ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

February 27-28, 2020

University of Houstonl Houston, TX, United States

Deadline: November 22, 2019

https://www.globalcommunicationsummit.org/

While the economic, political, cultural and social transformations brought about by the rise of digital technologies, particularly in the media and telecommunications sectors, are visible all over the world, it is in African countries that they are projected to have the biggest impact in coming years. Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, has one of the fastest growing number of internet and mobile users in the world.

In many parts of the continent, access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been seen as an opportunity to “leapfrog”, a concept that the World Bank defines as making “a quick jump in economic development” by adopting technological innovation. This is exemplified by the success of African startups like Ushahidi, a crowdsourcing mapping tool created in Kenya, or Jumia, Nigeria’s number 1 online retailer; the recent opening of Google’s Africa AI center in Ghana; and the ever-growing presence of mobile payment and banking across the continent. Digital communication technologies have also been used strategically by citizens in the continent to engage in grassroots political movements that have toppled long-time rulers, led to (sometimes short-lived) regime changes, and brought about changes in legislation.

The fast growth of digitally enabled communications and services has also brought challenges for the continent. For example, well-before the notion of “fake news” became a buzzword in U.S. politics, many African nations, from South Africa to Gabon or Nigeria, were targets of large-scale misinformation campaigns over social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook. Additionally, young, highly-educated, and digitally-savvy graduates in many African countries have been employed by transnational tech companies such as Facebook for data processing in what some authors describe as digital sweatshops. The positive and negative impacts of this technological revolution are therefore important to consider.

Because African countries, their people, and their mediated interactions remain understudied in the fields of media and communication, especially in Western countries, the “@frica: digital media conference” invites extended abstracts (800-1,000 words) that examine the transformations and disruptions of digital media in African countries.

Specifically, but not exclusively, we invite contributions that explore any of the following questions:

• What methodological challenges exist in studying digital media use (such as social media and/or mobile communications) in Africa?
• What theoretical frameworks, constructs and paradigms are best suited to study transformations and disruptions of digital media in Africa?
• How has social media been used by African political actors, social movements and grassroots activists and to what effect?
• What are the roots, consequences and differences between countries of existing disparities in access to digital media in Africa?
• How are digital technologies influencing, complementing, and/or superseding journalistic practices in Africa?
• How does the sharing economy (e.g. Uber, Upwork…) transform and/or reinforce social norms, values, practices, structure and culture in Africa?
• What are the prevailing regulatory frameworks that affect digital media use in Africa?
• What socio-economic, cultural and economic factors shape the adoption, diffusion and appropriation of digital technologies in Africa?

The deadline to submit extended abstracts is November 22, 2019.

Abstracts should be submitted through EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=admc20

The organizers will notify by email the authors of accepted extended abstracts by December 6, 2019. Authors will be expected to submit full papers by February 2, 2020.

The “@frica: digital media conference” will accept a limited number of virtual presentations, in which authors who are unable to travel to Houston, will be able to present their work and get feedback from the audience. Authors who wish to be considered for one of the virtual presentation slots should indicate their preference when submitting their extended abstracts.

A selection of accepted papers will be included in a Special Issue of the Journal of African Media Studies to be published in 2020. Only accepted papers that are presented at the conference will be considered for the Special Issue.

The conference will be held at the University of Houston on February 28. A pre-conference event, only open to accepted authors, will be held on February 27.

All questions about submissions should be emailed to valentiglobalsummit@uh.edu.

May 21-22, 2020

Florence, Italy

Deadline: January 10, 2020

Media, War and Conflict Journal Conference

http://www.warandmedia.org/Spaces

Building on the success of our 2018 international conference ‘Spaces of War: War of Spaces’, the editors of the Media, War and Conflict journal are holding our second conference at Accademia Europea Di Firenze, Florence, Italy in May 2020.

Alongside traditional papers, the expected conference programme will include film screenings and methodological workshops on Digital verification; Visuality/photography; The archive; Performance that are designed to facilitate the development of new ideas, networks and/or research proposals through dialogue with practitioners.

