ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Deadline: April 30, 2019

The Journal of Digital Media & Interaction is an open access journal that addresses research on enhancing user experience in digital media applications in creative, cultural and social contexts. It focuses on the socio-technological challenges seen from a transdisciplinary perspective, grounded in media studies and interaction design, as well as in communication, human–computer interaction, cultural studies, design, psychology, sociology and information sciences. As an international peer-reviewed research journal, it provides an open forum for: the discussion and monitoring of trends and transformations in the digital media landscape; the presentation of new design models and emergent technologies for the innovation of the user experience; the presentation of results from empirical studies and innovative research approaches.

http://revistas.ua.pt/index.php/jdmi

Important Dates for the Issue #3

• Submission of Full Articles & Book Reviews: 30 April 2019
• Notification of acceptance: 30 May 2019
• Revised version: 15 June 2019
• Final version to be reviewed by authors: 30 June 2019
• Publication: 15 July 2019

Guidelines: http://revistas.ua.pt/index.php/jdmi/pages/view/authors

ISSN 2184-3120, Indexation pending

Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies

Deadline: March 22, 2019

To deliver high-quality and research-led teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and contribute to the research record of the School through commitment to carrying out research leading to the publishing of work in high-quality journals. To pursue excellence in research and teaching, and to inspire others to do the same.

This post is full-time and open-ended

8250BR

Salary: £33,199 - £39,609 per annum (Grade 6)

Date advert posted: Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Closing date: Friday, 22 March 2019

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Job Description

Research

• To conduct research within the specialist area of Global Media and Communication, contributing to the overall research performance of the School and University by the production of measurable outputs, including publishing in leading academic journals
• To develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, including research funding proposals
• To give conference/seminar papers at a local and national level
• To participate in School research activities.

Teaching

• To design and deliver teaching provision for courses and contribute to module development as part of a module team
• To carry out other forms of scholarship including work associated with examinations (setting and marking paper and providing constructive feedback to students), administration, participation in committee work, and the pastoral care of students of Cardiff University
• To inspire undergraduate and postgraduate students with excellent teaching, develop skills in assessment methods and in providing constructive feedback to students.
• To supervise the work of students including the supervision of Undergraduate and Master’s students and the co-supervision of PGR’s
• To act as a Personal Tutor and provide pastoral support to students

Other

• To engage effectively with external stakeholders to raise awareness of the School’s profile, to cultivate strategically valuable alliances, and to pursue opportunities for collaboration across a range of activities. These activities are expected to contribute to the School and the enhancement of its regional and national profile.
• To undergo personal and professional development that is appropriate to and which will enhance performance in the role of Lecturer.
• To participate in School administration and activities to promote the School and its work to the wider University and the outside world
• Any other duties not included above, but consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education

1. Postgraduate degree at PhD level in a related subject area or relevant industrial experience

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

2. An established expertise and proven portfolio of research within Global Media and Communication, with the following research areas especially welcome:

• Digital Media Methods
• Media and/or Cultural Policy
• Internet and Data Studies

3. Teaching experience at undergraduate and/or postgraduate level

4. Knowledge of current status of research in specialist field

5. Proven ability to publish in national journals

6. A willingness to be actively involved in competitive research funding bids

7. Ability to contribute to the delivery and continued development of modules consistent with the School’s teaching programmes

Pastoral, Communication and Team Working

8. Proven ability in effective and persuasive communication

9. The ability to provide appropriate pastoral support to students, appreciate the needs of individual students and their circumstances, and to act as a personal tutor

Desirable Criteria

10. Relevant professional qualification(s).

11. Evidence of collaborations with industry and/or external stakeholders.

12. Proven ability to work without close supervision

13. Proven ability to adapt to the changing requirements of the Higher Education community.

14. Evidence of ability to participate in and develop both internal and external networks and utilise them to enhance the teaching and research activities of the School.

15. A willingness to take responsibility for academically related administration.

16. Evidence of ability to participate in and develop both internal and external networks and utilise them to enhance the teaching and research activities of the School.

