ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Bournemouth University

Deadline: June 30, 2019 (midnight)

Click here to apply.

Salary: Starting salary from £34,189 – £39,609 per annum with further progression opportunities to £43,267

Please quote reference: FMC164

Bournemouth University’s vision is worldwide recognition as a leading university for inspiring learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society through the fusion of education, research and practice. Our highly skilled and creative workforce is comprised of individuals drawn from a broad cross section of the globe, who reflect a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives and experiences that help to build our global learning community.

The Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University is one of the largest of its kind in the world and has a global reputation for combining research and teaching practice. The Faculty has an enviable reputation for media production and has developed a popular and successful suite of media production programmes at both undergraduate and post graduate levels

As a Lecturer in Cross Platform Media, you will be able to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the contemporary cross platform media landscape, as well as an industry realistic understanding of the skills needed by the next generation of content makers.

Enthusiastic about active and student-centred pedagogy, you will contribute to education delivery, including programme management as required, across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

You will also make a significant contribution to employability and help to further enhance the department’s professional networks.

You will be qualified to Doctorate level or be able to demonstrate the ability to create and disseminate knowledge at an equivalent level and the capability to convert this knowledge into a doctorate in a maximum of 3-5 years from the date of appointment. You will be research active and committed to a culture of academic excellence and continuous improvement.

Applications are especially welcome from those with professional experience in platform spanning media production, as are applications from individuals with experience of project management and working to client briefs.

For further information and discussion or the opportunity for an informal visit, please contact Dr Ashley Woodfall, Acting Head of Department – Media Production by email at awoodfall@bournemouth.ac.uk.

BU values and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We seek a diverse community through attracting, developing and retaining staff from different backgrounds to contribute to inspirational learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society. To support and enable our staff to achieve a balance between work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Bournemouth University

Deadline: June 30, 2019, midnight

Apply here

Key information

Salary:

Starting salary from £34,189 – £39,609 per annum with further progression opportunities to £43,267

Please quote reference: FMC161

Bournemouth University’s vision is worldwide recognition as a leading university for inspiring learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society through the fusion of education, research and practice. Our highly skilled and creative workforce is comprised of individuals drawn from a broad cross section of the globe, who reflect a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives and experiences that help to build our global learning community.

The Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University is one of the largest of its kind in the world and has a global reputation for combining research and teaching practice. The Faculty has an enviable reputation for media production and has developed a popular and successful suite of media production programmes at both undergraduate and post graduate levels

As a Lecturer in Film & Television, you will be able to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of film/television/media theory.

With a broad understanding of contemporary issues relevant to film/TV/professional broadcast media you will be able to enthuse the next generation of makers in to becoming critical and reflective thinkers.

You will be enthusiastic about active and student-centred pedagogy, and contribute to innovative education delivery, including programme management as required, across the range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

You will be qualified to Doctorate level or be able to demonstrate the ability to create and disseminate knowledge at an equivalent level and the capability to convert this knowledge into a doctorate in a maximum of 3-5 years from the date of appointment. You will be research active and committed to a culture of academic excellence and continuous improvement.

Applications are welcome from those with experience of working in ‘flipped’/blended learning environments, as are those from individuals with experience in working with students on practice-based research and scholarship.

For further information and discussion or the opportunity for an informal visit, please contact Dr Ashley Woodfall, Acting Head of Department – Media Production by email at awoodfall@bournemouth.ac.uk.

BU values and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We seek a diverse community through attracting, developing and retaining staff from different backgrounds to contribute to inspirational learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society. To support and enable our staff to achieve a balance between work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Worldwide Web Foundation (Jakarta, London, Washington DC)

Deadline: June 21, 2019

Department: Research

Contract: Full-time

Reports to: Research Director

Location: Preferably working from one of the Web Foundation offices in Jakarta, London, or Washington DC. Can also be based in other countries in Asia, Africa or Latin America and the Caribbean. Some travel involved.

Direct reports: None

Key Relationships: Research team; Policy, Communications, and A4AI teams. External partners

Send your CV and a cover letter to jobs@webfoundation.org, including ‘Research Manager’ in the subject line.

Role Overview

Work on the Web Foundation’s research agenda across all its programs, with a specific focus on those relating to digital rights and empowerment, and gender. This involves leading and supporting the development of world class research products for targeted policy and general audiences. These will draw on a range of approaches including feminist and qualitative research methods, while exceeding WF research quality and ethical standards.

