ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Brunel University 

Deadline: July 2, 2019

The Department of Arts & Humanities is seeking to appoint a suitably  qualified lecturer to teach on and help grow the Department’s  MA in  Media and Public Relations. 

Part-time, (17.5 hours per week), Two-year fixed term contract

Salary (H3): Pro rata of £39,511 to £50,483 per annum including London  Allowance 

The Department of Arts & Humanities is seeking to appoint a suitably  qualified lecturer to teach on and help grow the Department’s  MA in  Media and Public Relations. The MA provides students with practical  skills in building PR campaigns combined with theoretical understanding  of Media and PR practices. We are therefore looking for someone who has  professional experience in public relations, a Ph.D (or near  completion)  in media, communication, public relations, cultural studies  or cognate fields and a research programme going forward. Evidence of  teaching experience at Higher Education level is also essential. 

The successful applicant will also be expected to participate in at  least one of the College research centres, Entrepreneurship and  Sustainability and Global Lives, or a University Research Institute. 

Informal enquiries about the post can be made to the Convenor of the MA  in Media and PR, Professor Michael Wayne (Michael.wayne@brunel.ac.uk). 

Closing date for applications: 2 July 2019

This position does not meet the University criteria for Tier 2  sponsorship

Special issue of Nordicom Review

Deadline: November 15, 2019

Deadline for full paper submissions:19 April 2020

Editors: Johan Lindell (Karlstad University), Peter

Jakobsson (Södertörn University), Fredrik Stiernstedt (Södertörn University)

Social class underlies many debates within contemporary media and communications research. It is implicitly featured in debates about algorithmic targeting, digital surveillance and social sorting. It is also featured in debates about political communication, fake news and polarisation, as well as in relation to issues of media representations and media use. Social changes and phenomena in urgent need of attention such as increasing economic and cultural inequality and the rise of populist political movements are related to media and communication systems, while also being closely related to issues of class. Especially from a Nordic perspective, social class is more than ever a category that is needed in media research. The persistence of the idea of a Nordic exceptionalism and a Nordic (media) welfare state, against a reality of increasing social inequalities, makes it urgent to include a theoretical perspective on social class in analyses of the role and functioning of the media in the Nordic countries.

The purpose of this special issue of Nordicom Review is to showcase the need to include social class as a central category in media and communications research, as well as to analyse how it intersects with other social dimensions such as race, gender, sexuality, age etc.

Contributions to the Special Issue should address*one of the many areas in which social class is crucial for our understanding of media and communication. We welcome contributions that deal with social class in any media forms and genres, and that address social class from either the perspective of production, text or reception. Authors are free to adopt and/or develop any of the established theoretical notions of social class. The focus on the Nordic (media) welfare state means that contributions that highlight issues of social class in the Nordic region – in a single country or comparatively – are especially welcomed.

Contributions that provide opportunities for international comparisons are also welcome.

 The deadline for full paper submissions is 19 April 2020

The preliminary time of publication is winter 2020/2021. The selection of papers to be published will take place according to the following three-step procedure:

Step 1: Authors are requested to submit the title and abstract (600 words max. incl. references) of their papers along with five to six keywords and short bios (150 words max. for each author) to the Special Issue editors.

The deadline for submission of full abstracts is 15 November 2019 and the authors will be notified of the eventual acceptance by the end of December 2019 at the latest.

Step 2: If the abstracts are accepted, authors will be requested to submit full papers (7,000 words max. inclusive of any front or end matter) anonymised for double-blind review and formatted according tothe /Nordicom Review/ guidelines

The deadline for submission of full anonymised papers is 19 April 2020* after which a double-blind peer review will take place. Please note that if the submitted papers are incompatible with the earlier/accepted abstracts or are of insufficient academic quality, the Special Issue editors reserve the right to reject such papers in line with///Nordicom Review/’s editorial policy

Feedback from reviewers will be sent to authors by the end of June 2020 at the latest.

The deadline for submission of revised manuscripts is 30 September 2020.

