ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Uppsala University

Deadline: August 12, 2019

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our mission is to pursue top-quality research and education and to interact constructively with society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has 44.000 students, 7.100 employees and a turnover of SEK 7 billion.

The Department of Informatics and Media (http://www.im.uu.se/?languageId=1) has a broad research profile based on research in the disciplines Media- and Communication Studies, Human-Computer Interaction and Information Systems. In Media and Communication Studies research is focused on social and cultural change connected to communication, media and digitalization.

The accepted candidate must have been admitted as doctoral student to the Department of Informatics and Media and the PhD program in Media and Communication Studies. The education is carried out in collaboration with the national research school Management & IT (MIT).

Duties/Project description:

The position is a fully salaried PhD position (doktorandtjänst), equivalent to a maximum of four-year full-time PhD studies. The holder of the PhD position shall primarily devote her/himself to her/his own doctoral study (see theme below). Active participation in departmental activities as well as activities at the research school Management & IT (MIT)s, such as seminars, workshops, etc., is expected. Other tasks, including teaching and administrative work, can also be part of the employment (for a maximum of 20%). The language of teaching is English and Swedish.

The ongoing digitization of society is of great importance for how communication occurs within and between organizations, and also how they organize themselves. Today, there is an ongoing effort among organizations to adapt and develop their communication in accordance with digital conditions and prerequisites. This leads to an increased need for knowledge about how, and in what way, digitization affects organizations' way of communicating and organizing themselves, and how knowledge about new communication technologies is utilized and developed within various organizations. The holder of the present doctoral position is expected to conduct a qualified research project focusing on the importance of digital technology for organization’s communication and activities.

Requirements:

For admission to the PhD program in Media and Communication Studies, an applicant must have basic and specific eligibility prescribed by the Faculty of Social Sciences. Anyone with a degree on the advanced level (i.e. a master’s degree), that has completed course requirements of at least 240 credits (including at least 60 credits at advanced level) has fulfilled the basic entry requirements. The specific eligibility requirements for admission to the PhD program in Media and Communication require that the applicant has passed courses of 90 credits in Media and Communication Studies. Anyone that in any other way, in or out of the country, has acquired equivalent knowledge is also considered to fulfil the basic or specific eligibility requirements, respectively.

We are seeking a candidate with well documented knowledge in media and communication. Knowledge in organizational communication is a merit. Candidates should have a good overview of social sciences and/or the humanities, and a strong interest in research. Great importance will be attached to the candidate's personal suitability for the post. Sought for qualifications are teamwork abilities, initiative, independence and a reflective and analytic approach. Very good communicative skills are required, including the excellent command of written and spoken English.

When the University employs new doctoral students the candidates will be chosen who after a qualitative evaluation of competence and skills are deemed to have the best capacity to fulfill work duties as well as contributing to a positive development of the research environment. Of vital importance is the capacity to finish the doctoral program.

Qualifications must be documented so that quality as well as extent can be evaluated.

Candidates should be available for interview, either in person in Uppsala or via Internet.

Additional qualifications:

A complete application must include:

Filled out form applying for admission to the doctoral program in Media and Communication Studies.

http://uadm.uu.se/digitalAssets/81/81624_ansokan_forskarniva_eng.pdf

• A short letter documenting

1) The motives why you are applying, your research interest and relevant experiences for the PhD post (max 500 words)

2) A list over the documents handed in to support the application

3) If more than one academic work is handed in, you should name one of them to be prioritized by the admission committee.

• A dissertation plan (two pages). The plan should cover theoretical approach, aim, research questions, type of data, method and time plan.
• Curriculum Vitae/Résumé, including English proficiency with certified transcript(s) of your academic record/degree(s) to date, proving the basic and specific eligibility.
• Two letters of recommendation
• A copy of independently written work produced within the applicant’s course of studies (e.g. bachelor or master thesis; include a draft if not completed) or other relevant text(s)
• Other documents the applicant may wish to attach, e.g. English test results.

Incomplete applications will not be considered

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines http://regler.uu.se/?languageId=1.

Uppsala University strives to be an inclusive workplace that promotes opportunities and attracts qualified candidates who can contribute to the University’s excellence and diversity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and from people of all backgrounds.

Salary: According to local agreement for PhD students.

Starting date: 2019-09-01 or as otherwise agreed.

Type of employment: Temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7.

Scope of employment: 100 %

For further information about the position please contact:

Head of IM Jenny Eriksson Lundström: jenny.eriksson@im.uu.se, Göran Svensson, Head of Subject MCS: goran.svensson@im.uu.se

Please submit your application by 12 August 2019, UFV-PA 2019/2379.