17. A willingness to take responsibility for academically related administration.

Additional Information

We are a top-rated institution in the UK for media teaching and research that helps to shape international media, journalism and communication landscapes.

We offer a wide range of courses at various levels with postgraduate degrees that range from industry oriented, practice-based training to more academic degrees. We combine a long-standing record of excellence in teaching and training with an outstanding research portfolio, routinely winning awards from a wide range of bodies.

This reputation was recognised in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework where we were ranked 2nd for the quality of our journalism, media and communications research. When compared with 66 other institutions in the UK, 89% of our research was classed as either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, with both our research environment and the impact of our research receiving a score of 100%.

Our lectures are delivered by a diverse teaching team of established academics and industry leaders who also regularly contribute expert opinion and commentary about research and topical news events to the national media and the school blog.

We are also fully committed to supporting, developing and promoting equality and diversity in all of our practices and activities. We offer an inclusive culture with a range of support services for students with disabilities and learning difficulties.

Our location at No. 2 Central Square places us alongside local and national media companies including broadcaster BBC Cymru/Wales.

Our location helps us build stronger industry links, boosting our students’ employability by providing direct access to major media organisations within journalism as well as the creative and cultural industries.

Our new location features:

• Four lecture theatres including a 300-seat lecture theatre
• Five seminar rooms
• Dedicated library space
• Six newsrooms
• TV and radio studios
• Innovation and computer labs
• Editing suites
• Postgraduate research space
• Social staircase

Salary Range Min.: 33,199

Salary Range Max.: 39,609

Job CategoryAcademic - Teaching & Research

Grade: Grade 6

Apply here

RFSIC journal special issue

Special Issue Editors: Sébastien François and Marie Pruvost-Delaspre 

Deadline: March 31, 2019

Even though academic interest for the animated medium remains on the fringe of media studies, it seems to have gained much importance during in the last few decades (Crafton, 1982; Pilling, 1997; Lamarre, 2008; Wells, 2012). Following the impetus of the thriving “animation studies” in the English-speaking context and the pioneering work of the Society for Animation Studies (SAS) founded in 1987, scientific research on animation has started to spread across different linguistic areas and countries. Nevertheless, animation as a field of research still appears in a state of dispersal and fragmentation, marked by recurrent tropisms. Indeed, due to their dependence to related scientific projects or events, the works conducted on animation and its multiple formats and techniques have been developed within different disciplinary fields, such as film and media studies, communication studies, history or sociology, but in a certain state of unawareness of one another (Pilling, 1998; Denis, 2011). They also have been mainly focused on aesthetics and contents –and to some extent on reception–, putting aside the practical conditions of the making of animation.

A growing number of books, documentaries or DVD-bonuses may have already offered some insights into what happens “behind-the-scene”, as did so –more seriously– some general historical and theoretical works on animation (Furniss, 2016), studies devoted to major studios like Disney or Pixar (Wasko, 2001), or others focused on specialized television channels (Hendershot, 2004). Nevertheless, the design and production process of animated programs have rarely been systematically tackled by social sciences, and socio-economical approaches of the animation market appears almost non-existent. Those blind spots left by academia are related the periodic illegitimacy of animation, which is clearly linked to its reduction both to television programs and children products. In this context, ethnographical studies like Ian Condry’s work on anime studios (Condry, 2013) or Dana Lemish’s on gender in animated cartoons (Lemish, 2010), can be considered as pioneering. More recently, the one-day symposium “La fabrique de l’animation” (“The making of animation”), organized in June 2017 in Paris, which sought to raise visibility on this type of research and to develop dialogue between researchers, has rather been a first step than culmination. From the perspective of countries, like France, where animation remains, despite everything, a flourishing industry, with animation schools and young professionals with international appeal (Mérijeau & Roffat, 2015), this state of the art seems nothing but paradoxical.