Support the development and implementation of research that will influence policy change to advance the strategic goals of the Web Foundation and all its programmes, with a focus on the Foundation’s vision, mission, strategy and deliverables.

Work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural team, and contribute to activities across the Foundation in support of our mission to achieve digital equality for everyone everywhere.

Accountabilities

Research

Time: 50 %

Contribute to local, regional and global research that supports the Web Foundation’s policy advocacy and campaign goals by:

• Designing, developing and managing cross-cutting research activities on digital rights and gender policy problems;
• Writing up research products;
• Managing the development of flagship Web Foundation research products;
• Provide expertise of qualitative and feminist research methods for research design across the Foundation.
• Identifying areas for further research particularly around the intersection of gender and digital rights;

Research Coordination

Time: 30 %

• Support the Research Director in relations with research partners;
• Managing the development of research products with external partners and consultants;
• Work closely with other team members to support project management of research products.

Communication, network and community building

Time: 15%

• Presenting Web Foundation research at conferences, discussion forums, and meetings;
• Building profile and thought leadership through public speaking and writing & ensuring relevant work is represented in key spaces for research dissemination;
• Engaging with the global research community identifying key opportunities to champion and further WF’s research specifically;

Organizational development

Time: 5 %

• Lead on cultivating and following through cross-programme synergies with partners.
• Contribute to the overall success of the Web Foundation by taking an active part in the development of corporate strategies, positions, plans and team culture.

ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATIONS

Education & Certifications

• Education to Masters level preferred; with a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience, including experience working with civil society and/or research organizations.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and Attributes

Knowledge areas:

• Digital rights and related fields (e.g., data protection, online privacy, online surveillance, data governance, open data, human rights and the internet, etc.).
• Gender equality and ICTs (e.g., online GBV, gender digital divide, gender-responsive ICT policies, women in STEM, etc.).

General research skills:

• At least three years of experience producing policy research products (e.g., policy briefs, short reports, blogs, etc.) including publications for diverse audiences.
• Expertise using feminist research methods including the use of qualitative methods for both data collection and analysis.
• Project management skills and experience - including large multi-country projects.
• Ability to use Web-based tools for creating, sharing, and collaborating on work.
• Knowledge of, and background in gender studies or feminist research.

Communication and team skills:

• Proven expertise in communicating complex, research-based technical issues to diverse audiences.
• Ability to work as part of a distributed team and to work independently in a startup-like environment, meeting tight deadlines and multiple priorities with minimal supervision;
• Sensitive to different cultural and social contexts, able to collaborate successfully with people from many different cultures and countries;
• Professional English language proficiency.
• Excellent writing and analysis skills.
• Ability to travel internationally (a few times per year).

Desirable Knowledge and Experience

• Experience working in a policy advocacy organization;
• Experience in academia in a research position;
• Specific experience working on policy research in low and middle income countries;
• Knowledge of, and background in international development;
• Work experience in Latin American and the Caribbean, Africa, or Asia.
• Familiarity with blogging and social media;
• Ability to apply monitoring and evaluation techniques;
• Fluency in one major world language in addition to English;
• Public communication and speaking skills, comfortable speaking in front of large audiences.
• Quantitative research skills, including use of spreadsheets and statistical software.

Loughborough University, Online Civic Culture Centre

Deadline: July 3, 2019

• Qualification Type: PhD
• Location: Loughborough
• Funding for: UK Students, EU Students, International Students
• Funding amount: £15,009
• Hours: Full Time
• Placed On: 31st May 2019
• Closes: 3rd July 2019
• Reference: OCC19-P3X

Supervisors:

Primary supervisor: Professor Andrew Chadwick

Secondary supervisors: Dr Martin Sykora, Dr Cristian Vaccari

Intro:

O3C: Improving the Health of Our Online Civic Culture

Established in 2018 with an award from Loughborough University's Adventure Research Programme, the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C) applies concepts and methods from social science and information science to understand the role of social media in shaping our civic culture. Led by Professor Andrew Chadwick it includes a doctoral training programme consisting of a team of ten academic supervisors drawn from the disciplines of communication, information science, social psychology, and sociology. The CDT enables interdisciplinary teams of researchers and PhD students to work together on issues of misinformation, disinformation, and the rise of hate speech and intolerance online. It develops evidence-based knowledge to mitigate the democratically-dysfunctional aspects of social media. It also identifies and promotes the positive civic engagement benefits of social media. For more information visit https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/online-civic-culture-centre/

In the latest UK Research Excellence Framework (2014), Communication and Media at Loughborough was ranked 2nd in the UK for research intensity and is 5th in the world in Communication for influence on scholarly research and debate as measured by citations (QS World University Rankings 2019).