Are you considering moving to Sweden to work at Uppsala University? If so, you will find a lot of information about working and living in Sweden at www.uu.se/joinus. You are also welcome to contact International Faculty and Staff Services at ifss@uadm.uu.se.

Please do not send offers of recruitment or advertising services.

Applications must be submitted as described in this advertisement.

Placement: Department of Informatics and Media

Type of employment: Full time , Temporary position longer than 6 months

Pay: Fixed salary

Number of positions: 1

Working hours: 100 %

Town: Uppsala

County: Uppsala län

Country: Sweden

Union representative: Seko Universitetsklubben seko@uadm.uu.se

ST/TCO tco@fackorg.uu.se

Saco-rådet saco@uadm.uu.se

Number of reference: UFV-PA 2019/2379

Last application date: 2019-08-12

Special issue of Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society

Due date for abstract submission: August 1, 2019

(guest editors: Maria Eriksson & Guillaume Heuguet)

In today’s digital landscape, cultural content such as texts, films, images, and recorded sounds are increasingly subjected to automatic (or semi-automatic) processes of identification and classification. On a daily basis, spam filters scan heaps of emails in order to separate legit and illegit textual messages,1 algorithms analyze years of user-uploaded film on YouTube in search for copyright violations,2 and software systems scrutinize millions of images on social media sites in order to detect sexually offensive content.3 To an increasing extent, content identification systems are also trained to distinguish “fake-news” from “proper journalism” on news websites,4 and taught to recognize and filter violent or hateful content that circulates online.5

These examples reveal how machines and algorithmic systems are increasingly utilized to make complex cultural judgements regarding cultural content. Indeed, it could be argued that the wide-ranging adoption of content identification tools is constructing new ontologies of culture and regimes of truth in the online domain. When put to action, content identification technologies are trusted with the ability to separate good/bad forms of communication and used to secure the value, authenticity, origin, and ownership of content. Such efforts are deeply embedded in constructions of knowledge, new forms of political governance, and not least global market transactions. Content identification tools now make up an essential part of the online data economy by protecting the interests of rights holders and forwarding the mathematization, objectification, and commodification of cultural productions.

Parallel to their increased pervasiveness and influence, however, content identification systems have also been heavily contested. Debates regarding automatic content identification tools recently gained momentum due to the European Union’s decision to update its copyright laws. A newly adopted EU directive encourages all platform owners to implement automatic content filters in order to safeguard copyrights6 and critics have argued that such measures run the risk of seriously hampering the freedom of speech and stifling cultural expressions online.7 High profile tech figures such as Tim Berners Lee (commonly known as one of the founders of the Internet) has even claimed that the widespread adoption of content filtering could effectively destroy the internet as we know it.8 Content identification systems, then, are not neutral devices but key sites where the moral, juridical, economical, and cultural implications of wide-ranging systems of online surveillance are currently negotiated and put to the test.

This special issue welcomes contributions that trace the lineage and genealogy of online content identification tools and explores how content identification systems enact cultural values. It also explores how content identification technologies reconfigure systems of knowledge and power in the online domain. We especially invite submissions that reflect on the ways in which content identification systems are deployed to domesticate and control online cultural content, establish new and data-driven infrastructural systems for the treatment of cultural data, and bring about changes in the activity/status of cultural workers and rights holders. Contributions that locate online content identification tools within a longer historical trajectory of identification technologies are also especially welcomed, since digital content identification tools must be understood as continuations of analogue techniques for monitoring and measuring the qualities and identities of things.

We envision contributors to be active in the fields of media history, software studies, media studies, media archaeology, social anthropology, science and technology studies, and related scientific domains. The topic of contributions may include, but are not limited to:

The historical and political implications of content identification tools for audio, video, images, and textual content such as machine learning systems and digital watermarking  or fingerprinting tools

The genealogy of spam filters, fake news detection systems, and other strategies for keeping the internet “clean” and censoring/regulating the circulation and availability of online content

Comparative investigations of the technical workings of different methods for identifying content, including discussions on the challenges and potentials of indexing/identifying sound, images, texts and audiovisual content

Reviews of the scientific theories, political ideologies, and business logics that sustain and legitimize online systems of content identification

Reflections on historical and analogue techniques for identifying objects and commodities, such as paper watermarks and the use of signets and stamps

Issues of censorship related to online content identification and moderation and/or discussions regarding the ethical dilemmas and legal debates that surround content surveillance

Explorations of the implications of algorithmic judgements and measurements of identity, and reflections on the ways in which content identification tools redefine what is means to listen/see and transform how cultural objects are imagined and valued

Examinations of the relationship between human and algorithmic efforts to identify suspect content online and moderate information flows

Submissions

Abstracts of a maximum of 750 words should be emailed to Maria Eriksson (maria.c.eriksson@umu.se) and Guillaume Heuguet (guillaume.heuguet@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr) no later than 1 August 2019. Notification about acceptance to submit an article will be sent out by 1 September 2019. Authors of accepted abstracts are invited to submit an article by 1 February 2020. Final versions of articles are asked to keep within a 6,000 word limit. Please note that acceptance of abstract does not ensure final publication as all articles must go through the journal’s usual review process.