Conference Themes

In 2018 we were motivated by a feeling that broad theses on the transformation of war in new media environments was distracting attention from the richness of detailed work being conducted on specific cases. Macro theorisations were ignoring the varieties and intricacies of spaces through which war was being waged. That conference drew together a new generation of researchers in the field of war and media, and led to the forthcoming Spaces of War book due to publication in 2020. But what emerged and gave meaning to the temporal and spatial dimensions of those dynamic, ever evolving spaces was the overarching theme of bodies and the profoundly corporeal, embodied nature of war and its relationship to space.

For this new conference, we invite contributions that explore the intersections of body and space in the field of war and media through two broad themes:

• Bodily Presence/Absence: How can research illuminate how bodies occupy, inhabit and live through and in spaces of war? When and how are bodies made visible in spaces of war, whose bodies (civic, military, technologized etc) and why? What are the implications of bodily presence and absence in relation to the transformative properties of the space? What are the consequences of post-bodily inhabitation?

• Embodied Participation: How do media and digital technologies alter and shift the affective, sensory, mnemonic qualities of space? How are bodies, and the corporeal reality of war, transformed by spaces and visa versa? What are the consequences of our engagement with spaces of war for ourselves, others and the space itself?

Drawing on these broad themes and questions, the conference will showcase exciting new research in this field while pinpointing the emerging puzzles and lines of enquiry we face at the intersection of bodies, media, space and war. We are interested in scholarly and practice contributions that speak to these themes through a range of topics across various spheres and powers relations. While the main theme of this conference is the corporeal nature of war and its relationship to space, we also welcome papers dealing with any aspect of media, war and conflict.

Please submit an abstract of 250 words with author affiliation and brief biog to:

Sarah Maltby: s.maltby@sussex.ac.uk by 10th January 2020

Panel submissions are welcome. Panel proposals should include no more than 4 papers in total, a short description (200 words) together with abstracts for each of the papers (150-200 words each including details of the contributor), and the name and contact details of the panel proposer. The panel proposer should coordinate the submissions for that panel as a single proposal.

Registration Open: 24th January to 27th March 2020

Comparative Cinema N15 (Fall 2020)

Deadline: December 15, 2019

http://www.ocec.eu/cinemacomparativecinema

From the 1980s, with what is known as the “feminist conscience turn”, the essentialist ways to define female subjectivity entered a crisis, and so did the monolithic conception of feminine desire as an unchangeable entity. An open conception of the desiring female subject as a locus for a set of multiple, complex and potentially contradictory experiences began to be upheld. In this new paradigm, the oeuvre of Teresa de Lauretis, Judith Butler or, in another direction, Rosi Braidotti, have offered new philosophical roads to talk about subjects and their desires. Film theory has not been foreign to this metamorphosis, and it has generated works of reference from authors such as Tania Modleski, Jackie Stacey, Gaylyn Studlar or Linda Williams.

This Call For Papers invites authors to present texts that, following these new directions, help to rethink the representation of feminine desires in film, both from a historical perspective as well as attending to the vitality of contemporary creation. The journal will take into account the articles that propose an in-depth study of the different theoretical and methodological basis related to this study field, and those that analyze, from a comparative perspective, gestures, gazes and images that are selected as analytical subjects for advancing research on the audiovisual representation of feminine desires in films. It is suggested, in the case studies, that authors begin their articles with a comparison between two images or sequences from different films as a starting point, before expanding upon their research.

Languages: 'Comparative Cinema' edits all its articles in English, but also accepts originals to be evaluated and published in Catalan or Spanish. If an article is accepted, its authors must assume the costs of translating it to English.

Length of the articles: from 5.000 to 6.000 words, including footnotes.

The texts (in Word) and the accompanying images must be sent through the OJS platform of RACO.

See here other submission details and format guidelines: https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Comparativecinema/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Submission dates: from September 15th to December 15th, 2019.