For any questions as well as abstract and paper submission please contact:

• Johan Lindell, Karlstad University
• johan.lindell@kau.se
• Peter Jakobsson, Södertörn University
• peter.jakobsson@sh.se

About Nordicom Review

Nordicom Review is an international peer-reviewed open-access journal published by Nordicom (Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research) at the University of Gothenburg. The publication of Nordicom Review is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Nordicom Review is indexed by SCOPUS. For more information, please visit www.nordicom.gu.se.

View this CFP on Nordicom's website: https://www.nordicom.gu.se/sv/aktuellt/nyheter/call-papers-class-inand-media

Special Issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics

Deadline: September 1, 2019

In recent years, democracies appear to have been caught off guard by pitfalls associated with the rise of digital media. Issues such as mass surveillance, disinformation, declining trust in journalism, challenges to journalistic institutions, electoral interference, partisan polarization, and increasing toxicity online threaten democratic norms, institutions, and governance.

While these phenomena have raised widespread concerns in the United States and have been the subject of vast bodies of US-centric research, there is much to be learned from addressing these issues in a comparative perspective—by studying digital media and politics both inside and outside the US and highlighting generalizable implications.

The media and political systems in the United States function in ways that are quite different from most Western democracies and most of the concerns highlighted above have been paramount in the US. However, other countries have also experienced high levels of polarization, substantial foreign interference, erosion of democratic norms, and weakening media institutions. In some cases, these developments occurred and required political responses well before the same issues came to the forefront in the United States.

Comparative research, both across time and across space, can shed light on how countries adapt and respond to digital threats to democracy. How can democratic competition, representation, and inclusiveness be safeguarded amidst challenges to their foundations?

What lessons can we learn by comparing how these processes unfold and how institutions respond across democratic and non-democratic countries?

Research Topics

This special issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics aims to shed light on three key sets of questions on the evolving relationship between digital media and politics. First, what insights can we glean from comparing liberal democracies to each other? How have democracies approached the frequently competing goals of protecting free speech, privacy, and anonymity, regulating political speech on digital media, ensuring fair elections, and promoting competitive digital markets? Second, what lessons can we learn from the experiences of countries where liberal and democratic norms cannot be taken for granted? Finally, how do existing political and media institutions shape the political impact of, and responses to, digital disruptions and threats?

We invite submissions that make both theoretical and empirical contributions to existing bodies of knowledge in the comparative study of political communication, elections, public opinion, digital media, and democracy. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Disinformation Campaigns: How is the propagation of (or accusation of propagating) disinformation used to damage opponents and mislead or confuse segments of the public? How are these strategies resisted in practice?

• Surveillance: What is the relationship between the need for connectivity and the need for privacy? What are the individual and systemic consequences of failing constitutional, regulatory, or normative protections of privacy?

• Violence and Intimidation: Do mechanisms that allow citizens to coordinate collective action also facilitate violence against other citizens? Are journalists, politicians, and activists more vulnerable to threats and coercion when professional norms require they maintain a social media presence that potentially exposes them to abuse and limits their privacy?

• Mobile Politics: What are the implications for political equality of the global growth in mobile online connectivity, especially among sectors of the population that do not use computers? How does easy-to-use, ephemeral, and encrypted mobile communication contribute to political discourse, mobilization, and engagement?

• Platform Politics: How well can US-born or US-centric platforms respond to democratic challenges in other countries? Should digital platforms provide bespoke solutions to non-US problems, and how can they accomplish that?

An international workshop exploring these issues, hosted by the Social Science Research Council, took place in New York on 13-14 June 2019. Participants were invited after an open call for proposals. This special issue is open to any contributions focusing on the themes described here—whether they were included in the SSRC workshop or not.

Submission Information

Manuscript submissions for this special issue are due on 1 September 2019. Please submit your work through our online submission portal and ensure that the first line of the cover letter states: “Manuscript to be considered for the special issue on Digital

Threats to Democracy”. Manuscripts should follow the IJPP submission guidelines. Submissions will be subject to a double-blind peer review process and must not have been published, accepted for publication, or under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors interested in submitting their work are encouraged to contact Cristian Vaccari (c.vaccari@lboro.ac.uk), Editor-in-Chief of The International Journal of Press/Politics, with questions.