Time schedule

• 1 August 2019: due date for abstracts
• 1 September 2019: notification of acceptance
• 1 February 2020: accepted articles to be submitted for review
• Feb-April 2020: review process and revisions

About the guest-editors

Guillaume Heuguet defended a dissertation in 2018 on music and media capitalism based on a longitudinal analysis of YouTube’s strategy and products, including its Content ID system (to be published by the French National Archives in 2019). He is currently an associated researcher at GRIPIC (Sorbonne Université) and Irmeccen (Sorbonne Nouvelle). He runs the music journal Audimat and has edited a forthcoming book entitled Anthology of Popular Music Studies in French (Philharmonie de Paris, 2019).

Maria Eriksson is a doctoral candidate in media studies at Umeå University, Sweden who is currently spending time as a visiting scholar at the department of arts, media and philosophy at Basel University in Switzerland. She has a background in social anthropology and her main research interests concern the politics of software and the role of algorithms in managing the logistics and distribution of cultural content online. She is one of the co-authors of the book Spotify Teardown: Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music (MIT Press, 2019) and has previously co-edited special issues in journals such as Culture Unbound.

Link to the online version of the call for papers: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/internet-histories-genealogies-online-content-identification/?utm_source=CPB_think&utm_medium=cms&utm_campaign=JOD09539

More information on Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rint20.

University of Fribourg

Deadline: September 30, 2019

The University of Fribourg’s Department of Communication and Media Research DCM is dedicated to research and teaching in the field of communication and media studies that ad- heres to the highest international standards. Researchers at the department cover research fields ranging from political communication, journalism, communication management, to communication history, business communication and new media, media systems and media effects.

A fund raised by the department’s founding fathers Dr. Max Gressly and Dr. Florian Fleck allows the DCM to offer an INTERNATIONAL VISITING SCHOLARSHIP for post-doctoral researchers and non-tenured professors. As a trilingual institution (French, German, English) the University of Fribourg provides a truly international research environment with plenty of opportunities to share ideas. Moreover, visiting scholars can benefit from enriching research opportunities in Switzerland. The remuneration consists of CHF 5.000, permitting a stay of two to three months. Visiting scholars will have the chance to collaborate with established scholars and to contribute to academic discussions at the department.

The scholarship addresses young internationally-orientated scholars who are on a research or a sabbatical leave. The quality of the applicants should be demonstrated by publications in international peer-reviewed journals or by promising ongoing research projects. Priority will be given to applicants from outside of Switzerland focusing on research projects which correspond to the research interests at the DCM.

Applicants are requested to submit a letter of application, a statement outlining their research plans and their motivations, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications (with the most significant publications highlighted), copies of degree certificate(s) and an academic letter of recommendation.

Deadline for applications: September 30, 2019

Please send applications by email to: anne-marie.carrel@unifr.ch

For additional information, please contact the President of the Department of Communication and Media Research, Prof. Dr. Regula Hänggli (regula.haenggli@unifr.ch) or Anne-Marie Carrel (administrative assistant; anne-marie.carrel@unifr.ch).

As Specialty Chief Editors of the Frontiers in Communication ‘Political Communication Section’, we are inviting applications for the role of Associate Editor.

The Political Communication section fosters boundary breaking, interdisciplinary and innovative scholarship, both theoretical and empirical, that helps expand and deepen our understanding of the interactions between social, political and communication processes.

Further details can be found below this email. The Political Communication Section was established a year ago, is developing well, and we are now in a position to expand our range of Associate Editors. Frontiers Associate Editors are high impact researchers and recognized leaders in their field, with a strong publication record in international, peer-reviewed journals and with a recognized affiliation. They are typically associate professor level or higher, or an equivalent position of equal standing in their field. (see below for more details regarding role).

Associate Editors are also encouraged to submit their own inaugural articles and develop a ‘Research Topic’ reflecting their own research interests. Research Topics work as a kind of open-ended special issue, allowing the development of a substantial body of articles focused on a key research area.

If you are interested, please contact us with brief CV and we will be delighted to consider your suitability for an Associate Editor role.