This special issue consequently aims at highlighting the processes through which animation projects are designed and put into production, by bringing together contributions and researchers that engage with such questions. Thus, an essential task is still to better document the working conditions of animation professionals, whose occupations and situations are so diverse. But how can we report the organization of such production systems, in which many projects stop at their early stages while the lucky ones take years to be completed? How to describe and classify the multiple and complex “chains of cooperation” (Becker, 1982) of each one? Benefitting from the input of previous works previously undertaken in diverse academic fields, the purpose of this issue is indeed to discuss the potential approaches (theoretical and empirical) that could be useful to comprehend the production of animation, taken in its broadest sense, i.e. from the first steps of the creation to the practical manufacturing and broadcasting moments. The collection’s goal is therefore to question the specificity of animation and its qualification as a cultural industry.

So as to initiate the discussions at stake, we invite contributors to address the following (but not exhaustive) research directions:

Animation and its modes of cooperation

Following decisive works on cultural industries (Hesmondhalgh, 2012; Johnson & al., 2014) and the recent rise of production studies (Mayer & al., 2009; Arsenault & Perren, 2016), the work of animation professionals and their daily practices should appear as a central issue. Indeed, how can research follow up and document the multiple stages of the animation production? How to analyze the diversity of artistic professions (authors, animators, filmmakers, story-boarders, voice actors…) as well as their skills and crafts, while some of them remain particularly understudied? Existing research on the collective nature of creation in the cinema industry (Caldwell, 2008; Rot & de Verdalle, 2013) or on the role of cultural intermediaries (Maguire & Matthews, 2014; Jeanpierre & Roueff, 2014) should be helpful to understand how those professionals cooperate (Holian, 2015). In particular, articles addressing the question of the existing tensions within the animation industry –regarding gender, generations, schools of thought, etc.– or technical antagonisms –craftsmanship vs. industry, analogic vs. digital technology (Noesser, 2016)– are expected.

The animation industry: organizing, financing and broadcasting

The production of animated series and feature films deeply relies on specific financing and economic models (Creton, 2014) which comprehension requires to conduct studies among animation producers. Analyzing the specificity of animation production, in comparison to the situation in the film or in other cultural industries, might also shed some light on this subject. Thereby, papers dealing with the institutional and political contexts, as well as the financing of animation projects, will be highly appreciated: for instance, such works could explain why the French and European animation have continued to develop despite the powerful Japanese anime and American cartoons (Mousseau, 1982), but any other international perspective will be considered. Moreover, it is essential to scientifically include animation broadcasting, be it the film circulation through festivals, the work done by cinema distributors, and of course the role played by television channels which are indispensable in the financing and production processes (Stabile & Harrison, 2003; Jost & Chambat-Houillon, 2003), since they have their own problematics. Finally, the moral and regulation constraints which apply to audiovisual material may be also examined. The institutions (e.g. the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel in France), associations (e.g. the “Parents-Teachers Associations” in Japan) or other entities (e.g. the “Standards and Practices” departments in American television channels; see Cohen, 2004), which directly affect professionals’ working conditions and attitudes could inspire very interesting studies.

Animation and media circulations

Looking more broadly into cultural industries and their boundaries (Bouquillon & al., 2013), article proposals focusing on the circulation of animated contents are expected. Animation often plays a central part in contemporary media circulations and one can wonder to what extent the industry has (or had) to adapt its production routines due to licensing or cross/transmedia strategies (Johnson, 2013; Kinder, 1991; Steinberg, 2012). How then has been animation associated to other “new” media (video games, Internet, apps) and what are the implications for animation professionals? Interrogating such aspects of animation circulation should contribute to the understanding of the interactions between cultural industries, as well as the building of contemporary fictional worlds (Brougère, 2008; Condry, 2013; Besson, 2015).

Submission Information

Submitted papers, of a maximum of 40,000 characters including spaces, should be sent before March 31, 2019 to the coordinators: sebastien.francois@rocketmail.com and marie.pruvost-delaspre@univ-paris8.fr

They will then be peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by the scientific committee. Instructions on format and citations may be found at: https://journals.openedition.org/rfsic/401

The issue #18 is expected to be published by the end of 2019.