* From September 15th onwards, Comparative Cinema will start receiving texts for a new miscellaneous section, in which the journal will include articles that have no thematic bond to the proposed monographic issues.

From this date on, the reception of these submissions will be carried out continuously throughout the year, but the articles will be published in subsequent issues of the journal, prior coordination with the editors.

comparativecinema@upf.edu

ISSN: 2014-8933

Legal Deposit: B.29702-2012

University of Bremen

The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen is offering two salaried 3-year PhD positions (f/m/d) at a newly established research lab to be led by Cornelius Puschmann.

Description of the positions

Duration: 3 years

Starting date: 1 February 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter

Remuneration based on grade E13 TV-L (65% of a full-time position) of the German federal employee scale

General description of the position: The PhD student will join a newly established research lab, led by Cornelius Puschmann, and situated within the interdisciplinary ZeMKI of the University of Bremen. The members of this lab will study the relationship between digital media use – for example using social media platforms, engaging with online news, finding information through search engines – and current social, cultural and political phenomena, such as the spread of disinformation, cultural fragmentation, and social disenfranchisement, through a combination of computational and traditional research methods. The PhD student will be actively involved in the research activities of the lab and contribute to sharpening its research agenda and growing its research output. It is also expected that the PhD student will be an active contributor to the interdisciplinary intellectual environment of the ZeMKI. For more information on the lab and the ZeMKI, please see below.

Research and teaching duties

• Develop an independent PhD research project based on the objectives of the lab (see below)
• Collaboration in current and future research projects undertaken within the lab
• Presenting research results at national and international conferences and workshops
• Contributing to scientific publications
• Teaching (2 hours per week in communication and media)

Essential qualifications

• Master’s degree in Media and Communication, Sociology, Psychology, Computer/Information Science or Computational Linguistics
• Command of R (alternatively Python)
• Interest in computational methods, e.g.
• Automated content analysis/text mining or
• Network/sequence analysis or
• Survey analysis/online experiments or
• other standardized methods relevant to media usage research
• Interest in media and communication (for applicants with backgrounds in other fields)
• Experience with social media data analysis is desirable
• Strong command of English

The University of Bremen intends to increase the proportion of women in science and therefore urges women to apply. Handicapped applicants with the same professional and personal suitability are given priority. Applications from people with a migration background are encouraged. Candidates who already hold a PhD degree will not be considered.

For questions pertaining to the position, please contact Cornelius Puschmann (puschmannuni-bremen.de).

Application

The application should include a brief description of his/her research interests, a written CV, copies of academic certificates and a writing sample (Master’s thesis, research paper, or other scholarly output, such as software code), as well as a short project sketch (0.5-1 page).

Please send your application including the reference number A309/19 until 1 December 2019 to:

Universität Bremen

Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI)

z.H. Frau Denise Tansel

Postfach 33 04 40

28334 Bremen

or as PDF via Email (single file) to: dtanseluni-bremen.de

The employment is fixed-term and serves the scientific qualification, governed by the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contract, §2 (1) (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz). Therefore, candidates may only be considered for appointment if they still have the respective qualification periods available in accordance with § 2 (1) WissZeitVG.

About the lab

Informed citizens are a prerequisite for functioning Western societies and reliable information on politically and socially relevant issues increasingly reaches us online. Mobile apps and websites of major media brands play an important a role, as do niche offerings, popular blogs and dubious or even manipulative content (clickbait, fake news), some of which is mediated by non-human agents (social bots). There is currently a clearly identifiable research gap when it comes to the systematic investigation of media and news use on the basis of digital communication data -- a deficit that the new research lab will seek to address. Methodologically the lab will draw on:

• digital user tracking (through browser plug-ins / apps, data donations)
• automated content analysis (topic modelling, machine learning, sentiment analysis)
• survey data (online surveys, experience sampling)

Our long-term ambition is to link these instruments in panel designs in order to draw conclusions regarding causal relationships, for example between routine digital media usage and user attitudes.