Please email us at Piers.robinson@propagandastudies.ac.uk and/or d.miller@bristol.ac.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Dr Piers Robinson and Professor David Miller, Speciality Section Chief Editors ‘Political Communication’, Frontiers in Communication

Piers.robinson@propagandastudies.ac.uk d.miller@bristol.ac.uk

Special Section Political Communication: Scope

In the age of ubiquitous internet-based digital communication and substantial economic, social and political upheavals, understanding the relationships between political change and communication processes is essential to understanding, explaining and evaluating the world around us, as well as attempting to change it.

The Political Communication section fosters boundary breaking, interdisciplinary and innovative scholarship, both theoretical and empirical, that helps expand and deepen our understanding of the interactions between social, political and communication processes. Its¨express goal is to enable critical and progressive research, which challenges orthodoxies and expands intellectual inquiry by moving thinking beyond existing paradigms, ideological boundaries and status quo orientated research agendas.

This section draws particularly on the fields of media and communication studies, political science / international relations and sociology. It will provide space for scholars that explore the relationship between communication and class, race, gender and sexual identity, as well as how these intersect with government (at any level), the nation state, imperialism, international relations, corporate/capitalist power and indeed the activities of social movements – from both above and below.

Our reach is genuinely global and seeks to address issues surrounding political communication and major issues including conflict, inequality and environmental crisis and their consequences in all parts of the world. We encourage all forms of critical and progressive political communication scholarship especially that which helps to expand the boundaries of existing mainstream political communication research.

We welcome ground-breaking scholarship in the following areas:

• the role of propaganda, persuasion and influence activities and their impact upon democracy;

• progressive normative theory which seeks better ethically grounded approaches to persuasion and influence;

• the role of communication in policy and political processes both via¨mass media and through direct communications – specifically through¨examinations of lobbying and associated processes;

• the politics and sociology of science, health and environmental¨communications and their interactions with expertise;

• the role of communication in social movements and the communicative and strategic activities of social movements;

• news media coverage of political affairs with a focus on identifying and explaining media performance and its relationship to power and the exercise of power;

• the impact of new media technologies, including the internet, social media and independent/alternative media on the public sphere, both at national and global levels;

• the political economies of media industries;
• political-economic and empirical work on marketing, advertising and related communicative industries, including on consumerism;

• progressive normative theory which seeks to improve political journalism and the capacity of news media industries to facilitate democracy;

• strategies to improve both media literacy amongst publics, in particular developing critical awareness of media bias and propaganda activities;

• considerations of methods in researching and analysing political communications processes and indeed how communication intersects with the material, the real and with extra-communicative / discursive actions and activities.

Associate Editor Role:

Associate Editors make an initial assessment to ensure a manuscript fits within the scope of the specialty and is scientifically robust. They invite reviewers and directly oversee the interaction between the reviewers and Authors during the collaborative peer-review process.

Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, and ensuring all quality, validity and ethical standards have been met, Associate Editors make the final decision on acceptance or recommend a manuscript for rejection to the Specialty Chief Editors.

Deadline: September 15, 2019

From news and documentaries to TV drama and major media franchises, science has become a firm fixture in contemporary media culture. Across these diverse formats, a fascination with the perceived capacity of science – whether in the guise of medicine, criminology, space science or engineering – to transform life in wonderful and fearful ways endures. The figure of the scientist is science made manifest and, though different variants have evolved over the centuries, the scientist has remained a constant presence in Western culture. The last hundred years or so has seen many developments in science and technology and popular culture has kept abreast of these, portraying scientists that respond to the shifting hopes and fears of eager audiences. Science fiction may work variously to celebrate or denigrate scientific values and activities and many horror fictions have explored the ramifications of dabbling in science and technology. Moreover, the recent flourishing of superhero narratives has meant a strong focus on such characters and scenarios. The imaginary feats and failures, as well as the cultural prominence, of scientists have attained ever-greater heights as a result. Science and scientists have also flourished in other genres, such as forensic drama, police procedurals and true crime narratives, found their way into children’s fictions, and into comedy.

Acknowledging the long and enduring history of fictional scientists, including adaptations and re-imaginings, this planned essay collection seeks to offer critical interrogations of recent portrayals of the scientist as well as fresh insights into long-established characters.