Expected Timeline

• Paper submissions: 1 September 2019
• First decision: 1 November 2019
• Paper revisions: 1 January 2020
• Final decision: 1 March 2020
• Online publication: April 2020
• Print publication: July 2020

October 31, 2019

University of Bonn, Germany

Deadline: August 31, 2019

Leading up to the the ECREA Midterm Conference of the Mediatization Section, YECREA is happy to announce a PhD workshop with the goal to aide young scholars with a shared interest in the field of mediatization research by providing a platform to discuss their work and connect with peers from diverse backgrounds and in different stages of their career.

The workshop will be held on the afternoon of the 31st of October (exact schedule and location to be announce). Participants will be given the opportunity to present and discuss their own work with an audience of both young scholars and experienced researchers. The format lives from the experiences and struggles of its individual participants, therefore we explicitly welcome applications in all stages of the PhD research process – from early conceptualizations to almost finished projects.

How to apply

To apply, send a brief abstract of the work you want to present (up to 500 words) to jakob.hoertnagl@phil.uni-augsburg.de.

The abstract should include research questions, theoretical foundations of the project, methods used and preliminary findings (if available). For review purposes, please omit any personal information from the abstract itself. Add author name, institutional affiliation and the stage of your project in the accompanying e-mail

Geographical and topical diversity will be considered as part of the evaluation process. While the workshop is tailored to young scholars with an explicit interest in the mediatization approach, we encourage everyone who is engaged with research on social and cultural change vis-à-vis new media technologies, both empirically and theoretically, to apply.

Application deadline: 31 August

In an attempt to create synergies and opportunities of collaboration, we also want to encourage young scholars to apply to the main event (Deadline for the CfP is the 15th of June). We will actively work towards bringing together young and senior scholars during the whole conference by creating opportunities for feedback and mentorship.

Accepted presenters will be informed by 15th of September, 2019. A small fee of 20€ per person (40€ for those with full-time employment) will be raised to cover expenses for snacks and refreshments during the workshop.

Additionally, the YECREA plans to organize a mutual dinner on the evening of the workshop for all those who plan to stay for the main event and/or want to seize the opportunity for an informal get-together.

MeCCSA 2020 Conference

January 8-10, 2020

University of Brighton

Deadline: July 15, 2019

The Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association are pleased to invite the submission of abstracts, panel proposals and practice-based contributions for the MeCCSA 2020 Conference, to be held from 8-10 January 2020 at the University of Brighton. The theme of the conference is Media Interactions and Environments.

Key Note Speakers:

• Professor Trine Syvertsen, University of Oslow
• Professor Sarah Kember, Goldsmiths University of London

Interactions with media are increasingly woven into the textures and cultural politics of our everyday lives. When the spaces of our homes, shops, schools, offices and cities are so intensively mediatised, media become our environment, brought to life through our mundane, personal, professional, creative, commercial and political interactions. What might be the wider implications of these media and cultural experiences and encounters? Whose voices and perspectives are included or excluded, and how are power and agency reconfigured, realigned and reproduced in this complex media landscape? The theme Media Interactions and Environments is designed to address this critical moment in contemporary media culture, and appeal to a broad range of media, communication and cultural studies topics, interests and approaches.

This conference theme is deliberately expansive, so as to include, amongst others, analysis of media texts, technologies, practices, audiences, institutions and experiences. Media interactions might be digital, cultural, political, emotional and imaginative. Environments could be spatial, political, representational, urban, local, physical, virtual and ecological. Our aim is to enable the MeCCSA community to question how we should live responsibly and ethically in a politically and ecologically changing world, through an exploration of the central role of media cultures and creative practices in addressing social, political and climate-based challenges.