About the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI)

As an inter-faculty research institute, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) bundles research activities at the University of Bremen in the area of media and communicative change regarding a broad range of cultural, social, organisational and technological context fields. The research institute is committed to interdisciplinary cooperation, integrating researchers from the areas of media and communication studies, cultural studies, information management and media pedagogics. In addition to their research activities, ZeMKI members are active in the various media related study programmes at the University of Bremen. The ZeMKI oversees the profile-building research group "Communicative figurations of mediatized worlds" of the University of Bremen. The research group has been supported as a "Creative Unit" by the institutional strategy "Ambitious and Agile" of the University of Bremen funded within the frame of the Excellence Initiative by the German Federal and State Governments.

March 19, 2020

 Lund University, Sweden

Deadline: December 12, 2019

Department of Communication and Media

Organisers: Annette Hill and Hario Satrio Priambodho

Break up, break down, and break away: variations on media and the breaking down of infrastructures, technicalities, texts, contexts and social relations are the basis of this international symposium Media and Breakdown. This event focuses on the play off between deconstruction and reconstruction work in media, communication and cultural studies.

Breakdown signifies wearing down, collapse, and catastrophe; this meaning of breakdown relates to media technologies and services, representations and themes in factual and fictional genres, or broader issues such as a crisis of democracy, and a thin trust between politicians, the media and publics. Breakdown also signifies taking apart something to analyse and understand how it works; this meaning of breaking down relates to deconstructing a text and its internal workings and contradictions, or forensically analysing media systems, political economics and power structures. Moments of media breakdown can reveal that which is otherwise hidden. And breakdown can be related to processes of fluidity and renewal, in the breaking down of barriers and divisions. The theme of breakdown offers a multidimensional approach to how we can understand media, culture and society as a site of collapse and repair, and as a place for theoretical and empirical analysis within media, communication and cultural studies.

The international symposium offers a platform for dialogue on media and breakdown that addresses the theme from empirical and theoretical perspectives. We invite papers related to the following themes:

• Media and crises of democracy
• Media, civility and incivility
• Media misinformation, bias and fake news
• Media and failure of institutions, infrastructures, and professionals
• Media framing of catastrophe, crisis, and apocalypse
• Media and breaking down genres and narratives
• Media and cultural practices of collapse, repair and reconciliation
• Media, arts and creativity on breakdown, dissolution and resolution
• Media and cultural methods of deconstruction and reconstruction

The research questions include: 1. How can we critically examine media and breakdown across news, radio and television, film, arts and museums, digital and social media? 2. In what ways can we understand breakdown and repair in our analysis of media and culture? 3. What methods can we apply to the study of media and breakdown? Different disciplinary approaches to research on media and breakdown have developed in a variety of subject areas such as media, communication and cultural studies, political communication, sociology and anthropology, cultural geography, media history, film studies, art and creative practice, and memory studies. The symposium offers opportunities to seek overlaps and connections in pursuing our topic.

Confirmed speakers include Nico Carpentier (Charles University, Czech Republic), Simon Dawes (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France), Christine Geraghty (Glasgow University, UK), Joke Hermes (InHolland University, Netherlands), Annette Hill (Lund University, Sweden), and Peter Lunt (University of Leicester, UK).

Please submit an abstract of 300 words in English by December 12th 2019 to hario.priambodho@kom.lu.se. For further information please consult our website https://www.kom.lu.se/en/research/konferenser-och-natverkstraffar/media-and-breakdown/. There is a registration fee of 850 SEK (90 Euros) that covers food and drink for the day and an evening buffet.

