ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

CMRC Conference in Collaboration with SIMAGINE:

January 8-11, 2020

The Center for Media, Religion, and Culture University of Colorado Boulder

Deadline: June 10, 2019

Confirmed Featured Speakers: Ann Laura Stoler, Catherine Walsh, & Glenn Coulthard

The question of borders and the practice of bordering persist in a world destined for encounters and confrontations. This persistence today bears resemblance to long-standing legacies of coloniality, modernity, and globalization, but it also foregrounds new narratives, aesthetics, and politics of exclusion and dehumanization. Talk of walls, fortresses, boundaries, and deportation has never been a political or philosophical anomaly, but rather a reflection of a particularistic social imaginary, a linear compulsion of epistemic assumptions that sees the world through the logic of hierarchy, classification, difference, and ontological supremacy. This foreclosure is a widely shared and accepted social imaginary, as demonstrated in current scholarship in the critical humanities and social and political sciences: a foreclosure that has also defined institutions and disciplines of knowledge production which continue to marginalize other knowledge systems and intellectual traditions and refuse to acknowledge their viability and legitimacy in the academy. Disciplinary walls and intellectually demarcated canons within the Western and Westernized university in the Global North and South have generally produced narrow curricula and models of learning that reproduce selective systems of thought, discourses and practices.

The tenacity of this normalized worldview requires urgent new imaginaries: a decolonial perspective not only to call out the ontological instability of Western theory, but also to establish a sense of epistemic hospitality capable of liberating and re-centering other ways of knowing and dwelling in the world. This contestation of physical and cognitive borders has found its most ardent proponents in recent movements such as #RhodesMustFall, Standing Rock, Idle No More, Undocumented and Unafraid, #Whyismycurriculumsowhite, Arab Uprisings, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, among others. At the heart of this decolonial injunction is a desire by absented voices to reclaim the right to self-narrate, to signify, and to render visible local histories, other temporalities, subjectivities, cosmologies, and struggles silenced by Western and Westernized accounts of the world.

The fields of art, religion and the media have not yet come under historical scrutiny about their own epistemic and existential imaginaries and whether they reify or disrupt dominant structures and legacies of knowledge production? Drawing from a variety of intellectual traditions and

established academic disciplines, these fields risk carrying the same blind spots, the same foreclosures, the same ontological foundations, and the same centered claims to universality.

What can a decolonial critique then do to avoid a zero-sum epistemology? And how can we develop new decolonial imaginaries as an invitation to undo the Eurocentrism of our paradigms, challenge the verticality of our pedagogical designs, and achieve an ethics of interpretation, an epistemic justice whereby theories from the South or from ‘the margins’ in the North are not treated merely as local or subjective? The decolonial attitude challenges us to avoid embracing singular universalities, and rethink altogether the hierarchies of global-local and of universal-particular that underlie this world’s inequality.

This will be the ninth in a series of successful international conferences held by the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture in Boulder. The previous meetings have brought together an interdisciplinary community of scholars for focused conversations on emerging issues in media and religion. Each has proven to be an important landmark in the development of theory and method in its respective area and has resulted in important collaborations, publications, and resources for further research and dialogue.

The 2020 conference is organized in conjunction with SIMAGINE, an international and interdisciplinary research consortium bringing together partners from the USA, the UK, Europe and South Africa; it is hosted by the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and dedicated to the study of social imaginaries between secularity and religion in a globalizing world. SIMAGINE has organized conferences on ‘Religion, Community, Borders’ leading to a special issue of the open access Journal for Religion and Transformation in December 2019. In 2018 the consortium published the volume Social Imaginaries in a Globalizing World.

The conference will feature keynote lectures and keynote conversations, as well as thematic panels and artistic performances. We invite papers and panels from across disciplines, intellectual traditions, and geographic locations that engage with these questions and beyond. Possible topics could include but are not limited to:

• Borders, Bordering, Border Zones between the Imaginary and the Real
• Modernity, Secularity, Religious Legacies and Universality
• Social Imaginaries and (the Critique of) Anthropocentrism
• Coloniality and Decolonial Epistemologies
• What Counts as Critical Theory and Decolonial Critique?
• What Counts as Religion in the Decolonial Imaginary?
• Big Data, Algorithmic Culture, and (De)Coloniality
• Decolonial Intersectionalities
• Decolonial Feminisms
• Decolonizing Race, Ethnicity, and Identity
• Decolonial Pedagogy, Methodology, and Praxis.
• Media, Religion, and Theoretical Provincialism
• Media, Arts, and Decolonial Theory
• Media, Religion, the Other, and the Subaltern
• Religion, Theology, and Social Imaginaries
• Social Imaginaries and (the Critique) of Neoliberalist Globalization
• Geopolitics of Knowledge Production
• Language, Publishing, and Boundaries of Learning
• Imagination and Worldview Education: Interreligious Dialogue
• Queering the Archives

Abstracts of 300-350 words should be submitted to cmrc@colorado.edu by June 10, 2019.