Full Project Detail: Understanding the role of social media in shaping civic culture

We invite applications in any area of O3C’s research foci. For more information please visit the O3C website https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/online-civic-culture-centre

Applicants must prepare a 1500-word research proposal outlining their project.

Find out more: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/online-civic-culture-centre/

Entry requirements: At least a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) by start of project. A Master's degree will be an advantage.

Funding information:

Open to UK/EU and International graduates with backgrounds in relevant disciplines. For UK/EU students the studentship provides a tax free stipend of £15,009 per year for three years and covers tuition fees at the UK/EU rate. International students may apply: in this case the studentship will cover only the International tuition fee only. You will register for 1 October 2019 or 1 January 2020.

Contact details:

Name: Deirdre Lombard, Postgraduate Administrator

Email address: D.Lombard@lboro.ac.uk

Telephone number: +44 (0)1509 223879

How to apply:

Online at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research. Under programme name, select Social Sciences. Clearly mark your application "Online Civic Culture CDT."

Please quote reference number: OCC19-P3X

University of Camberra

Deadline: June 17, 2019

Apply here: http://uctalent.canberra.edu.au/cw/en/job/492863/associate-professorprofessor-in-communication-and-media

Job no: 492863

Work type: Academic

Location: Bruce

Categories: Teaching and Research, Communication and Media

The Faculty of Arts and Design at University of Canberra is a large and diverse faculty offering programs that range from the highly conceptual to the deeply practical. Creativity is at the core of what we do in all our programs. The Faculty invites outstanding academics to join our world class education and research team. Working as part of the innovative Faculty of Arts and Design, you will have the opportunity and be committed to making a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in your profession.

Reporting to the Head of School, Arts and Communication, you will work collaboratively to design, deliver and coordinate an engaging and innovative learning environment. You will also play a key role in the development of active research program, seeking funding, conducting research and producing quality publications. The Associate Professor or Professor will exercise a special responsibility as a high performing researcher and provide strategic direction in teaching and research.

You will be known for your leadership style with high level interpersonal skills as well as a PhD. An outstanding national and international reputation as a leader with an internationally recognised track record of research in the discipline area as evidenced by an extensive range of publications. This position will be offered as either Level D or E depending on academic level of the suitable applicant.

The University is an Equal Opportunity employer offering excellent conditions and benefits such as flexible, family-friendly policies, on site gym, on site medical services, a supermarket and childcare facilities.

The University of Canberra is committed to diversity and social inclusion in its employment practices. Applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disabilities and people from culturally diverse groups are encouraged.

To be considered for this position your application must include your resume demonstrating your skills and experience in line with the key capabilities outlined in the position description.

Working Rights: Applicants who wish to apply for this position should have valid working rights or eligibility to obtain a work visa for Australia.

For job specific information: please contact Dr Glen Fuller, Head of School, Arts and Communication on 6201 2178 or via email Glen.Fuller@canberra.edu.au

Recruitment and application questions: please contact the Recruitment team on 02 6180 8020 or email uctalent@canberra.edu.au

Closing Date: 11.55pm, Monday 17 June 2019

June 18-20, 2020

University of Winchester, UK

Deadline: October 1, 2019

http://celebritystudiesconference.com/

#celebritystudies2020

celebritystudies@gmail.com

Sponsored by the Culture-Media-Text Research Centre, Faculty of Arts, University of Winchester

Routledge and the University of Winchester are delighted to announce Transformations in Celebrity Culture: The Fifth International CelebrityStudies  Journal conference.

Keynote speakers (confirmed):

• Dr. Nandana Bose, FLAME University, India.
• Dr. Anthea Taylor, University of Sydney, Australia.
• Prof. Brenda R. Weber, Indiana University Bloomington, USA.
• Dr. Milly Williamson, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

Celebrity Studies is now a rich, diverse and established field of academic study that focuses on the production, reception, and functions - social, psychological and textual - of a wide range of public figures.