Scientists have featured on the big screen from the early days of cinema and held their own on the small for decades, from network television staples and lavish HBO offerings to recent fare on streaming services like Netflix. With this tradition in mind, suggested case studies might include, though are not limited to, the following texts:

Films:

/Annihilation /(2018); /Back to the Future/ (1985); /Contact/ (1997); /Deep Blue Sea /(1999); /Despicable Me/ (2010); /The Fly/ (1958),/The Fly/ (1986); /Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde/ (1931); /Frankenstein/,//etc (Universal), /Curse of/ /Frankenstein/, etc (Hammer), /I, Frankenstein/(2014); /Godzilla/ (1998), /Godzilla/ (2014); /Hollow Man/ (2000); /Honey, I Shrunk the Kids /(1989); /I Am Legend/ (2007); /The Invisible Man/ (1933); /Island of Lost Souls /(1932), /The Island of Dr. Moreau/ (1977), /The Island of Dr. Moreau/ (1996); /Jurassic Park /(1993), etc; /The Man with Two Brains/ (1983); /The Martian/ (2015); MCU (/Black Panther/, /Deadpool/, /The Hulk/, /Iron Man/, /Spider-Man/, /Venom/,//etc); /Mimic/ (1997); /The Nutty Professor/ (1996); /The Omega Man/ (1971); /Outbreak /(1995); /Piranha/ (1978); /Re-Animator /(1985); /Splice/ (2009); /World War Z /(2013); /Young Frankenstein/ (1974); /28 Days Later/ (2002), plus any prequels, sequels and other franchise entries.

TV:

/The Alienist/; /American Horror Story/; /The Big Bang Theory/; /Bones/; /Chernobyl/; /CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY/,/ CSI: Cyber/; /Dexter/; /Doctor Who/; /The Flash/; /Futurama/; /Game of Thrones/; /Hannibal/; /The O.A./; /Penny Dreadful/; /Rick and Morty/; /Ripper Street/; /Sherlock/; /Silent Witness/; /The Strain/; /Stranger Things/; /Waking the Dead/; /The Walking Dead/; /Westworld/, plus any spin-offs and other franchise entries.

Potential topics might include: issues of representation (e.g. age, childhood, gender, race, sexuality); genre (e.g. detective fiction, forensic drama, medical drama, police procedurals); Gothic and horror tropes; the role of the scientist in environmental catastrophes and outbreaks; national identity and history; science and ideology (inc. philosophy, politics, religion, scientism); science in partnership (e.g. business, Government, military, etc)

Advice for Contributors

Please send 250 word abstracts, along with a short bio, to Rebecca.Janicker@port.ac.uk by September 15, 2019. Abstracts should aim to clarify the intended scope and focus of the essay and include a provisional title. Queries are welcome at the same email address.

Publishers have been contacted about the project and abstracts will form part of the written proposal. The final essays will be scholarly and engaging and 7000–8000 words in total.

About the Editor

Rebecca Janicker is a Senior Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at the University of Portsmouth, UK. She received her PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2014 and had her thesis published as /The Literary Haunted House: Lovecraft, Matheson, King and the Horror in Between/ (McFarland, 2015). She is the editor of /Reading ‘American Horror Story’: Essays on the Television Franchise /(McFarland, 2017) and has published journal articles and book chapters on Gothic and horror in literature and comics, film and TV.

September 17, 2019

Department of Theatre, Film & Television, University of York

Deadline: June 28, 2019

Keynotes

• Professor Martin Barker (Aberystwyth University)
• Dr Kirsty Sedgman (University of Bristol)

Audience research is a growing area in many diverse areas of study, from film, television and theatre to music, communications media and gaming. As a developing and inherently interdisciplinary area of academic study, the methodological components of audience research are constantly evolving, inviting innovative approaches to methodologies. This form of research is notoriously demanding, presenting ethical, epistemological and practical issues that need to be considered before any research can begin to take place. Given both the fast-moving and demanding nature of audience research, it is therefore more than usually suited to input and support from cross-disciplinary researchers, who can share their own experiences and practices. However, whilst collaboration within subject areas is more common, there is little opportunity for researchers working with audiences from different cultural practices to come together and share their practice and experiences.

This one-day conference will bring together academics and researchers from across the disciplines of film and television, media and communications, theatre and performance studies to present their research approaches and share their processes and their experiences. The organisers invite people working in the area of audience research in any field to submit proposals for 20 minute papers, or other forms of presentation. We strongly encourage proposals from postgraduate researchers and early career researchers; however, all are welcome to apply. Presentations on any form of audience research are welcome, but a particular focus on methodological issues or innovations is encouraged.

Subjects for proposals may include the following topics (although all aspects of audience research will be considered):

• Considerations of how audiences find meaning in the works that they see, and the relationship this has to the intended meaning of the producer.

• Marginalised or under-researched audiences and the ways in which their feedback might challenge hegemonic ideas about cultural products and audience reception.

• The reception of specific art forms or genres and audience expectations of these.

• Cultural differences in the reception of the same product.
• Artist and audience communication, and ways in which audiences can feed into the creative process

• The place of cultural intermediaries in shaping audience experience. Reflections on collaborative audience research, considering the role of partners and gatekeepers, means of knowledge exchange and collaborative learning.