Please include your email address and university affiliation in your submission.

For questions, email Nabil Echchaibi, Associate Director: nabil.echchaibi@colorado.edu or Stewart M. Hoover, Director: hoover@colorado.edu.

For more information, visit http://cmrc.colorado.edu.

November 6-8, 2019

Oslo, Norway

Deadline: August 15, 2019

The conference will take place in Oslo on November 6, 7 and 8th 2019 in connection with UNESCO’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists  at OsloMet University and The Freedom of Speech Foundation (Fritt Ord) , Norway.                          

The conference is organized jointly with the The Fritt Ord Foundation and with support from The National Commission for UNESCO and the research group Digital Journalism.

Safety for journalists, including digital safety, is a matter of public concern that is wide-ranging. It is vital for those who practice journalism, for their families and for their sources. It  is  essential  for  the  wellbeing  of  media  institutions,  civil  society,  academia  and  the  private sector more broadly. If we value the free flow of information for citizens, their governments and their international organisations, then the safety of journalists is central (Getachew Engida, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO).

Electronic  communications  of  news  media,  critical  bloggers,  and  other  individuals  or  organizations  disseminating  information  have  become  targets.  The danger emanates from various sources ranging from State-based actors to third parties. There is digital surveillance  that  goes  beyond  international  standards  on  privacy  and  freedom  of  expression. There is hacking of data and disruptive attacks on websites and computer systems. More extremely, some media actors are being killed for their online journalism. From 2011-2013, 37 of the 276 killings of journalists condemned by the UNESCO Director General were killings of journalists whose primary platforms were Internet-based. Many, if not most, of the other journalists who were killed also used digital tools in their daily work, which may have exposed them in various ways. (Jennifer R. Henrichsen et.al. Building digital safety for journalism: a survey of selected issues. 2015). 

Journalists need to know more about the dangers of digital attacks such as hacking and surveillance, and should take steps to protect themselves, their sources, and their work. Journalism researchers and educators need to know more about how the dangers to digital safety work in relation to journalists’ security and freedom of expression in general.

The 2019 annual conference on the Safety of Journalists will focus on digital safety but also invite papers discussing other aspects related to the safety of journalists. We invite paper presentations discussing topics such as (but not limited to) :

• Surveillance and mass surveillance
• Software and hardware exploits without the knowledge of the target
• Phishing, fake domain, Denial of Service and Man-in-the-Middle attacks
• Intimidation, harassment and forced exposure of online networks
• Disinformation and smear campaigns
• Confiscation of journalistic work product
• Data storage and mining
• Education and training
• Legal issues and policy making
• Culture and gender issues
• Working conditions and media production
• Source protection and the digital era
• Hate speech, defamation and libel
• Impunity
• Journalist roles and fixers
• NGOs and the safety of journalists

The conference will be organised as a mixture of key note speakers, working groups, panels and paper presentations.

Paper presentations:

If you want to participate with a paper, an abstract of maximum 500 words and a short bio focusing on possible earlier experience with research/practice in the field of safety of journalists/digital safety should be sent to safetyofjournalists@oslomet.no  before August 15, 2019. Please include your full name, institutional affiliation, and email. There is no registration fee and the participants are expected to cover their own costs for travel and accommodation.

A limited number of scholarships to cover flight and/or accommodation is available for Ph.D. students and researchers from low-income countries. Applications for scholarships should be submitted with the abstract together with a short CV.

The best papers will be considered for a forthcoming peer reviewed publication.

July 1-2, 2019

University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Campus Francisco Negrão de Lima (Maracanã)

Abstract submission deadline: May 26, 2019

Please send your extended abstracts of max 4 – 6 pages to cphd2019@gmail.com. Your abstract can be in English, Portuguese or Spanish.

The international seminar "Participatory Communication and the Struggle Over Human Rights" aims to bring together researchers, activists, and institutions to discuss how the right to participatory communication can extend and deepen the recognition of human rights.