Convergence Special Issue

Deadline for Abstract Submissions: December 31, 2019

Guest editors: Germaine Halegoua (University of Kansas, USA) and Erika Polson (University of Denver, USA)

Deadline for Full Papers: May 1, 2020

Expected date of publication: April 2021

We invite submissions for a special issue of "Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies" on the topic of Digital Placemaking. As digital and physical environments converge, each increasingly producing the norms and parameters of the other, it is important to consider how the drive to create and control a sense of place remains primary to how social actors identify with each other and express their identities, and how communities organize to build more meaningful, connected spaces. Instead of depleting a sense of place, the ability to forge attachments to digital media environments and through digital practices enables people to emplace themselves and others. The increasing mobility of people, goods and services, information, and capital contribute to the impression of a world in flux where the “space of flows” dominates the “space of places,” while at the more personal scale, multiplying public and private uses of digital media have produced varied discourses on the potential for these practices to dissociate or liberate users from co-present environments. The implication of these perspectives is that our collective sense of place has been disrupted, leaving people unsure of their belonging within conditions and boundaries that seem increasingly fluid. While it is imperative to attend to the shifting social, economic, and political conditions that give rise to such concerns, it is also necessary to recognize the many ways people actually use digital media to negotiate differential mobilities and become placemakers.

This special issue introduces and critically examines the concept of “digital placemaking” as practices that create emotional attachments to place through digital media use. As populations and the texts they produce become increasingly mobile, such practices are proliferating, and a striking array of applications and uses have emerged which exploit the affordances of mobile and digital media to foster an ability to navigate, understand, connect to, and gain a sense of belonging and familiarity in place. Papers are invited to investigate the concept of “digital placemaking” as both a theoretical and applied response to the spatial fragmentation, emerging virtual and physical environments, and community reorganizations thought to have accompanied the speed and scale of globalization.

The editors welcome contributions that explore questions such as:

• How do people employ digital media to create and negotiate a new sense of place within rapidly changing media landscapes and socio-spatial exchanges?
• How does digital placemaking as a research approach or theoretical framework uncover novel socio-cultural-technical practices and understandings of sense of place?
• How are boundary crossing and place transgressions implicated in tensions related to tourism, gentrification, migration, and emerging media?
• How can scholars investigate digital placemaking to reflect nuances of interrelated online and offline practices?
• What are key characteristics and configurations of digital placemaking within particular communities or institutions?
• How can digital placemaking be employed as an innovative approach to studying digital media technologies and practices?
• What does a focus on digital placemaking help us understand about issues including: mobile rights and risks associated with migration and diaspora; creative tactics within social and mobile media regarding tourism and travel; the design of physical places and experiences; and contested mobilities based on social power and access to digital infrastructures?
• How does the concept or framework of digital placemaking uncover tactics and forces that coordinate, govern, and express mobilities within digital infrastructures and imaginaries?

We are open to a range of approaches in exploring this concept, and particularly welcome submissions that address locations and digital placemaking practices in the global south.

TO SUBMIT: Please send a 500-word abstract and a 100-word bio to the guest editors at grhalegoua@ku.edu and epolson@du.edu by December 31, 2019

Authors of accepted abstracts will be contacted in early January and invited to submit full contributions by May 1, 2020.

June 12-14, 2020

Cape Breton University: Sydney, Nova Scotia

Submission Deadline: December 15, 2019

IASPM Canada Annual Conference

As we enter into a new decade it’s apt to question our place in the world. Almost sixty years ago, Marshall McLuhan notably coined the term Global Village to refer to the global spread of media content and consumption, and yet Canada still struggles with its position in the world as an imposing landmass with a relatively small population, and how that influences where and how its cultural texts are encountered. This conference seeks to address the concept of voice and sound as tied to space and place, in the broadest sense. In regards to popular music in Canada, we have established a strong identity, but one that is often defined in opposition to our more vocal neighbours to the South. As we continuously define and redefine Canadian cultural identity, and cultural outputs, this conference questions how our musical landscape has historically adapted, and will continue to adapt, to an increasingly globalized environment.

This is the first time that the IASPM Conference has been held in Cape Breton. And, as such, it opens up a great opportunity to not only address the “big sounds” that emerge out of “small places” like Cape Breton, but also wider themes of space and place in popular music, and the relationship between communities and music.

While we welcome papers on any aspects of popular music, we encourage papers that align with the conference subthemes: audiences; space & place; and populations & peripheries.