• Innovative or emerging audience research methodologies, and how we can make our research accessible and meaningful to participants

• How audience research might better drive sectoral change and impact on arts, culture and creative industries policy

Proposals should be no more than 300 words, accompanied by an author biography of no more than 100 words. In order to allow us to make the event as inclusive as possible, we would encourage potential presenters to inform us of any particular access requirements they might have, as well as any specific AV requirements they require for their presentation. Please send proposals or any enquiries to Shelley Anne Galpin (sag534@york.ac.uk ) and Emma McDowell (pcelmd@leeds.ac.uk ).

The closing date for proposals is Friday 28th June 2019. Contributors will be notified by mid-July.

Registration will open June 2019 and is £40 (£25 for early bird registration by Friday 16th August). We are able to offer bursaries of £30 to a limited number of PGRs / unwaged researchers as a contribution towards travel costs. We also encourage anyone with specific access needs to get in touch with the conference organisers, to ensure we are able to make the event as inclusive and accessible as possible.

For more details on any of the information above, or anything else to do with the conference, do get in touch with Shelley Anne Galpin (sag534@york.ac.uk ) and/or Emma McDowell (pcelmd@leeds.ac.uk ).

Follow the conference on Twitter: @across_audience

This conference is organised by Shelley Anne Galpin (University of York) and Emma McDowell (University of Leeds) and is funded generously by the White Rose College of Arts & Humanities (WRoCAH) as a Student Led Forum, the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the University of York.

Studies in World Cinema: A Critical Journal/ offers a platform to examine, rethink and reinvent the notion of “world cinema”. What do we understand by “world cinema”, and how useful or enabling is this term? Taking the world as a space of signification in which we continually reproduce its meanings, this journal opens up inquiries about films and cinematic practices that engender novel senses of the world.

The journal welcomes research on traveling cinematic tropes, transnational practices, remakes and adaptations, translation cultures, migrant and diasporic films and film cultures, postcolonial and accented cinemas, collaborations and exchanges among filmmakers, co-productions and multinational filmmaking practices and networks, and early cinematic practices. Together we aim to develop a fruitful and more enriching understanding of our world cinema.

The first two issues of the journal will be dedicated to exploring broader issues in the field of world cinema. Special attention will be given to qualifying the notion of “world cinema” and to its historical transformations and contemporary renderings. In addition to papers touching on a myriad of issues in relation to world cinema(s), cinemas of different countries and regions and/or periods, we would be particularly interested in papers touching on the following subjects:

- the ontology and meaning(s) of world cinema

- the history and transformation of the notion of world cinema

- renderings of the world in cinema and other screen media

- alternatives to world cinema: global or international cinema

- the relationship between world cinema and transnational cinemas

- the senses of the world as an expanding process of peoples and cinemas

- the discourses of difference and power relations in world cinemas

- separations of the world and cinemas (north-south, center-periphery, developed-developing, west-rest, first, second, third, and fourth)

- films which question or touch on any of the above topics

- novel cinematic practices in relation to world television and online and social media

The journal’s inaugural issue will be published in 2020, with two issues

per year.

https://brill.com/view/journals/swc/swc-overview.xml

Editor-in-chief

Savas Arslan, Bahçeşehir University, Turkey

Associate Editors

Ana Grgić, Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia

Olivia Khoo, Monash University, Australia

Jeremi Szaniawski, Emerson College, the Netherlands

Managing Editor

Emily Coolidge Toker, Harvard University, USA

Editorial Board

Dudley Andrew, Yale University, USA

Daniela Berghahn, Royal Holloway University of London, UK

Christine Gledhill, University of Leeds, UK

Dina Iordanova, University of St. Andrews, UK

Eva Jørholt, Copenhagen University, Denmark

Hamid Naficy, Northwestern University, USA

Richard Peña, Columbia University, USA

January 30-31, 2020

USI Università Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

Deadline: September 23, 2019

The term “myth” resonates widely in the foundations of European cultural and media studies, particularly in the intellectual legacy of French semiotician Roland Barthes, who described “modern mythologies” as the dominant ideologies of our time (Barthes 1957). More recently, Vincent¨Mosco emphasised how, in the last decades, the myth of the digital revolution still animates individuals and societies by providing new paths “that lift people out of the banality of everyday life” (Mosco 2004, 3). Little attention, however, has been given to the question of what makes myths of the digital age different to mythologies of the past, and also how and to which extent these myths permeate contemporary societies. This is an important gap if one considers that myths have characterised the most diverse cultures across thousands of years, from ancient Greece with its narratives of gods and metamorphosis, to contemporary Silicon Valley in which the myth of singularity envisions transcendence and immortality as the result of the development of digital technologies.