​We invite proposals for scholarly papers, themed panels, posters, film screenings and other practice-based contributions. Proposals might engage with the various social, political, economic, artistic, individual, collective, institutional, representational and technological dimensions of media interactions and environments. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• ​Media, communication and inequality: exploring race, gender, sexuality, class, generation and (dis)ability
• Datafication, agency and power
• Ecologies of media industries
• Social movements, activism and civic engagement
• Transformative learning environments and pedagogy
• Participatory media and collective engagement
• Popular culture, media and representations of the environment
• Media archaeology, sustainability and archives
• Digital cultures and immersive technologies, practices, audiences and experiences
• Communicating and envisioning futures
• Critical and creative responses to the anthropocene
• Visual cultures, representations and experiences

We welcome contributions across the full range of interests represented by MeCCSA and its networks, including, but not limited to:

• Race, ethnicity and postcolonial studies
• Representation, identity, ideology
• Film and television studies and practice
• Radio studies and practice
• Cultural and media policy
• Social movements and activism
• ​Climate change, sustainability and environment
• Digital culture and games studies
• Gender and sexuality studies
• Disability studies within media studies
• Media pedagogy
• BAME experiences of media and culture industries
• ​Children, young people and media
• Diasporic and ethnic minority media
• Political communication
• Methodological approaches
• Media practice research and teaching
• Community media

Submitting a proposal

Individual abstracts should be up to 250 words, accompanied by an author bio of no more than 200 words. Panel proposals should include a short description and rationale (200 words) together with abstracts for each of the 3-4 papers, and the name and contact details of the panel proposer. The panel proposer should coordinate the submissions for that panel as a single proposal.

Practice-based work

We actively support the presentation of practice-as-research and have a flexible approach to practice papers and presentations. This may include opportunities to present papers and screenings in the same sessions or as part of a separate screening strand. We also welcome shorter papers in association with short screenings. We also have dedicated presentation spaces to display practice artefacts including screenings, posters and computer-based work. For displaying practice work, please include specific technical data (e.g. duration, format) and a URL pointing to any support material when submitting your abstract. We expect delegates who are showing screenings to be present at the conference.

Please note that all proposals (abstracts and practice-based work) will be peer reviewed. PGRs are welcome to submit.

Timeline of submissions and reviews

Please submit proposals to: meccsa2020@brighton.ac.uk

Submission deadline: 15 July 2019

Review decision: September 2019

Early bird rates: available to November 2019

January 9-11, 2020

American University of Beirut

Deadline: July 31, 2019

Over the last decade, and in the wake of popular protest movements and uprisings that swept the region, scholarship on the Middle East has come a long way in recognizing the contested and pivotal role of media in shaping the political imaginaries and repertoires of action across the region. >From the 2009 Green movement in Iran, to the 2011 Arab uprisings, to the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Turkey, Middle East scholars across disciplines increasingly turned their attention to the role of media – and social media in particular – in political organization, mobilization, and dissent under authoritarian regimes. Across these varied contexts, where political activity is largely restricted and freedom of expression violently repressed, new media such as social networking platforms and mobile technology were credited with heralding a new era of political participation and dissent. The revolution, some argued, will be tweeted, and the socially-mediated network, many noted, managed to leverage individual discontent for collective action.

With the aim of interrogating this techno-utopian outlook, amidst the entrenched inequalities and repressive politics that continue to plague the region, this conference seeks to move the conversation from the front-end to the back-end of media: from networks, as it were, to infrastructures. How does a focus on the material conditions and labor that channel and process communication flows unsettle what we understand media to be and what they can accomplish in the Middle East? How can an inquiry into media infrastructures inform our understanding of the economic, political, and cultural boundaries and flows that constitute the Middle East as region? And, what are the political stakes of this infrastructural turn?

If infrastructure is the “basic physical and organizational structures and facilities…needed for the operation of a society or enterprise,” then we can think of media infrastructures along these same lines – as the building blocks of our entire mediascape. Platforms, data centers, software, algorithms, and human labor shape and transform media industries and everyday media practices. This conference explores how these technological and organizational infrastructures are embedded within and reproduce power relations and inequalities, but also how they condition human agency and struggles for social justice.

We are particularly interested in papers that examine the social, material, cultural and political dimensions of media infrastructures (digital or otherwise), and related issues, such as the built and natural environments, surveillance, privacy, interconnectivity, labor conditions, access, and the reproduction or disruption of social inequalities.