Struggle Over Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified by the member countries of the United Nations (UN) on December 10, 1948, including Brazil. The document inspired legislation and international treaties in defense of the fundamental rights and freedom, including the right to freedom of speech. The Declaration, art. 19, highlight that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

After 70 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the concept of human rights and its implementation is (still) challenged. This raises questions about the nature of the challenges of human rights, and, particularly, of the right to communication.? After all, communication, especially (but not only) digital, is a key in the democratic process. What are these challenges, in general, and in relation to communication-related rights? How are the human rights struggled over? What is the role of citizen participation in these struggles themselves (e.g., through activism) and how is citizen participation the object of these struggle? How are the struggles over the right to communicate connected with (the affirmation of other) fundamental human rights, such as those in relation to education, health, and housing?

Participatory Communication

Brazil is particularly relevant to these debates. In 2018, Brazil also has completed 30 years of the Federal Constitution (CF), most known as Citizen Constitution. It was approved after decades of military dictatorship in the country. Nowadays, the CF was changed more than 100 times, which removed political and social rights that had previously been approved. The recent political changes in Brazil only threaten to further increase the levels of violence, and racism … However, the Law of access to information was approved in 2011, ensuring that any citizen can request public information directly to public institutions. Do these (relatively) new legal provisions contribute to broadening the right to communicate and make it more inclusive and participatory?

But we do not want to focus exclusively on Brazil. Latin America, as a whole, faces a critical situation, with, for instance, the murder of social leaders in many of the Latin American countries. In Brazil, the council Marielle Franco, a defender of human rights, was killed in 2018 and political violence is increasing, especially in rural areas. In Colombia, the peace agreements between the government and the guerrilla groups are ruptured and the conflicts are growing all around the country. Venezuela faces a conflict about the legitimacy of its leadership, putting the entire continent on alert. Central America suffers critical situations due to the high levels of violence and the migratory crisis, involving citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua – who attempt to escape these high levels of violence in their countries of origin – and the governments of the United States and Mexico.

Thus, in this seminar, we welcome proposals, that explore the following issues (among other issues):

• Advances and challenges to the right to communicate and its participatory dimensions;
• Participatory (communication) practices and interventions which extend and deepen the recognition of other human rights, as the right to education, health, and housing, etc.;
• Projects, practices, narratives that link communication, education, health, and human rights.

Thus, we especially welcome proposals in the following topics:

1) Communication and Education:

This strand addresses research that are inserted in the interface of communication and education, in a broad way, also beyond the media and formal and school education. It investigates practices, processes, narratives and communicative-educational products in their socio-historical, political, economic context, also considering subjective, artistic, ... nuances, and the relations between race, class, and gender within these practices.

2) Communication and Human Rights:

This strand highlights the relation between communication – in its media, products, and processes – and human rights in a variety of aspects. It investigates communication as a human right, articulating historic, political / economy, socio-cultural aspects at different levels (local, regional, national, continental and global).

3) Dialogic/Participatory Communication and media activism:

This strand articulates all forms of communication aimed at promoting democracy and social development. It is also concerned with participatory forms of research in the universe of dialogic communication. It discusses the trajectory of the main concepts that surround the field.

We expect to have the participation of about 50 scholars and activists, mainly from Brazil and Latin America, but the call for participation will be not limited to them.

The seminar will feature oral presentations, a Ph.D. workshop and a conversation wheel with participatory communication activists, in a two-day event. The participants will be invited to submit the papers presented during the pre-conference to the Dialogic Communication Journal (UERJ).

The event is co-organized by the Participatory Communication Research Section (PCR) of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

Master and Ph.D. students are invited to present extended abstracts (4-6 pages) about their research and receive feedback from established researchers. The idea is provided resources to improve their research process, as well to strengthen the field of participatory communication.

Timing:

• Abstract submission deadline: 26 May 2019
• Notification on submitted abstracts: 3 June 2019
• Article submission deadline to Dialogic Communication Journal (UERJ): 01 August 2019

Submission of an abstract for the seminar:

After filling out the registration form, and sending the payment as instructed, please send your extended abstracts of 4 – 6 pages (max) to cphd2019@gmail.com. You can present your abstract in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Location:

University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Campus Francisco Negrão de Lima (Maracanã), Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Cep 20550-900.

Dates: 1-2 July 2019

Duration: 9h – 18h

Participation and registration: The event is open and to everyone. However, to present a paper and receive a certificate, you will need to be registered, using this form: https://forms.gle/DVkNyLNMTpR7UNB47, and you should have paid the registration fee.