As recently suggested by Ortoleva (2019), one way to look at this question is to consider how digital technologies have become both the subject of new forms of myths and the medium through which contemporary mythologies are shaped and disseminated. The aim of this conference is to critically scrutinize the topic of “digital myths” from this twofold perspective: on the one hand, retracing the narratives by which digital media are and have been told, from the enthusiasms about the ‘digital revolution’ to the recent panics about the Dark Web, online surveillance and fake news; on the other, looking at how new forms of mythologies emerge, co-evolve and are fostered by and within the contemporary media landscape, informed by the peculiar dynamics of digital communication.

The conference invites empirical and theoretical contributions that critically assess “digital myths” from one or both these angles.

Potential topics may include but are not limited to:

- Predictions and vision about digital futures

- The time and temporalities of digital myths

- The spaces and geographies of digital myths

- The myth of a globally connected society in the digital age

- Digital networks and democracy: threat and promises

- The myth of the “digital revolution”

- The role of digital media and social media in the construction of the social imaginary

- Urban legends and popular beliefs in the digital age.

- Community, participation, interactivity as myths of the “digital society”

- Platformization and the logic of digital media platforms

- Digital media and moral panic

- Media and myths from a media archaeology perspective

- “Low intensity myths” in the contemporary media system

- Media representations of digital technologies

- Myths on the analogue/digital transition

Confirmed keynote speakers:Peppino Ortoleva (University of Turin)

Organisational board:

• Gabriele Balbi (USI, Switzerland)
• Luca Barra (University of Bologna, Italy)
• Paolo Bory (USI, Switzerland), Simone
• Dotto (University of Udine, Italy)
• Giuliana Galvagno (University of Turin, Italy)
• Simone Natale (Loughborough University, UK)

Submissions should include an abstract (approximately 500 words), a short biographical note of the author/authors (100 words for each speaker) and should be sent to rethinkingdigitalmyths@gmail.com by September 23, 2019.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent to authors by October 7, 2019.

A 200 Chf (approx. 200 USD - 180 euros) registration fee will be applied (lunches and coffee breaks included).

Special Issue of the Journal Communication, Capitalism & Critique 2019-06-26, , edited by Christian Fuchs

Deadline: July 15, 2019

tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique is a Marxist journal of media and communication studies. Its special issue “Digital/Communicative Socialism” asks: What is digital/communicative socialism? The special issue will publish peer-reviewed contributions that explore perspectives on digital/communicative socialism in respect to theory, dialectics, history, internationalism, praxis, and class struggles.

Marx and Engels saw socialism as the movement for a society that is based on the principles of equality, justice, and solidarity. They distinguish different types of socialism, of which communism is one, whereas reactionary socialism, bourgeois socialism, and critical-utopian socialism are others. Rosa Luxemburg summarises the history of socialism: 

“Socialism goes back for thousands of years, as the ideal of a social order based on equality and the brotherhood of man, the ideal of a communistic society. With the first apostles of Christianity, various religious sects of the Middle Ages, and in the German peasants’ war, the socialist idea always glistened as the most radical expression of rage against the existing society. […] It was in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century that the socialist idea first appeared with vigor and force […] the socialist idea was placed on a completely new footing by Marx and Engels. These two sought the basis for socialism not in moral repugnance towards the existing social order nor in cooking up all kinds of possible attractive and seductive projects, designed to smuggle in social equality within the present state. They turned to the investigation of the economic relationships of present-day society”. 

Marx and Engels argue that socialism is grounded in the antagonistic class structure of capitalism that pits workers against capitalists. In the 19th century, the socialist movement experienced a split between reformist revisionists and revolutionary socialists. After the First World War, the Communist International and the Labour and Socialist International were created. After the collapse of the Second International, there was an institutional distinction between Socialists and Communists. Whereas reformism dominated the Socialist International, Stalinism became dominant in the Communist International. The notion of “socialism” became associated with social democratic parties and the notion of “communism” with communist parties. From a historical point of view, both Stalinism and revisionist social democracy have failed.

With the rise of neoliberalism, social democracy turned towards the right and increasingly adopted neoliberal policies. When Tony Blair became British Prime Minster in 1997, his neoliberal version of social democracy influenced social democracy around the world. The crisis of capitalism and the emergence of new versions of socialist politics (Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Podemos, Syriza, etc.) has reinvigorated the debate about socialism today. 

tripleC’s special issue explores perspectives on the digital and communicative dimensions of socialism today.