Other topics that papers might explore in relation to the conference theme are:

• Technological development
• Conflict and Displacement
• Accessibility
• Surveillance
• Counter surveillance
• Online violence
• Information infrastructures
• The politics of platforms
• Labor conditions
• Economies of repair and breakdown
• Digital platforms as infrastructure
• Social, political and epistemological consequences
• Impact on communication and circulation of data
• Online participation and mobility
• Knowledge production
• And other related themes

We invite submissions (maximum 400 words) on the variety of topics listed above, or others that engage with the conference theme. Submissions should include: author name(s), affiliation, email address, paper title, and a brief bio, and be emailed to mediastudies@aub.edu.lb no later than July 31st.

Decisions on acceptances of abstracts will be communicated by mid to late August.

A limited number of modest travel subsidies may be available. Applicants should identify in their email if they would like to be considered.

For further information, please contact the organizers: The Media Studies Program at the American University of Beirut at the email address listed above.

Bergen University

Deadline: August 27, 2019

At the Department of Information and Media Science’s branch in the media cluster Media City Bergen, there are two vacant PhD positions available within the fields of media technology and innovation. Both positions are for 4 years and 25 percent of the total appointment time is dedicated to duty work at the Department.

The positions are part of the Department's branch in Media City Bergen (MCB). MCB is an internationally leading, innovative knowledge cluster within the fields of media technology and media production. Here, the Department is co-located with companies such as TV2, NRK, BT, Vizrt, Vimond, IBM, and ITV Studios. Those who are appointed will develop their own research projects leading to a doctorate. As part of their work, the candidates are also expected to contribute to teaching in the field of media technology and innovation and to cultivate a dialogue between the research environment and the industry in Media City Bergen.

The fields of media technology and innovation are important in research and social contexts. In the media cluster, Media City Bergen puts emphasis on furthering innovation both in education, research and industry. All organizations and companies experience pressure to be innovative and inventive, while at the same time being able to understand and master both volatile and permanent technological change. All disciplines, occupations and sectors in society are experiencing this.

About the project/work tasks:

The University of Bergen contributes to innovation in Media City Bergen through research-based knowledge and teaching, often in collaboration with companies in the media cluster.

The two PhD scholarships will strengthen research and contribute to increasing academic activity in the fields of media technology and innovation within journalism and related media content, and within the study of media users and media design. Candidates will in particular be attached to the academic community in Media City Bergen within the areas of media innovation, technology, and production, but also to the disciplines of information science and media studies at the Department of Information and Media Studies.

The two PhD scholarships within media technology and innovation have the following academic thematic focus:

Theme 1: Technology and journalism

As a PhD candidate, you will strengthen research in the area of ​​technology in relation to journalism. This may for example involve the development of new information technology tools for investigative journalism and storytelling, or an exploration of how information technology affects journalistic practice and content. This may be technological solutions for the presentation of journalistic content in new ways, for example immersive journalism for Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), or intelligent user interfaces for media using artificial intelligence or the like. The candidate will be associated with the Department's academic environment for journalism, media production and media technology in Media City Bergen, including the University’s Center for Investigative Journalism (SUJO) also in Media City Bergen. Collaboration with industry partners in the media cluster is desirable.

Theme 2: Media use, design and technology

As a PhD candidate, you will strengthen research in the areas of media use, design and technology. This may involve methodically satisfactory evaluations using advanced biometric technology such as eye tracking, physiological response measurements, as well as video, field notes and interviewing, as well as statistics, surveys, and A-B testing. Relevant demographic groups to study are children and parents, schoolchildren, young adults, retirees and the elderly. The candidate will be associated with the Department's academic environment within interaction research and human-machine interaction (HCI), and collaboration with industry partners in the media cluster is desirable.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• Masters degree in Media and Interaction Design, Information Science, Informatics, Cognitive Science or similar competence
• • Applicants who have submitted their master thesis at the time of application can apply. It is a precondition that the applicant has obtained the master's degree before the actual hiring can take place.
  • The minimum requirements are generally grade B or better on Master thesis and for the Master degree in total
• Experience with relevant technology from education, teaching and / or research is an advantage.
• Work independently and structured and have good collaborative skills
• Great working capacity and enthusiasm for research
• Utilize written and oral English

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview.