Building on theories of spectacle (Boorstin 1961), histories of fame (Braudy 1986), and studies of stardom (Dyer 1979, 1986; Gledhill 1991; Stacey 1994), the academic study of celebrity was given shape around the turn of the century by a number of seminal books (DeCordova 1990; Gamson 1994; Marshall 1997; Turner, Bonner and Marshall 2000; Giles 2000; Rojek 2001; Turner 2004), readers (Marshall 2006; Redmond and Holmes 2007), and edited collections (Holmes and Redmond 2006; Negra and Holmes 2011).

The last decade has seen the publication of new editions of now-classic books (Turner 2014; Marshall 2014), new histories of celebrity (Inglis 2010; Lilti 2017), and a sustained expansion in myriad exciting directions, including online fame (Marwick 2013), celebrity politics (Wheeler 2013), celebrity and the environment (Brockington 2009), transnational stardom (Meeuf and Raphael 2013), celebrity and ‘race’ (Mask 2009), celebrity feminism (Taylor 2017), celebrity and ageing (Jermyn 2014), celebrity and disability (Howe and Parker 2012), the political economy of celebrity (Williamson 2016), queering celebrity (Halberstam 2013), celebrity and religion (Weber 2019), and literary celebrity (Honings and Franssen 2017), among many others.

Since it first appeared in 2010 under the editorship of Sean Redmond and Su Holmes, the Routledge journal Celebrity Studies has become a key international publication in the field, providing an essential platform for the best new critical scholarship on celebrity and stardom.

Following successful conferences in Melbourne, London, Amsterdam, and Rome, Transformations in Celebrity Culture thus provides the opportunity to both celebrate and take critical stock of the developments that shaped and shook the field during the first 10 years of Celebrity Studies journal, and to look forward into the future. In an era marked by crisis and anxiety, how has our understanding of stardom changed?

What has been the impact of social, political, cultural and economic developments on the cultures of celebrity? Do we discern new, alternative forms of renown?

The conference committee invites abstracts for:

• Individual 20-minute papers
• Pre-constituted panels comprising 3 x 20 minute papers
• Individual short papers for work-in-progress masterclasses (for postgraduates and Early Career Researchers)

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

The celebrity studies canon / Methodologies in celebrity studies / Celebrity and technology / Star and celebrity branding / National, international, and transnational stars / Reality TV and celebrity / Post-network TV celebrity / Microcelebrity / Celebrity Influencers / DIY celebrity / Local celebrity / Celebrity and politics / Celebrity and austerity / Entrepreneurial celebrity / Celebrity and power / Celebrity historiography / Literary celebrity / Sport and celebrity / Music and celebrity / Royalty and other ascribed celebrity / Family dynasties / Celebrity couples / Queer celebrity / Fame damage / Celebrity and affect / Celebrity and gender / Celebrity and genre / Anti-celebrity / The phenomenology of celebrity / Cult stardom and celebrity / Music and celebrity / Charisma and celebrity / Pathology and celebrity / Toxic celebrity / Celebrity and news / Celebrity, sex and sexuality / Illness, disability and celebrity / Celebrity art and artists / Celebrity and class / ‘Race’, ethnicity and celebrity / Celebrity and persona / Video games and celebrity / Extreme celebrity / Celebrity and crime / Celebrity and privacy / Celebrity and pornography / Celebrity and authenticity / Fame in virtual reality / Celebrity and fandoms /Celebrity and memory / Posthumous celebrity / Celebrity pilgrimages

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2019

All enquiries and submissions: celebritystudies@gmail.com

Individual abstracts: 350 words | 50-word biography.

Pre-constituted panel abstracts: 150-word overview | 3 x 350-word abstracts | 3 x 50-word bios | Name of lead contact and panel chair.

ECR Masterclasses (for advanced PhDs or early-stage postdocs): Short outline of work (PhD thesis, chapter, project...) in progress: 150-350 words | 50-word biography | Sessions will include informal discussion, moderated by members of the conference organization team, and sharing of ideas in a safe and constructive environment; feedback will be offered from keynote speakers and relevant senior academics.

Notifications of acceptance: 1 December 2019.

Abstracts should be submitted on Word documents. Please abide by the maximum word limits.

Stipends will be awarded for the most promising abstract and best conference presentation by postgraduate students. Please indicate on your abstract if you wish to be considered for these.