In the intellectual realm, the socialist debate has e.g. resulted in the vision of the renewal of a class-struggle social democracy (by Jacobin-editor Bhaskar Sunkara in the book The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in An Era of Extreme Inequality) or the vision of fully-automated luxury communism (formulated by Novara Media’s Aaron Bastani in the book Fully Automated Luxury Communism). Such contributions show that for a renewal of socialism, we need intellectual and theoretical foundations that inform class struggles in digital/communicative capitalism. There were earlier contributions to the discussion of computing and socialism, such as André Gorz’s notion of post-industrial socialism, Radovan Richta’s work on the role of the scientific and technological revolution for democratic communism, Autonomist Marxism’s readings of Marx’s “Fragment of Machines”, Fernando Flores’ and Stafford Beer’s roles in Chile’s Project Cybersyn during the Allende presidency, Norbert Wiener’s and Joseph Weizenbaum’s reflections on a humanistic instead of an imperialistic and instrumental use of cybernetics and computing, etc. 

The special issue seeks contributions that address one or more of the following questions:

Theory: 

What is socialism today? What are the communicative and digital dimensions of socialism today? What is communicative/digital socialism? What theoretical approaches and concepts are best-suited for understanding digital/communicative socialism today? Does it or does it not make sense to distinguish between digital/communicative socialism and digital/communicative communism? Why or why not?

Dialectic: 

What are the contradictions of digital capitalism? How does digital/communicative socialism differ from and contradict digital/communicative capitalism?

History: 

What lessons can we draw from the history of socialism, communism, social democracy and Marxist theory for the conceptualisation and praxis of digital/communicative socialism today?

Internationalism: 

Socialism is a universalist and internationalist movement. What are the international(ist), global dimensions of digital/communicative socialism today?

Praxis and class struggles: 

What strategies, demands and struggles are important for digital/communicative socialism? How can socialism today best be communicated in public? What class struggles are there in the context of communication and computing? What are the roles of communication and digital technologies in contemporary class struggles for socialism? What is the role of social movements, the party and trade unions in the organisation and self-organisation of digital and communication workers’ class struggles for socialism? How should socialist class politics, unions and strikes look like today so that they adequately reflect changes of the working class and exploitation in the age of digital capitalism? What is a digital strike and what are its potentials for digital socialism? 

Submission

Abstracts can be submitted per e-mail to christian.fuchs@triple-c.at, using the form published at https://triple-c.at/files/journals/1/CfP_Form_Socialism.docx

Please do not make submissions that omit a completed form.

Submission deadline is Monday, July 15, 2019. 

Feedback on acceptance/rejection will be provided at latest until July 31, 2019.

The deadline for the submission of accepted papers is October 13, 2019. The maximum length of full papers is 8,000 words. Articles should in the first stage of submission (October 13) not be longer than 7,000 words so that there is space for additions as part of the revision process. 

All accepted articles will be peer-reviewed and published in a special issue of tripleC. 

The special issue will be published open access. There are no APCs.

September 10, 2019 

National University of Ireland, Galway 

Deadline: July 1, 2019

Free Event 

Punk Scholars Network invites proposals for presentations as part of  our postgraduate symposium on subcultures and aesthetics at National  University of Ireland, Galway. This symposium will explore how  subcultures connect to aesthetics and create what Pierre Bourdieu calls  the space of possibles, a space for radical politics to be formed  through the means of artistic productions. From do-it-yourself methods  of street art to the shock-effect of Dadaist and punk attitudes in  different time-places, the close relationship between subcultures and  aesthetics continues to reflect the turbulences of our political  atmosphere. From music and literature to cinema and other art forms,  this symposium will offer a platform for postgraduate students who wish  to share their research, explore critical approaches and analyse the  complexities of the relationship between subcultures and aesthetics. 

This is also a great opportunity for those of you who would like to  bring academic research and subcultural environments together, share the  potential contradictions that may arise from this togetherness and  explore alternative research methods. Representatives of the Punk  Scholars Network have kindly agreed to attend the symposium as panel  discussants. 

We invite proposals from international researchers representing diverse  backgrounds and academic disciplines, including urban studies, cultural  studies, media studies, literary studies, film studies, queer studies,  musicology, sociology, arts and history. We also welcome proposals of  alternative forms of presentation or performance relating to the  symposium’s themes. 

Topics of interest for submission include but are not limited to: 

• Global and local subcultural scenes 
• The role of subcultures in cultural studies 
• Critical perspectives on subcultural productions 
• Music scenes, art collectives, film clubs and other collective spaces 
• Low-budget, DIY and alternative forms of art-making 
• The current state of punk discourse in academia 
• Histories of subcultures, nostalgia and collective memory 
• Punk as a discipline / Punk as a subculture 
• The politics of race and gender in subcultural environments 
• Junk and pulp fiction, thrash, cult, experimental and underground cinemas 

Keynotes by representatives of the Punk Scholars Network 

Proposals for papers should be approximately 300 words in length and 

should be sent to *t.gurbuz1@nuigalway.ie  no later than 1 July 2019 with a  short biography.