Registration fee:

Professors/professionals: 12 USD

Students: 7 USD

Payment registration fee:

• Paypal: anabetune2@gmail.com;
• TranferWise: transferwise.com/u/anan51;
• or during the seminar

Organisers:

• Adilson Vaz Cabral Filho (EMERGE / PPGMC / UFF)
• Ana Lúcia Nunes de Sousa (NUTES / UFRJ)
• Luana Inocêncio (UFF)
• Nico Carpentier (PCR-IAMCR and Charles University)
• Marcelo Ernandez (LCD / UERJ)

University of Leicester

Deadline: June 10, 2019

Vacancy ID:593

Location:Leicester

Department:School of Media, Communication & Sociology

Vacancy terms:Full time, permanent

Salary details:Competitive

Hours per week:37.5

About the role

The School of Media, Communication and Sociology (MCS) formed three years ago from the merger of the Department of Media and Communication and the Department of Sociology. Both departments have illustrious histories, both have been central to the development of their respective disciplines. MCS has built on these outstanding intellectual legacies, and is now at an exciting phase of its development and expansion. As part of this, we are looking for two Professors who will provide academic leadership across (the disciplines that comprise) the School, and who will make a major contribution to our future as we continue to address, in our research and in our teaching, the most exciting and challenging sociological, cultural and communication issues of our time. As such we have specifically shaped the two posts as Professors of Media, Communication and Sociology. We are looking for individuals whose research, leadership and teaching can carry forward the intellectual agenda of the School as a whole, and whose expertise maps on to one or more of our research clusters or cognate areas of research.

About you

You will have an outstanding record of undertaking research to a world-leading standard, a strong track record of grant capture, and evidence of delivering excellence in teaching, ideally with external accreditation for this (e.g. Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy). With an excellent academic reputation and evidence of dynamic performance in leadership roles, you will have achieved notable recognition in your discipline. You will have a well-developed network across the HE sector both nationally and internationally, with well-established links to external bodies and organisations. You will be expected to take on a key academic leadership role within the School, and will be committed to ensuring its continued success in the future.

Additional information

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Jason Hughes on jason.hughes@le.ac.uk

We anticipate that interviews will take place during week commencing 24 June 2019

Leicester is a leading University committed to international excellence, world-changing research and high quality, inspirational teaching. We are strongly committed to inclusivity, promoting equality and celebrating diversity among our staff and students. Our strength is built on the talent of our scholars, drawn to us by a mutual passion for discovery. We seek to embed an adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit into our research culture, and to create an environment in which both disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinarity thrive.

In return for your hard work, we offer a working environment that is committed to inclusivity, through promoting equality and valuing diversity. We offer a competitive salary package with excellent pension schemes and a generous annual leave allowance. Located close to Leicester city centre, our award winning campus benefits from a wide range of cafes, a fully equipped sports centre and nursery facilities.

Apply here

University of Leicester

Deadline: June 10, 2019

Vacancy ID: 599

Location: Leicester

Department: School of Media, Communication & Sociology

Vacancy terms: Full time, permanent

Salary details: £39,609 to £48,677 per annum

Hours per week: 37.5

About the role

You will undertake research of the highest standard and contribute to high quality teaching and administration. You will be expected to make a strong contribution to the School’s reputation, building on the existing research undertaken within the School. Expertise that spans the range of disciplines represented by the School of Media, Communication and Sociology would be an advantage, but is not essential. You will be expected to contribute to raising levels of research activity, research income, teaching excellence and the overall visibility of the School. You will pursue and publish research of high quality in line with the School’s aim of producing world-leading research with meaningful impact.

About you

With experience in the delivery of teaching to both undergraduates and postgraduates, you will have a real passion for the subject matter. You will be motivated to provide the very best experience for our students using your expertise and skill to ensure all reach their potential. We are looking for someone who can network and collaborate at an international level, as well as evidence of high quality research publications.

Additional information

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Jason Hughes on jason.hughes@le.ac.uk

We anticipate that interviews will take place during week commencing 24 June 2019

Leicester is a leading University committed to international excellence, world-changing research and high quality, inspirational teaching. We are strongly committed to inclusivity, promoting equality and celebrating diversity among our staff and students. Our strength is built on the talent of our scholars, drawn to us by a mutual passion for discovery. We seek to embed an adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit into our research culture, and to create an environment in which both disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinarity thrive.

In return for your hard work, we offer a working environment that is committed to inclusivity, through promoting equality and valuing diversity. We offer a competitive salary package with excellent pension scheme, a generous annual leave allowance and an online portal that offers a range of lifestyle benefits and discounts. Located close to Leicester city centre, our award winning campus benefits from a wide range of cafes, a fully equipped sports centre and nursery facilities. Further information regarding our extensive range of staff benefits is available here.