A special issue of the best papers from the conference will be published in Celebrity Studies Journal in 2021.

Organising Committee:

• Neil Ewen, University of Winchester (chair)
• Shelley Cobb, University of Southampton
• Gaston Franssen, University of Amsterdam
• David Giles, University of Winchester
• Hannah Hamad, Cardiff University
• Laura Hubner, University of Winchester
• Erin Meyers, Oakland University
• Sean Redmond, Deakin University
• James Rendell, University of Winchester

January 22-24, 2020

Brussels, Belgium

Deadline: June 16, 2019

Call for Panels: https://www.cpdpconferences.org/call-for-panels

This call for panels is aimed at academic consortia, research projects, think tanks and other research organisations. (Another call, to individuals for academic research papers, will go out towards the end of June 2019).

For the 2020 edition, CPDP takes as its focus one of the most powerful technologies of this century: Artificial Intelligence. Investment and work in AI are accelerating at an unprecedented rate while governments in several countries are swinging into action to regulate AI. What complications does AI add to the already fraught terrain of digital rights? Is the GDPR the panacea for all the legal issues arising in the age of AI? How meaningful is the concept of personal data in the face of systems which work with the logic of identifying hidden trends and behaviour and affect large groups? How can we best address the issues of social justice implicated by AI? Is AI the right framework to discuss the challenges of data-driven technologies? CPDP2020 will serve as a platform to discuss and seek answers to such questions and more. We welcome cutting edge panels in all areas related to technology, privacy and data protection, but particularly invite proposals that fit the general conference theme.

We particularly seek panel proposals addressing the following topics:

• Regulating AI
• AI in law enforcement and/or national security
• AI in the public sector
• Facial recognition and other AI driven video surveillance systems
• AI and sentiment analysis
• Deepfakes, news generators and AI-manipulated media
• AI and gender
• AI bias and discrimination
• AI and social justice
• AI and healthcare
• AI and children’s privacy
• AI personhood and posthuman rights
• Voice-based agents, robots, and social bots

We encourage panels that are well-balanced, multidisciplinary, geographically and gender diverse. We also welcome different types of sessions such as debates, roundtables, workshops and other non-conventional formats. More information about rules for panel composition and submission can be found here.

Please note: chosen institutions, organisations or EU research projects will become CPDP2020 event partners. This implies that the event partner is able to finance all costs of the panel speakers (travel and lodging) in addition to paying a conference contribution of €1200. In return, the event partner will be granted a number of benefits such as logo recognition, conference bag insert and full conference registration for the panelists. Organizations such as nonprofits for whom the panel fee would cause financial hardship can get in touch after submitting their panel proposal.

Panel proposals should be submitted through the online form here. Please fill in the form as completely as possible.

Key Dates

Final panel submission/suggestion: Sunday, 16th June 2019

Notification sent to panel convenors: Monday, 8th July 2019

Panel organisation finalised: Friday, October 18th, 2019

Dates of CPDP 2020: 22nd to 24th January, 2020

Contact

If you have an innovative idea for the set up of a panel or workshop or have any questions regarding potential panel topics, please contact the organisers at info@cpdpconferences.org.

July 3, 2019

Birmingham, UK

The third annual RGS-IBG Digital Geographies Research Group Symposium will be taking place at the University of Birmingham on 3rd July 2019, examining the Geographies of Gaming and VR.

Since Atari released Pong in 1972 the video game industry has evolved rapidly, with an estimated global value of $137.9 billion in 2018 (Newzoo, 2018). Considering the size of the sector and notwithstanding important exceptions (e.g. Ash & Gallacher 2011, Shaw & Sharp 2013), gaming has received surprisingly little attention from geographers. VR, meanwhile, has been periodically hyped as the next big thing in technology for over thirty years. The immersive qualities of VR drive a particularly compelling experience of virtual space, yet VR has been relatively neglected by geographers (although see Hillis, 1996, Fisher and Unwin, 2002). In recent years VR has been boosted by significant investments from tech giants such as Facebook, Sony and Microsoft and is gaining traction in both consumer and professional contexts as a platform for games, socialisation and immersive media.

The programme for this event has now been finalised, and tickets are on sale via our Eventbrite page. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/geographies-of-gaming-and-vr-3rd-annual-digital-geographies-symposium-tickets-58595899914

Please see the details the event below, including information on keynotes, paper sessions and workshops. All are welcome.

