcome submissions that explore science fiction in any medium. Indicative yet not exhaustive possible topics include:

• sf, nostalgia and cognitive estrangement
• sf, nostalgia and temporality
• sf, nostalgia and media archaeology
• nostalgia, utopia, dystopia
• reflective nostalgia
• post-nostalgia
• nostalgia and (post-)apocalypse
• identity, nostalgia and counter-memory in (literary, film, television) genre fictions
• steampunk, nostalgia and media archaeology
• commodifying nostalgia and the screen industries: rebooting, franchising, cross-marketing
• nostalgia, sf audiences and fandom

This special issue will be guest edited by Aris Mousoutzanis (A.Mousoutzanis@brighton.ac.uk) and Yugin Teo (yteo@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Please send abstracts of 300-400 words by December 31, 2019 to both editors. After an initial review of proposals, selected essays will be invited to submit full drafts (6,000-7,000 words) due in May 2020. The issue will be published March 2021