Apply here.

Edited by: Cynthia Carter, Linda Steiner, Stuart Allan

Journalism, Gender and Power revisits the key themes explored in the 1998 edited collection News, Gender and Power. It takes stock of progress made to date, and also breaks ground in advancing critical understandings of how and why gender matters for journalism and current democratic cultures.

This new volume develops research insights into issues such as the influence of media ownership and control on sexism, women’s employment, and "macho" news cultures, the gendering of objectivity and impartiality, tensions around the professional identities of journalists, news coverage of violence against women, the sexualization of women in the news, the everyday experience of normative hierarchies and biases in newswork, and the gendering of news audience expectations, amongst other issues.

These issues prompt vital questions for feminist and gender-centred explorations concerned with reimagining journalism in the public interest. Contributors to this volume challenge familiar perspectives, and in so doing, extend current parameters of dialogue and debate in fresh directions relevant to the increasingly digitalized, interactive intersections of journalism with gender and power around the globe.

Journalism, Gender and Power will inspire readers to rethink conventional assumptions around gender in news reporting—conceptual, professional, and strategic—with an eye to forging alternative, progressive ways forward.

20% Discount Available - enter the code FLR40 at checkout*

Hb: 978-1-138-89532-4 | £96.00 Pb: 978-1-138-89536-2 | £27.99

* Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or discount and only applies to books purchased directly via our website. See: http://www.routledge.com/9781138895362

For more details, or to request a copy for review, please contact: Jennifer Vennall, editorial assistant, jennifer.vennall@tandf.co.uk

December 16-17, 2019

Goldsmiths, University of London

Abstract deadline: July 1, 2019

Submit here.

Keynotes:

• Professor Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Simon Fraser University
• Professor John Frow, The University of Sydney
• Professor Susanne Kuechler, University College London
• Professor AbdouMaliq Simone, The University of Sheffield

We’re drowning in an ocean of data, or so the saying goes. Data’s “big”: there’s not only lots of it, but its volume has allowed for the development of new, large-scale processing techniques. Our relationship with governments, medical organisations, technology companies, the education sector, and so on are increasingly informed by the data we overtly or inadvertently provide when we use particular services. The proverbial data deluge is large-scale—but it’s also personal.

Data increasingly characterises what it means to be a person in the present. Data promises to personalise services to better meet our individual needs. Data is often construed as a threat to our person(s). Not every person predicated by data is predicted the same. The intersection between data and person isn’t fixed: it has to be figured.

The aim of this conference is to bring together an interdisciplinary group of researchers to explore how the person—or persons, plural—are figured in/out of data. The figuration of a person might encompass any or all of processes of representation, calculation, analogisation, prediction, and conceptualisation. It cuts across multiple scales, epistemological modes, and disciplinary areas of enquiry. It tackles problems that cross into disparate disciplines. Our proposition is that the conceptual language of ‘the figure’ and its variations—figuration, figuring, to figure, and so on—can help us to apprehend what the person is and how it is processed in the present.

We invite proposals for 20-minute presentations that take up or respond to the question of how the person is figured in/out of data. We are interested in presentations that address the conceptual, methodological, analytical and/or empirical challenge of figuring the person in the present. Conversely, we are also interested in papers that take up the concept of the figure—broadly construed—as an heuristic for producing knowledge about the constitution of person(s) in the present.

Our proposition is deliberately interdisciplinary. We encourage proposals from researchers working in disciplines for whom the figure is central. These might include, but are not limited to: the social sciences, art history, media studies, the medical humanities, literary studies, philosophy, science and technology studies, urban studies, or geography.

The themes that papers might address could include:

• The figuration of person or persons in/out of data;
• Techniques of personalisation and the figuration of the person or persons;
• Approaches that address the interrelation of visual, numerical, statistical, metaphorical, and/or philosophical modes of figuring the person or persons in the present;
• Conceptual languages for apprehending persons in relation to data—e.g. the subject, identity, user, data double, individual, dividual, etc.;
• The relationship between collective categories and/or category production—like persons, population, distributed reproduction, homophily, etc.—and techniques of figuration;
• Figure as a concept for thinking gender in, e.g., science and technology studies;
• The art-historical/psychological/media-theoretical concept of “figure/ground” and persons/data;
• The relationship between visual and numerical modes of figuring and the constitution of persons;
• Literary/linguistic uses of figuration in e.g. metaphor, analogy, simile, the icon, etc. in relation to the person or persons and data;
• Figuration as a means of thinking the relationship between image/text/number or media and code;
• Related concepts—like the diagram or pattern—as complements to or substitutes for the figure;
• Conceptualising figuration in relation to resemblance, similarity, seriality, difference, etc.