• Keynote 1: Sarah Jones (Head of the Birmingham School of Media, Birmingham City University) Storyliving: how presence manifests itself within immersive media
• Keynote 2: John Sear (Software developer and CEO of Museum Games) Engaging publics through gaming technologies
• Keynote 3: Melissa Kagen (Lecturer in Digital Media, Bangor University) Misplaying the map in 80 Days

With papers and workshops from

• Emma Fraser
• Leighton Evans & Michał Rzeszewski
• Victoria Williams
• Clancy Wilmott
• Sally Bushell & James Butler
• Vincent Miller & Gonzalo Garcia
• Gareth W. Young & Oliver Dawkins
• Adam Brown
• Peter Nelson
• Jack Lowe
• Phil Jones
• Sally Bushell

Bursaries are also available to cover travel, accommodation and registration fee. More information here here.

NEW DEADLINE: JUNE 21, 2019

November 1, 2019

New York University, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication

Deadline: June 15, 2019

Website: http://postmanconference.org

Keynote: Neferti X. M. Tadiar, Professor and Chair, Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University

What is coming to pass? How do we experience that which is passing us everyday? From coastal vantages, friends and lovers wish safe passage with the wave of a hand. In the berths of ships, this security is furnished both through documents of passage — visas, tickets, logbooks — as well as the logistics of oceanic travel and maneuvers of the ship.

Yet transversal, identity, and its mediations sometimes run athwart of each other. After failed attempts, user and password meet interface as impasse. Students get caught lolling in the hallway without a pass only to face the fury of administrators. No, safe passage is not guaranteed. It is a matter of strategy and planning. Taking on the clothes, haircuts, language, and gestures of gendered, sexualized, or racialized normativity, we inhabit forms of passing only to reject them in more familiar community.

Saying passage is a matter of survival is to point to both the quotidian and the crisis. One moment, we’re occupying the ethics of sociality. Someone says, “Pass the salt.” And the next, that someone has “passed on”. Passage directs us from one register to another, from one world to another. These are not merely euphemisms. Our rituals and rites of passage move us forward. They are not something we can pass up.

The 2019 Postman Graduate Conference invites graduate students, artists, and independent scholars to submit projects that attend to passage and acts of passing. Recognizing the mobility of the concept, the selection committee welcomes interdisciplinary responses, artist talks, and academic papers which meditate on passing and its possibilities as modes of inquiry and survival.

Possible topics include (but are by no means limited to):

• Temporalities of passage
• Borders, securitization, and migration
• Strategies of trespassing
• The experience and aesthetics of passing
• The materialities and measurements of sensation
• Gendered and/or racialized performativity as "passing"
• Risk, speculation, and logistics
• Blackness and the Middle Passage
• Debility, capacity, and technological mediation
• Surveillance and policing of affect
• Modes of evidence and witnessing
• Biopolitics, necropolitics, sovereignty, and capital
• Forms of political violence
• Rites of passage and passage as religious motif
• The passage and literature
• Translations across languages, ontologies, and epistemologies

Please email submissions to postman.nyu@gmail.com by June 15, 2019. Abstracts should be 250-300 words in length, formatted as Word documents (.doc, .docx), and accompanied by a CV 

November 27-30, 2019

Brussels, Belgium

Deadline (EXTENDED): June 15, 2019

The Université libre de Bruxelles invites submissions for abstracts for papers and panels for the 12th OURMedia Conference to be held 27-30 November in Brussels, Belgium. The deadline has been extended to June 15.

The conference will be held under the general theme ‘Mediactivism – Scholactivism’. We encourage the submission of papers that focus on the (real or imagined) gap between academia and society, exploring how academic scholarship could be useful for (alternative) media (activists) and the myriad ways in which media scholars can be committed to equality, social justice and progressive social change. The general theme ‘Mediactivism – Scholactivism’ refers to how both media practitioners and media scholars, rather than being impartial or partisan, can be ‘committed’ by actively and openly campaigning for particular ideals. As the conference will coincide with the 20th anniversary of Indymedia, we encourage the submission of papers specifically focusing on analysing its legacy, achievements, shortcomings and influence on contemporary (online) media activism.

The confirmed keynote speakers are Dorothy Kidd (University of San Francisco), Des Freedman (Goldsmiths, University of London), Keltoum Belorf (DeWereldMorgen.be) and Vincent Verzat (Partager C'est Sympa).