Audiences:

The digital landscape has dramatically extended the reach of niche music, local musicians, and subcultures/scenes. Potential areas of focus in this theme include, but are not limited to:

• Scenes: from “small town” roots to urban niches. The history, present, and future of local scenes.
• Digital communities/fans: the spread of Canadian pop through digitality.
• Subcultures: issues of subcultural identity in popular music
• Everyday uses of music
• Listening practices: environmental impacts; listening to music in transit
• Dance and embodied consumption

Space & Place:

Canada, as a Nation and a concept, continues to exist as both “village/settlement” and a major player on the global stage. The ways in which popular music also navigates these complicated relationships is often intimately tied how space and place is expressed in music. This can be seen not only in Canadian music, but also throughout a myriad of cultural and national identities. Potential areas of focus in this theme include, but are not limited to:

• Issues of space and place in popular music
• Land-based epistemologies and musical embodiment; the natural environment and music spaces
• “Small” nations/artists/communities on the global stage
• Live music and venues: small/hidden/underground venues; “noise” and leaking sounds; busking; rehearsal spaces
• Music-making practices in domestic spaces

Populations & Peripheries:

How does/can music become the sound of a community? This theme explores the connection between cultural identity, community, and music. In addition, it takes up the notion of peripheries to focus on the marginalized, subaltern, and/or tokenized sounds/identities, and to disrupt hegemonic paradigms. Potential areas of focus in this theme include, but are not limited to:

• Music and cultural, community, and/or national identity
• “Small” economies in smaller populations
• Issues of music policy and practice
• Making music in jail
• The sounds of Indigenous, Immigrant, Disabled, LGBTQ, and/or Ally communities

Submission Guidelines:

Abstracts of individual papers, workshops, performances and other presentations should be no longer than 300 words. The program committee is especially interested in proposals in diverse formats. Panel submissions should include a title and abstract for the panel (300 words max.) as well as titles and abstracts for the individual papers on the panel. All abstracts for a panel should be submitted together. Abstracts will be adjudicated individually, so it is possible for a panel to be accepted but not an individual paper and vice versa. Each abstract should also include a short biography of the author (100 words max.) including the institutional affiliation, if any, and email address of each author. Each abstract should also include five keywords. Submissions in French and English are acceptable. All submissions must be submitted as a single Word document with the author's last name as the document file name. Please do not submit your proposal as a PDF. Proposals will be blind reviewed.

Email Submissions To: iaspmcanada2020@gmail.com

Presentation Logistics:

Papers will be limited to 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of questions. Panels will be limited to a maximum of 4 papers. Other presentations (workshops, film screenings, roundtables, etc.) will generally be limited to 60 minutes, but alternatives can be discussed/proposed. All participants must be members of IASPM-Canada at the time of the conference. Membership information is available on the following website: http://iaspm.ca/membership.

For questions about the conference, please contact the Program Committee Chair, Melissa Avdeeff (melissa.avdeeff@gmail.com), or Local Organizing Chair, Chris McDonald (chris_mcdonald@cbu.ca).

Program Committee Members:

• Melissa Avdeeff (Chair), Coventry University
• Vanessa Blais-Tremblay, Université du Québec à Montréal
• Sandria P. Bouliane, Université Laval
• Matt Brennan, University of Glasgow
• Mark Campbell, University of Toronto
• Marcia Ostashewski, Cape Breton University
• Maya Stitski, Queen’s University

July 12-16, 2020

Tsinghua University in Beijing, China

Deadline: February 10, 2020

At the critical juncture of the second decade of the 21st century, the world is facing tremendous challenges. The past three decades of cultural, economic and communication globalisation have created sharp income and wealth inequities, a divisive international community, dysfunctional media, an increasingly fragmented digital culture and an accelerating environmental crisis. We witness growing populism and protectionism and a dissolving consensus on global engagement and international collaboration. We see deepening technological contestation in digital media and artificial intelligence between the world’s two economic powerhouses. We also witness a sharp decline of the quality of national and international information flows as a result of widespread misinformation facilitated by social media.

