November 20-21, 2020

Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Charles University, Prague

Deadline: June 15, 2020

International Colloquium

Societies are in a permanent dialogue with change. Change is dealt with in configurations of the present and societies’ visions of the future, entailing reflections and re-constructions of the past. Our apprehension of the features and dimensions of change drives political, economic and cultural responses, at the individual and collective level. Furthermore, change is perceived as a positive or negative outcome or prospect, as an opportunity or a threat, driving the social actors’ struggles for maintenance or reconfiguration of power positions.

This colloquium aims to bring together scholars from a diverse set of foci and backgrounds, from the broad area of media and communication studies, to examine, discuss and reflect upon, through various approaches and methods, how change is constructed, in media and communication practices.

Diverse settings, fields and practices can be objects or loci of study (e.g., journalism, political communication, advertising, campaigning, activism, education, culture, sports) in an exploration of how change is represented, negotiated, contested and appropriated by actors and groups in the social realm.

We welcome contributions related, but not limited, to the following thematic areas:

• how societal phenomena, challenges and crises (e.g., epidemics and pandemics, climate change, migration, war and conflict, extremism) are mediated and reconfigured through the prism of change, at the national, European and international level;
• how different actors, social groups and institutions (e.g., media, political parties, education, religion) negotiate, in mediated environments, their identities and societal roles, in times of change;
• how communicators and mediators apprehend, and deal with, change, in a world in flux;
• how different ideological positions are articulated in public discourse, in visions about stability and change of national and European identity;
• how history is brought into communicative practices and public debates about the present and the future;
• how Europe is represented, in public discourse, through the prism of change.

Abstracts of 500 words (in English) can be submitted by 15 June 2020 to Vaia Doudaki (vaia.doudaki@fsv.cuni.cz)

Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 10 July 2020.

Amongst the aims of the colloquium is the publication of an international edited collection or a special issue of an international peer-reviewed journal, with selected contributions from the colloquium’s participants. More details will be provided later.

For this purpose, participants will be expected to pre-circulate drafts of works in progress in advance of the colloquium.

Deadline for pre-circulation of draft works in progress: 2 November 2020

Our intention is to hold an in-person event, in Prague. We will be monitoring closely how the Covid-19 pandemic evolves and will consider alternatives to this model, if need be.

For news and updates, visit the colloquium’s web page.

The colloquium is organised by the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism (Charles University).

The colloquium is supported by the 4EU+ consortium project “Mediating Change: Strengthening collaboration in research and research-oriented education” (Charles University, University of Copenhagen, University of Warsaw), and by DESIRE, the Centre for the study of Democracy, Signification and Resistance.