Please submit abstracts of 300 words, including your institutional affiliation(s) and a short biography (a line or two is fine) by following this link and filling out the online form: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/cim/events/figurations/figurations/.

The deadline for abstract submissions is July 1st, 2019.

If you have any enquiries, please direct them to Scott Wark at S.Wark@Warwick.ac.uk.

Figurations is organised by the People Like You: Contemporary Figures of Personalisation project. People Like You is a group of scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and artists who explore how personalisation actually works. We research personalisation in four areas: personalised medicine and care; data science; digital cultures; and interactive arts practices.

People Like You is funded by a Collaborative Award in the Medical Humanities and Social Sciences from The Wellcome Trust, 2018-2022. It involves researchers located at Goldsmiths College, University of London; Imperial College London; and The University of Warwick.

Tel Aviv University

Deadline: July 15, 2019

The Dan Department of Communication at Tel Aviv University is now inviting applications for a PhD scholarship, starting from Academic year 2019-20.

Founded in 1994, the Dan Department of Communication at TAU is home to more than 400 students at B.A., M.A. and PhD levels. It teaches both practice and theory, and is one of the top departments of communication in Israel.

The scholarship includes a tax-free yearly stipend of 56,600 Israeli Shekels (approximately 15,300 USD) for the first year, and 66,540 NIS (approximately 18,000 USD), for the next three years, on the basis of a report on the advancement of research by the supervisor(s). The PhD will be supervised at the Department of Communication. The Department will support the student with funding for conference travels and will offer opportunities to participate some of the department activities conducted in English (special conferences and presentations, participation in seminars or classes).

The candidates are also invited to check the department website and the profile of each faculty member before sending their applications. The following research areas are especially relevant: media history, media and memory, language and media/communication, political communication, news literacy, transnational communications, privacy and self-disclosure, health communication and social marketing.

Applications should consist of an 800 words research proposal, a sample of academic writing (a recent seminar paper would be most appropriate), a CV detailing academic qualifications and professional experience to date, and the details of at least two potential recommenders. A fieldwork to be done in Israel is an asset but not a necessity.

Applications to: Ms. Sabrina Ungar, Department of Communications (sabrina@tauex.tau.ac.il)

General inquiries to: Prof. Jerome Bourdon, Chair of PhD Studies (jeromeb@post.tau.ac.il)

Closing date: July 15, 2019.

Special Issue in Media and Communication

Deadline: May 31, 2019

Editors: Monika Taddicken and Anne Reif, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Social Sciences,, Department of Communication and Media Sciences.

Information

In 1985, the Royal Society of London declared that a better public understanding of science (about results as well as methods) is necessary for individual citizens to make reasoned, personal decisions in most aspects of daily life (Bodmer, 1985). Scientists, scientific institutions, and the media were requested to encourage public understanding of science by communicating more information to the public. Empirical research, however, could not prove a positive correlation between the amount of information about and knowledge of science the public has and its positive attitude toward scientific topics. As a result, the assumption of knowledge deficit that can be addressed with better information distribution has been criticized. For science communication this means that simply communicating more information to the public is not sufficient and further considerations are required.

This begs the question of whether emotion is relevant in scientific discourse. Currently, particularly among practical science communicators, there is a great deal of discussion on how individuals can be reached, not only through pure science communication, but also through emotional appeals. Innovative, target group-oriented formats show an increasing trend toward an ‘edutainment’ approach to science communication that focuses on the emotional experience of the audience (Gerber, 2011, p. 11). From an academic viewpoint, this form of science communication is often regarded as trivial and met with skepticism. However, there has been very little empirical research done relating to usage, reception, and the effect of these new formats of science communication.

Public discussion around so-called ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’ as well as the accusations against the alleged ‘lying press’ direct the glance further toward negative aspects of emotional appeals and debates. This is also relevant for the communication of science and science-related topics. Following the Habermasian ideal, public communication should follow rational, critical reasoning and aim to achieve a consensus based on facts and respectful contributions of equal and rationally motivated participants. Nevertheless, deviations from this ideal are currently observed in the public sphere and give reason for further research in science communication.