These developments pose urgent questions and challenges for media and communications scholars. What are the reasons for the division, gaps and fragmentation we now see? What roles have digital media communication played in these developments at both the local and global levels? What values should inform our proposals for addressing them?

This year’s conference aims to respond to those challenges by re-examining the roles and patterns of global communication while including local voices, seeking critical reflections on the relationship between them, and exploring feasible agendas for a shared digital future based on inclusiveness, respect and reciprocity.

In the context of growing divisions between elites and citizens, the economically secure and the marginalised, mainstream and minority cultures, and intensified political polarization, calls for greater inclusiveness of different voices in the media and equality of access and opportunities, become even more pressing. As researchers we need a more comprehensive understanding of the factors promoting and impeding inclusiveness in the ‘legacy’ print and audio-visual media media domestically and globally and the roles played by existing and emerging digital media.

Having a public voice and opportunities for expression, however, does not in itself guarantee that diverse contributions to a common culture will be listened to attentively or treated with respect. IAMCR 2020 addresses respect for both diversities and shared values. Respect embodies respect for local cultural experiences and developmental models as well as respect for human dignity and international law and institutions. It embodies respect for role of ethics in developing the digital technology and for the safety and security of personal data and privacy. Exploring these issues requires us to reconsider to what extent the current global communication and technological landscapes have facilitated these dimensions of respect for diverse voices, experiences and models; and to ask what communicative values and goals would guaranteed the in the future.

Promoting inclusiveness and respect are essential preconditions for (re)imagining and developing a shared digital future that challenges and transcends political, religious, and cultural boundaries. But pursuing this goal also requires a commitment to reciprocity based on relations between public, governments and business communities rooted in a shared a commitment to inclusiveness, respect and avoiding exploitation or exacerbating divides and conflicts.

Organised by two leading Chinese universities in Beijing and Suzhou, two ancient capitals mixed with the chic of postmodern metropolis, IAMCR 2020 is set to bring together different perspectives on how multi-stakeholders of the global and local communication and media spaces negotiates among heterogeneous communities and institutions in the hope for building an inclusive, harmonious and respectful digital future. Bringing IAMCR to China offers members a unique opportunity to access analysis and commentary on the China’s experience of employing media and digital communication technology.

Languages

Different sections and working groups have different policies regarding languages. Some accept abstract and programme sessions in English, French and Spanish while others conduct their programmes in only one or two languages. Consult the individual CfPs for details on the language policy of each section.

Guidelines for abstracts

Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words. All abstracts must be submitted at https://beijing2020.iamcr.org/submit. Abstracts sent by email will not be accepted.

It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author, either individually or as part of any group of authors. No more than one (1) abstract can be submitted to any section or working group. Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one section or working group. Any such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting them risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.

The deadline to submit abstracts is 23:59 GMT on 10 February 2020.

For other important dates and deadlines, please see IAMCR 2020 key dates on the conference website.

Technical guidelines, if any, are defined by the individual Sections and Working Groups. If you have questions, consult the Section or Working Group's specific CfP or contact the head of the Section and Working Group that interests you.

For further information about the conference, consult the IAMCR Beijing 2020 webpage.

The Data Justice Lab

Deadline: November 30, 2019

The Data Justice Lab is now accepting applications for two Data Justice Fellows.

We are looking for two fellows to collaborate with us on exploring current issues in data justice for a one-month research stay at Cardiff University, UK. We welcome proposals from both academics and practitioners who wish to investigate different dimensions of social justice in a datafied world.

Applicants should submit a proposal that addresses the ongoing work of the Lab and/or the research agenda of data justice.

Each fellow will spend one month full time at the Lab in Spring 2020. You will receive a £2000 stipend to cover your living expenses.