CfP here

Deadline: March 30, 2019

Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia (JCEA), Vol. 18, No 2 - Winter 2019 (special Issue)

Invited editor: Tim Dwyer, University of Sydney (timothy.dwyer@sydney.edu.au)

In recent times there has been a noticeable shift in thinking about the possibilities for regulating social media platforms. A steady stream of scandals in relation to Facebook and Google sharing personal data with third parties, the growing evidence of Russian hacking of the 2016 US Presidential elections, and the role of the boutique data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica contributed to this shift. The turn to regulatory solutions was prompted by both US Congressional and European Commission investigatory hearings. At the same time, there is a growing understanding that these media-tech platforms in the West and Eastern Asia use less than transparent algorithms to amass personal data for achieving various objectives. We are seeing ongoing investigations and new models of regulation are just around the corner. A pervading sense that the ‘Tech Giants’ have betrayed our trust arising from their role in spreading misinformation and the manipulation of breaking news calls out for more detailed theoretical and empirical analysis. For this special issue of the Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia we welcome any topics that deal with media manipulation, fake news, misinformation and disinformation. The topics that we are particularly interested in include, but are not limited to:

• Algorithmic news and manipulation
• Media pluralism and algorithmic news provision
• News recommender algorithms such as YouTube’s ‘Up Next’ recommender
• Sellers of fake followers or ‘likes’ on social media platforms
• Elections and strategies for online news manipulation/disinformation
• Regulatory responses, including responses to news manipulation by the platforms

Please submit your abstract in English to timothy.dwyer@sydney.edu.au by 30 March (please include “JCEA Special Issue” in the title). The maximum word limit for the abstract is 500 words.

Deadlines

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 March
• Notification on Submitted Abstracts: 15 April
• Article Submission Deadline: 1 August
• Notification of Article Acceptance/Rejection :20 September
• Deadline for the final submission of revised papers: 30 October

For more information about the journal, please refer to https://jceasia.org/.

July 12, 2019

University of Madrid

Deadline: March 4, 2019

The IAMCR 2019 post-conference aims to bring together specialists to reflect on the performance of digital platforms in the field of information, communication and culture.

Description: This post-conference will highlight insights from scholars all over the world working on online communication and culture platforms. We seek to broaden ideas of what are the main characteristics of online platforms, raising questions about the ways in which this new enterprise form is connected with previous long-term trends and what is really new in its performance. Complementarily, we are interested in thinking about the design and implementation of public policies whose purpose is to regulate the functioning of digital platforms in the field of information, communication and culture.

Location: Puerta de Toledo Campus, Carlos III University of Madrid (Madrid centre)

Date and time: Friday, 12 July, 2019

We are seeking contributions that discuss how operate online platforms? What are the characteristics of "platforming" compared to other forms of organization of the culture and communication industries? Do online platforms contribute to the online diversity of cultural expressions? Do they express a more concentrate cultural and communication worldwide market? How do they challenge existing public policies, especially policies for the cultural and communication industries, or how do they rely on some of these policies to assert themselves?

This IAMCR 2019 post-conference aims to bring together insights from scholars all over the world working on the current presence of the online communication and cultural platforms. We seek to broaden ideas of what are the main characteristics of online platforms, raising questions about the ways in which this new enterprise form is connected with previous long-term trends and what is really new in his performance.

Please send title and abstract of no more than 500 words, and a short bio (150 words), along with a selection of key references no later than MONDAY MARCH 4, 2019.

Abstracts and enquiries should be sent to the following electronic address: mailto:onlineplatforms.IAMCR2019@gmail.com

Timeline:

• Call for Paper launch: November 2018
• Abstracts due: March 4th 2019
• Notification of abstracts accepted: April 1st 2019

Organisers: The post-conference is organized by the research group Diversidad

Audiovisual (Audiovisual Diversity), based at Carlos III University of Madrid together with the LabEx ICCA (France) and the Political Economy Section of IAMCR.

