May 25, 2023

Toronto, Canada

Deadline: January 15, 2023

Participants should focus on specific metaphors, groups of metaphors, discourses around metaphors, and reconstruct their histories over time and in certain cultural settings. The local and global dimension of metaphors is indeed crucial and the organizers aim to have a broad representation of different sets of metaphors in different cultures. 

Metaphors have also to do with digital media theory. Metaphors are useful tool to make theories, they can be transversal to different fields and disciplines or, on the contrary, they increase the fragmentation of media and communication theories. Also in this case, the preconference aims to bring together scholars able to link empirical case studies of digital metaphors over time and theoretical perspectives on the relevance of these metaphors. 

Please send your abstract of max 250 words to gabriele.balbi@usi.ch and carlos.scolari@gmail.com  by 15 January 2023. Remember to include in the abstract the category or categories to which your submission refers to:

• Metaphors of transportation (e.g. info highways, surfing, etc.)
  
• Metaphors of human body (e.g. electronic brain, artificial intelligence, etc.) 
  
• Metaphors of nature (e.g. cloud, etc.)
  
• Metaphors of building (e.g. windows, etc.)
  
• Old media metaphors (e.g. envelopes, 3.5 floppy, etc.) 
  
• Objects metaphors (e.g. clocks, bells, etc.)
  
• Metaphors of places (e.g. agorà, square, etc.) 
  
• Other categories.
  

This preconference will have a peculiar structure and aims: it is made of classic presentations, but also would stimulate reflections on specific workshops/hackathon in which these and other metaphors will be discussed. The final aim is to create a group of scholars which could be later contribute to an edited book we plan to publish from the precon. For this reason, this preconference might be just the first workshop and others may follow in the future months.

Important dates:

• 15 January 2023: Submissions’ deadline
  
• 15 February 2023: Notifications of acceptance
  
• 25 May 2023: Preconference
  

Organization: conference organized by Gabriele Balbi (USI – Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland) and Carlos A. Scolari (Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Barcelona, Spain) 

Division Affiliation: ICA Communication History Division  

Sponsor: University of Toronto – St. Michael’s College

Venue: McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology (Coach House), 39A Queens Park Crescent East, Toronto, Ontario

More info here: https://digitalmetaphors.wordpress.com/