To find the full details and apply, click here: https://datajusticelab.org/data-justice-fellowship/

Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities

Deadline: December 1, 2019

Apply here

Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities is looking for a Full Professor Media, Culture and Society. Are you interested? Then please read the full profile and apply.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Department of Media and Culture Studies is looking for a media scholar with a strong international reputation and excellent skills in research, teaching and management. S/he can articulate an engaged, interdisciplinary vision on the academic field in line with the strategic plans of the department, the Faculty of Humanities, and the university. The ideal candidate substantially contributes to developing the department's research themes in media, culture and society and helps distribute this knowledge in and beyond academia. S/he is able to motivate and inspire cooperative research projects across disciplines and to acquire external funding, initiate collaborative teaching, and stimulate innovation that directly connects to recent developments in media studies, both nationally and internationally. The successful candidate focuses on the cultural and societal dimensions of media in today's digitised society in both teaching and research. Moreover, s/he is expected to contribute to Utrecht University's strategic themes and is encouraged to initiate and build on the university's research strengths in these areas.

The candidate we are looking for has a strong publication and teaching record, an extensive international network, and the experience and willingness to take on managerial responsibilities. S/he has profound knowledge of the theoretical foundations of media studies as an academic field and is familiar with current developments in the field of media such as mediatisation, datafication, and screen cultures; we welcome theoretical, historical as well as contextual orientations towards these developments.

The new chair 'Media, Culture and Society' (pdf) will be positioned in the Department of Media and Culture Studies (MCW), which is part of the Humanities Faculty of Utrecht University. MCW provides education and research in the fields of film, television, games, new media and digital culture, theatre, dance and performance, musicology, gender and post-colonial studies, communication and information studies, and participation in arts and culture. In the department a wide range of media as well as cultural and artistic expressions are studied in conjunction with one another. Culture is interpreted as a dynamic combination of artistic, creative and everyday activities that people use to shape their identities, and within which social processes, structures and institutions are shaped.

REQUIREMENTS

We are looking for candidates:

who are experienced, internationally respected senior researchers in the field of the chair, as shown by a completed PhD and an extensive list of peer-reviewed scholarly output in leading academic journals and reputable book publications;

• with substantial experience in teaching media subjects at BA and MA level and who have acquired Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) according to Dutch university standards or who have extensive experience in developing curricula;
• with experience in supervising PhD candidates in an inspiring and effective way as well as in leading an international team of researchers;
• with an extensive international and national network in academia and beyond, especially in the media sector, and who are able to engage this network in order to develop original research projects;

• who have successfully acquired internal and external research grants;
• with excellent communication skills and capable of inspiring positive team spirit;
• who have the experience and willingness to take on managerial responsibilities at departmental level;
• who are fluent in English at near-native or native speaker standard in oral and written communication;
• whose fluency in Dutch is at least at NT2 level (or able to attain this level within two years after the appointment).

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

We offer a temporary position (1.0 FTE) for the duration of five years. In case of a good performance, an indefinite employment is one of the possibilities. The gross salary - depending on previous qualifications and experience - ranges between €5,582 and €8,127 (scale HL2 according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) per month for a full-time employment.

Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% per year. In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). More information about working at Utrecht University can be found here.

EMPLOYER

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.

The Faculty of Humanities has around 6,000 students and 900 staff members. It comprises four knowledge domains: Philosophy and Religious Studies, History and Art History, Media and Culture Studies, and Languages, Literature and Communication. With its research and education in these fields, the Faculty aims to contribute to a better understanding of the Netherlands and Europe in a rapidly changing social and cultural context. The enthusiastic and committed colleagues and the excellent amenities in the historical city center of Utrecht, where the Faculty is housed, contribute to an inspiring working environment.

The Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University is an internationally renowned teaching and research consortium composed of scholars in Film, Television, Arts Policy and Participatory Arts, Communication, New Media, Game and Gender Studies, Music, Theatre and Dance. It is dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to media, performance, music, and culture in general.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For more information about this position, please contact Eugene van Erven (Head of the Department of Media and Culture Studies), via E.A.P.B.Erven@uu.nl.

Please note that an assessment can be part of the selection procedure.