This is, more or less, attributed to the modern communication environments that have formed through the establishment of social media networks. In these networks, trolls and bots, but also potential echo chambers and paradoxes of participation (Schmidt, 2018), influence the public discourse about topics such as science. Against the backdrop of ‘hate speech’ in social media and the linked alleged verbal coarsening in the debating culture, the so-called ‘sensitivity communication’ (Barth & Wagner, 2015) is commonly presented in a negative light. Emotions that are evoked by science communication or intentional emotional appeals are often explicitly associated with an overarching trend of disaffection with elites and a (possibly profound) loss of trust in societal authorities and systems. This is especially true when considering that leading politicians publically question the truth of scientific results and thus contest fundamental epistemological criteria.

Thus, it seems more important than ever to bring research on emotion, in the context of science and the public, into focus. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss whether or not the assumption of the dichotomy of reason and emotion withstands, or if the relationship between affective and cognitive debates has to be rethought and reinterpreted. Particularly in the context of science communication, which is known for its high complexity and uncertainty, the question arises as to what extent evidence-based and emotional appeals can be understood as opposites.

The discussion around these and similar aspects are the main focus of this special issue. The following list of thematic areas shall serve for orientation purposes but shall not limit the range of topics of potential submissions. We welcome theoretical and/or empirical papers that engage with these or similar thematic areas.

Thematic Area 1: Emotion and Perception, Interpretation, Effects

This thematic area addresses the question of the emotional processing of science communication. Bearing in mind that, within a public discourse, scientific facts are understood and interpreted individually, it becomes more significant to look closely at the recipients’ perspective. What is the role of emotions (that arise from, e.g., personal concern or individual contexts) for the usage and reception of science-related content? What further approaches are used and what are the current results of the way humans interpret scientific information? In this context, for example, it is relevant to investigate the significance of emotions in the process of complexity management. Emotions such as fear, which may promote over-simplifications or the belief in conspiracy theories, are possible consequences of an individual mental overload in light of the increasing complexity of (scientific) issues and social challenges.

A further area for examination is the individual and social consequences of emotional debates in science communication, e.g., concerning the question of a (potential) loss of trust: What is the role of emotions in a (positive/negative) relationship of trust between science and the public?

Thematic Area 2: Emotions and Participation

Besides ‘traditional’ mass media communication, forms of science communication that are oriented on dialogue, engagement, and participation are becoming increasingly relevant.

Particularly, new media environments, in the form of digital communication and social media, create a low-threshold participation opportunity with the potential to encourage citizens’ participation in science (Stilgoe, Lock, & Wilsdon, 2014). So far, however, there are scarcely any scientific findings concerning participation, as well as the motivation for and the emotional appeal of it. The academic debate stays on normative grounds (Fähnrich, 2017; Stilgoe et al., 2014). Questions to be discussed within this thematic area are, for example: Who can be reached with dialogue-participative formats? Who participates and why? To what extent do emotions motivate participatory processes (e.g., in Citizen Science formats)? How do different forms and degrees of participation influence the (emotional) attitude toward science? What is the role of emotional participation in public discourses about science, e.g., in the context of the March for Science?

Thematic Area 3: Emotional(ized) Content

Practical science communicators increasingly contemplate how science and scientific results should be presented to ‘successfully’ reach a wider public. Can or should the rational position of science and the presentation of abstract results be abandoned in favor of more emotional narratives? Or does this approach undermine the neutrality and thereby credibility of science?

So far, there has been little research on the level of emotionality within science communication, and whether or not science communication varies when it comes to different times, communicators, or formats. Hence, this thematic area takes stock of the question of the relevance of emotion in different areas, contexts, and topics of science. What emotions should be evoked or prevented and by what means (and which are created, see thematic area 1)? This thematic area aims to discuss questions about professional, emotional science communication content and its producers.

Furthermore, the question as to how emotional the recipients’ communicative contribution (e.g., incivility of online comments or un-scientific, user-generated content) in the scientific discourse is, shall be addressed as well.

Submissions

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2019

Deadline for submissions: 15 September 2019

Publication of the special issue: February/March 2020

Instructions for Authors:

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to send, via email, an extended abstract of about 500 to 600 words, with a tentative title and reference to the thematic issue to the Editorial Office (mac@cogitatiopress.com) by 31 May 2019.

Contributions should not be considered for publication elsewhere. This has to be explicitly stated on the cover page. Names must be removed for blind peer reviews.

Please consult the journal’s instructions for authors and Call for Papers. All papers will be proofed in a blind peer-reviewed process.

References

Barth, N., & Wagner, E. (2015). Erhitzte Öffentlichkeit - zur medialen Transformation

öffentlicher Kommunikation auf Facebook. POP Zeitschrift. Retrieved from http://www.popzeitschrift.de/2016/03/05/social-media-maerzvon-niklas-barth-und-elke-wagner5-3-2016/

(zuletzt abgerufen am 22.5.2018).