May 22-24, 2019

Washington, DC USA

Deadline: March 18, 2019

http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/

Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide (PPDD) is the only academic professional organization in the world focused solely on the digital divide and on connecting research to policymaking and practice to strategize actions and catalyze solutions to this pressing societal concern. The academic research, policymaker, and practitioner community represented by PPDD stands ready to advance the agenda on broadband and the digital divide, to address the many challenges and opportunities presented by the digital world, and to further evidence-based policymaking and practice so that all citizens can participate fully in the digital, networked age.

The interdisciplinary Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide 2019 International Conference brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for an extended, in-depth dialogue about key issues that inform information and communication technologies and the digital divide around the world. The Conference works to identify new areas of necessary, productive focus, foster greater understanding, advance research, and enlighten policy and practice going forward. An optional 21 May afternoon Field Trip to digital inclusion program sites offers the opportunity to learn firsthand about innovative initiatives to bridge the digital divide in Washington, DC.

PPDD 2019 is particularly significant as it marks the 25th anniversary of the recognition of the digital divide through social scientific research. And, within PPDD 2019, we plan to have the largest worldwide gathering of disability digital divide experts ever.

As a major outcome of PPDD 2019, in addition to the PPDD 2019 Proceedings and E-Book, we plan to produce an edited volume of the top papers as well as special issues of our Publishing Partners’journals on specific themes within the digital divide area.

If you would like to present and discuss your work during PPDD 2019 and have it included in the online PPDD 2019 International Conference Proceedings and/or if you would like to provide a Position Paper for inclusion in the PPDD 2019 E-Book, please see the Call for Participation section below.

If you would like to just attend PPDD 2019 to explore the issues and grow your knowledge and network of connections, please know that you are very welcome and valued in the PPDD Conference Community.

Please join PPDD and an unprecedented broad multi-disciplinary coalition of co-sponsoring organizations from academic, policymaking, and practitioner communities to share your insights and expertise. Together, we will enrich the dialogue, connect research, policy and practice, and advance the agenda on the digital divide.

Please contact conference [at] ppdd [dot] org with any questions.

If you would like to

1) present and discuss your work during PPDD 2019 and have it included in the online PPDD 2019 International Conference Proceedings, and/or if you would like to

2) provide a Position Paper for inclusion in the PPDD 2019 E-Book, we look forward with enthusiasm to your contribution and ask that you please follow the instructions provided at http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/cfp/ to submit your work. 

Submissions are welcome from researchers, policymakers, and practitioners at all stages of their careers, from any theoretical and methodological approach, and across multiple disciplines.

1) Deadline to Submit Your Presentation Title and Short Summary for Consideration for Presentation: 18 March 2019 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time

Notification of Acceptance: 25 March 2019

If you have visa or other time-sensitive concerns, please submit your work as quickly as possible and email conference [at] ppdd [dot] org to request an expedited review so you can receive notification shortly after submission.

Before we can address the digital divide, we must first understand the nature of life in the digital age, the many challenges and opportunities it presents, and the interplay of influence between technological and social change. Then, in turn, we can fully understand digital inequality; its place alongside other long-standing, persistent issues of social equity, social justice, and media justice; and what it means to be disconnected from the most important technological advancement in communication in a generation and the myriad possibilities it facilitates. Thus, PPDD 2019 invites work that informs issues related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the digital divide broadly defined, including but not limited to:

• gaps in access and connectivity
• digital inclusion
• digital exclusion
• digital (dis)engagement
• challenges and opportunities
• social and cultural aspects of the divide
• the skills and digital/information literacy needed to interpret, understand, and navigate information presented online and the requisite curriculum
• effective use by individuals and communities
•  the impact of socioeconomic factors on user behavior
• the role of motivation, attitudes, and interests
• differences in patterns of usage
• characteristics and conceptualizations of non-users
• the ways in which people use the Internet to create content
• content creation and inequality
• different forms of capital and power relationships, including in terms of content creation, labor, and ownership
• the role of theory in understanding ICTs and digital inequality
• the impact of new and evolving technologies
•  the mobile divide
• the interplay of influence with mobile technologies
• human-computer interaction, human factors, and usability
• social media
• digital games
• apps
• socioeconomic and cultural effects
• social equity, social and economic justice, and democracy
• media justice and ICTs
• the ethics of digital inequality
• community informatics
• social informatics
• urban and regional planning
• social planning
• international development
• indigenous populations
• children and childhood
• education
• ICTs and well-being
• health
• disability and accessibility
• politics, digital government, digital citizenship, smart cities/citizens/government, civic engagement, adoption issues, and (in)equality
• global citizenship
• policy discourse
• law and policy and its impacts, including information/telecommunications policy, net neutrality, open access, open source, copyright, Internet filtering software, and censorship
•  the digital security divide
• the digital privacy divide
• big data and inequality
• organizations and ICTs
• public access initiatives
• anchor institutions
• practitioner-oriented topics considering aspects of design, management, implementation, assessment, collaboration, challenges, problem solution, and opportunities
• architectural challenges and deployment experiences
• Internet access cost analyses
• the application of research to communities, practice, and public and private sector initiatives

2) Deadline to Submit a Position Paper for the PPDD 2019 International Conference E-Book: 6 May 2019 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time

All PPDD 2019 attendees may submit a position paper and all submissions that follow the guidelines provided at http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/cfp/ will be included in the PPDD 2019 E-Book.

vista - visual culture journal

Deadline: March 15, 2019

Social context determined by the culture of media convergence, together with the proliferation of digital devices connected to the Internet and their penetration among citizens, has given relevance, more than ever, to the media and visual culture. Digital media and images have conducted visual field towards the study of consumer´s practices and producer´s image, in accordance with the social aspects and the cultural contexts that characterize them.

To the multidisciplinary approach of media and digital literacy, intergenerational issue is added as the starting point of this issue, which seeks to delve into the fact that the media experience occurs in differentiated conditions, characterized by different cultural (media and digital) competences between generations: analogical and digital citizens, emigrants and digital natives. From the family portraits to the selfies of our smartphones, from soap opera and TV series to social networks. Images produced and consumed get increased from a diversity of experiences and memories, from a multiplicity of lifestyles and media uses, which is worth to be rethought from the idea of ​​"generations".

Which are the visual environments of socialization for the different generations? What influences do they exercise in their daily lives, in their experience, and in their memory? What is the role of visual and media literacy in the process of understanding the relationship between different generations and the different media? How visual culture contributes to the pedagogical processes? Does the generational perspective contribute for the understanding of the image transformation and impact in contemporaneity? Is the visual culture an approaching element among generations? Which are the more suited proposals and theoretical reflections in the current context? Is the visual culture an inspiring element to favor participative methodologies in this field? Can digital age and its visual culture favor generational barriers? Does the digital visual culture assume an intergenerational perspective?

vista - visual culture journal is a peer-reviewed journal and operates under a double blind review process. Each submitted work will be send to two reviewers previously invited to evaluate it, in accordance with the academic quality, originality and relevance for the objectives and scope of the issue of this edition of the journal. Articles can be submitted in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French to the e-mails of the invited editors: apepanda@gmail.com; britesmariajose@gmail.com;inesamaral@gmail.com. Guidelines for authors can be found here.

Invited editors: Ana Pérez-Escoda (UNIR/Universidad Nebrija), Maria José Brites (Lusófona University of Porto/CICANT) and Inês Amaral (University of Coimbra)

Deadlines

• Submission: 15 March 2019
• Notification: 29 April 2019
• Date of publication: 31 July 2019

The full call for papers and author guidelines: http://vista.sopcom.pt/pag/en#call

April 12, 2019

Cardiff University

A one-day conference at Cardiff University addressing photography, language and postwar reconstruction, c.1944-49

This symposium addresses the transnational spaces of encounter for the establishment of post-war Europe and the disestablishment of Empire and, crucially, their refraction via photographic images. Looking at post-conflict situations across a range of nations, we consider the contact zones where soldiers and civilians encountered one another as simultaneously physical spaces, language spaces and media spaces. The event addresses the following questions: How were photographs used to translate certain stories across languages or promote certain images about the war and the post-war moment? What questions of interference, mediation and cultural translation do the spaces of exhibition halls or the printed page throw up for the study of post-war reconstruction and its many languages? What are the tools of analysis that we can mobilize for interpreting visual materials and their multilingual contexts?