The conference program committee consists of Amaranta Cornejo Hernandez (Centro de Estudios Superiores de México y Centroamérica), David Domingo (Université libre de Bruxelles), Pieter Maeseele (Universiteit Antwerpen), Dimitra Milioni (Cyprus University), Ana Lucia Nunes de Sousa (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Robin Van Leeckwyck (Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles), Pantelis Vatikiotis (Kadir Has University).

The local organizing committee consists of Roel Coesemans (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), David Domingo (Université libre de Bruxelles), Stijn Joye (Universiteit Gent), Florence Le Cam (Université libre de Bruxelles), Pieter Maeseele (Universiteit Antwerpen), Steve Paulussen (Universiteit Antwerpen), Ike Picone (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Robin Van Leeckwyck (Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles), Victor Wiard (Université libre de Bruxelles; Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles).

Guidelines

We welcome both individual abstracts and panel presentations in English, Spanish, French or Dutch. All proposals must be submitted to ourmedia12@riseup.net. Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words. Panel proposals consist of a panel description (title + framing text) and the individual abstract of each panel member contribution.

We particularly encourage the participation of activists, both scholactivist and mediactivist. A limited number of travel grants is available.

Finally, we strongly encourage travelling by train instead of plane. Moreover, a videoconferencing system will be available to those who are unable to physically attend the conference.

Key themes

• In particular, the conference will focus on four topics:
• Legacy of Indymedia
• Mediactivism
• Scholactivism
• Digital and offline media activism

A special series of sessions will be dedicated to the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Indymedia, by critically approaching its legacy: the Indymedia network was set up in 1999 in London and Seattle (with the WTO protests). Using new technologies of information and communication, activists created online content in parallel to what was broadcasted and reported by traditional media. But what is left of the Indymedia network after its 20th anniversary, and how has it helped in shaping the evolution of (alternative) media? We propose to tackle this theme by asking three questions: (1) How can we explain the decline of Indymedia’s local and regional centers? (2) How has the role of Indymedia evolved over time in the social movements landscape of the regions/countries it is or was present in ? And (3) which influence has the "Indymedia experiment" had on new alternative media initiatives?

Indymedia is a form of Mediactivism, which constitutes the second theme of the conference. We encourage presentations that focus on examples of mediactivism, using online and/or offline tools. Activists’ experiences may foster scholarly discussions that take us beyond the classical division between expressivist (ie citizens’ participation) and counter-hegemonic (ie discourses and form opposed to the mainstream) media. We warmly welcome activists’ testimonies and presentations of current and future projects.

As a specific form of activism, we also put forward the question regarding scholactivism, which is the third theme of the conference. As scholars, how can we be involved in activism? To which extent can we collaborate with traditional or alternative media? How can we express our solidarity with progressive social movements, and more importantly, take inspiration from them and embed our work in their campaigns? Can we be part of the “counter-power”? We ask specific experiences that foster innovative research approaches and question established methodological practices. The goal of the conference is to make a link between mediactivism and scholactivism. How can we foster cooperation between scholars, activists and media-practitioners? How can we justify the social engagement of academia and deactivate the assumption that researchers (and professional journalists) are supposed to have a “neutral point of view”?

Looking at the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street Movement or the Indignados, the anti-TTIP movements or the more recent climate marches, and the influence of Facebook and Twitter on those movements, it may seem that social media are at the core of contemporary counter-hegemonic communication strategies, in the realm of digital activism. This is the fourth theme of the conference. In this regard, social media are not always used by the same kinds of activists. Extremist right-wing political trolls seem to have found online the perfect space to bully professional politics and shape the agenda towards intolerance and hate. Are social media really helping us to structure social movements and effectively changing political power imbalances? Is the political economy of social media being critically discussed and assessed when used? For this crucial discussion, both media practitioners and scholars can exchange experiences and knowledge regarding the effects of social media platforms, their interfaces and algorithmic mechanisms in the hope to gain knowledge on how to use or distance oneself from these online services. Finally, research and debate among scholars today are generally focused on online communication. Is there still a place for offline activism and offline media? How can one develop alternative media without social media, the internet or digital technologies? Are face-to-face discussions and the quite old-fashioned leaflets still useful? We welcome contributions on the offline side of mediactivism.