Bodmer. W. (1985). The public understanding of science. London: The Society.

Fähnrich, B. (2017). Wissenschaftsevents zwischen Popularisierung, Engagement und

Partizipation. In H. Bonfadelli, B. Fähnrich, C. Lüthje, J. Milde, M. Rhomberg, & M. S. Schäfer

(Eds.), Forschungsfeld Wissenschaftskommunikation (pp. 165–182). Wiesbaden: Springer

Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-12898-2_9.

Gerber, A. (2011). Trendstudie Wissenschaftskommunikation - Vorhang auf für Phase 5: Chancen,

Risiken und Forderungen für die nächste Entwicklungsstufe der Wissenschaftskommunikation

(Vol. 1). Berlin: edition innovare/innokomm Forschungszentrum.

Schmidt, J.-H. (2018). Social Media. Wiesbaden: Springer.

Stilgoe, J., Lock, S. J., & Wilsdon, J. (2014). Why should we promote public engagement with

science? Public Understanding of Science, 23(1), 4–15.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662513518154.

Special issue #18 of VIEW journal of European Television History and Culture

Deadline: June 1, 2019

We are presently accepting propositions for a special issue of VIEW Journal dedicated to the history of television and health. VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture is the first peer-reviewed, multimedia and open access e-journal in the field of European television history and culture. The special issue follows the thematic lines of the Tele(visualising) Health conference on the history of TV, public health, its enthusiasts and its publics. The special issue will include contributions from the authors who presented at the conference but is open to other authors who wish to explore these topics in writing.

Televisions began to appear in homes in large numbers of the public in Europe and North America after World War II. This coincided with a period in which ideas about the public’s health, the problems that it faced and the solutions that could be offered, were changing. Threats posed by infectious diseases were receding, only to be replaced by chronic conditions linked to lifestyle and individual behaviour. Public health professionals were enthusiastic about how this new technology and mass advertising could reach out to individuals in the population with a new message about lifestyle and health risk. Television symbolised the post-war optimism about new directions in public health

At the same time, television acted as a contributing factor to new public health problems. Watching TV was part of a shift towards more sedentary lifestyles, and also a vehicle through which products that were damaging to health - alcohol, cigarettes and unhealthy food - could be advertised to the public. Population health problems could be worsened by TV viewing. How should we understand the relationship between TV and public health? What are the key changes and continuities over time and place? How does thinking about the relationship between public health and TV change our understanding of both?

In this special issue, we seek to explore questions such as:

• How did the enthusiasm develop for TV within public health?
• How were shifts in public health, problems, policies and practices represented on TV?
• How was TV used to improve or hinder public health?
• What aspects of public health were represented on TV, and what were not?
• How did the public respond to health messages on TV?
• What were the perceived limitations of TV as a mass medium for public health?
• In what way was TV different from other forms of mass media in relation to public health?
• How were institutions concerned with the public’s health present –and staged –on TV broadcasts?

This special issue aims to bring together scholars from different fields (such as, but not limited to, history, history of science, history of medicine, communication, media and film studies, television studies) working on the history of television in Great Britain, France and Germany (West and East) (the focus of the ERC BodyCapital project), but also other European countries, North and South America, Russia, Asia or other countries and areas. Papers might focus on one national, regional or even local framework. Considering the history of health-related (audio-) visuals as a history of transfer, as entangled history or with a comparative perspective are welcome. The co-editors welcome contributions with a strong historical impetus from all social and cultural sciences.

Please consult the author guidelines, notably with regard to format, length and availability of films/programmes, before making your proposal.

For further information or questions about the issue, please contact its co-editors: Tricia Close-Koenig , Claude Mussou , Angela Saward

For further information or questions about the issue, please contact its co-editors:

• Tricia Close-Koenig - tkoenig.unistra.fr
• Claude Mussou - cmussou.ina.fr
• Angela Saward a.saward.wellcome-ac.uk
• Jessica Borge - jborge.unistra. fr

We invite you to submit your proposals (500 word abstract) by 1 June 2019 to VIEW’s managing editor at journal.euscreen .eu.

Authors will be notified by 1 July and full articles (3000-6000 words) must be submitted by October 2019, they will then be circulated for the double-blind peer reviewing process, for publication in winter 202

About VIEW Journal

See www.viewjournal.eu for the current and back issues. VIEW is supported by the EUscreen Network and published by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. VIEW is proud to be an open access journal. All articles are hosted by Ubiquity Press and indexed through the Directory of Open Access Journals, the EBSCO Film and Television Index, Paperity and NARCIS.