Read more

King's College London

Deadline: March 21, 2019

Abstract requirement: 250 Words ( individual abstracts, panels, posters and multimedia)

Date of Conference: May 17, 2019

Venue: Bush House ( North East) ground floor, King's College London, Strand

Website for more information: http://newperspectivesdh.com/

Social media platforms and the internet have become a battleground for ideas and political discussion. As the importance of these digital intermediaries has grown, many questions about how to navigate the world of digital politics in a meaningful and effective way have emerged. With the controversies surrounding the 2016 United States Presidential election, Brexit, the #MeToo movement, and other democratic conflicts across the globe, it is becoming increasingly evident that these media have come to play an essential role in structuring political discourse, social movements, and collective identity.

When the internet emerged as a global commodity, it came with promises of nascent forms of political engagement. Digital platforms gave people new methods of voicing common grievances, starting social movements, and creating an impetus towards a more just society. However, in recent years there is evidence of increased polarisation and even hostility in online networks. With curated news feed, echo chambers, and fake news, users can shape their own isolated online politics.

This conference will investigate how social media platforms and the digital are changing the nature of political discourse, online debate, and collective action. These platforms have shaped and altered many traditional forms of political involvement, such as campaign funding, candidate representation, and pertinent debates remain as to what extent digital media is enhancing or limiting democratic processes.

Digital technologies have impacted politics and social engagement in a myriad of ways, so we invite submissions that breach this theme from multifarious critical and

methodological approaches and from diverse contexts. The academic implications for this broad topic are numerous, as we begin to understand more deeply how digital technologies are adapting to and transforming the political world.

Topics for discussion and presentation may include (but are not limited to):

• The role of digital media in elections across the globe
• Collective action and social movements online
• Online campaigns
• Alt-Right and populist politics
• Free speech and liberty online
• Regulation and data misuse of online political spaces
• Gender and online politics
• Big data and politics

Abstracts are to be submitted to digitalpeople.digitalpolitics@gmail.com by March 21st 2019. We are open to:

• Individual papers (250 word abstract with a short academic bio, plus any specific requirements authors may have).
• Panel proposals (250 word abstract with a short academic bio for each person, additional 250 word abstract for the panel as a whole, plus any specific requirements authors may have).
• Workshops (1.5 hours – 250 word abstract with the aims and a description of the proposed workshop, short academic bios of workshop organisers plus any specific requirements organisers may have)
• Posters/ multimedia presentations/ art (250 word abstract with a short academic bio, any relevant URLS, plus any specific requirements).

All applicants will be notified as to whether or not they have been invited to present by 15th April, 2019.

For updated information on the conference, please see the website

Prague Media Point Conference

November 21-23, 2019

Prague, Czech Republic

Deadline:  May 15, 2019

Scholars from all disciplines and interdisciplinary fields are kindly invited to submit their abstracts.

Volumes have been written and numerous events have been held over the past decade lamenting the plight of the media in the modern world. Much less attention has been paid to what’s actually working. That is why the 2019 edition of the Prague Media Point will highlight inspiring examples that have managed to overcome the challenges the media are facing these days.

We encourage submissions of abstracts that focus on examples in the media that appear to be working and generating impact in the following subjects and topics, though this list is not exhaustive:

• Technology in editorial work and content delivery
• Engagement through social media
• Examples of solutions or constructive journalism
• Trust-building techniques
• Different forms of storytelling
• Youth-driven news delivery
• Innovative business and ownership models
• Diversity in the newsroom
• Minority media

Submission deadline: May 15, 2019

• Learn about the cutting-edge examples of innovations
• Network with leading professionals and experts in an informal setting
• Stay for the stunning scenery of Prague

For more information on submission, deadlines, and fees go to http://www.praguemediapoint.com