About the PhD position (applies to university PhD positions):

About the PhD position:

The duration of the PhD position is 4 years, of which 25 per cent of the time comprises obligatory duties associated with research, teaching and dissemination of results. The employment period for the successful candidate may be reduced if he or she previously has been employed in a PhD position.

About the research training:

As a PhD research fellow, you will take part in the doctoral educational program at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UiB. The program corresponds to a period of three years and leads to the submission of the PhD dissertation. To be eligible for admission you must have completed a Master degree. The educational background must be equivalent to a five-year Master education, including a two-year Master degree and a Master thesis at least 30 ECTS. It is expected that the topic of the Master degree is connected to the academic field to which you are seeking admission.

We can offer:

• Salary at pay grade 54 upon appointment (Code 1017) on the government salary scale (equivalent to NOK 479 600,- per year). Further promotions are made according to length of service in the position
• A job situated in vibrant media cluster with innovative research and industry environments and very good facilities
• A good and professionally challenging working environment
• Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• A position in an inclusive workplace (IA enterprise)
• Good welfare benefits

Your application must include:

• A 2000-3000 word long statement about the applicants motivation for applying for the PhD position – including how you will fit the position. This text must clarify whether you apply for the position that focuses on “Technology and Journalism” or the position that focuses on “Media use, design and technology”. The text must also include a discussion about how your academic background and research interests are relevant to the position, and the theoretical and methodological perspectives that are particularly relevant for your research as a PhD candidate
• The names and contact information for two reference persons. One of them must be the main advisor for the master's thesis or equivalent thesis
• CV
• Transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master's degrees.
• Relevant certificates/references
• A list of academic publications
• Academic publications that you want to submit for assessment (including your master’s thesis or equivalent)

If you have a master's degree from an institution outside of the Nordic countries, or a 2-year discipline- based master's degree (or the equivalent) in a subject area other than the one associated with the application, you may later in the application process be asked to submit an overview of the syllabus for the degree you have completed

The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded at Jobbnorge following the link on this page marked “Apply for this job”.

The application has to be marked: 19/7019

Closing date: August 27, 2019

Applications submitted without a project description or applications sent as e-mails will not be considered. Only submitted documents will be subjected to an expert assessment.

General information:

Additional information about the position is obtainable by contacting Head of Department, Professor Leif Ove Larsen, e-mail Leif.Larsen@uib.no, phone (+47) 55 58 41 16.

Practical questions regarding the application procedures should be directed to senior officer Bodil Hægland, phone +47 55 58 90 53, e-mail: bodil.hagland@uib.no.

Appointed research fellows will be admitted to the doctoral education program at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Further information about the program is available on the webpage http://www.uib.no/en/svf/37940/doctoral-education. Questions about the program may be directed to senior officer Hanne Gravermoen, e-mail: hanne.gravermoen@uib.no, phone: +47 55 58 90 68.

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. Age and gender balance among employees is therefore a goal. It is also a goal to recruit people with immigrant backgrounds. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at all times.

For further information about the recruitment process, click here .

Deadline: October 15, 2019

Archival practices in the 20th and early-21st century have been understood in a variety of ways. For some, “artists started to rely on the topos of the archive to express their unease about canonic systems for the production of knowledge” (Giannachi, 2016: 131). For others, a reviewing of the archive as a power structure and the blind spots, or silences, it produced was in order (Michel-Rolph Trouillot, 1995: 53). For others still, this ‘archival turn’ grew out of a fascination with historiography and with memory (Spieker, 2008: 26), characteristic of postmodern societies. Two main theoretical frameworks have been consistently called forth in contemporary studies of the archive. First, that of Michel Foucault’s association of the archive not with a building or with the documents there contained, but with the system that governs its ordering, and structures the knowledge there encased [2002 (1969): 145]. Second, Jacques Derrida’s proposition in Archive Fever that the archive is reliant on an archivist as both a guardian and an interpreter, and that of the paradox enclosed in the notion that saving, or remembering, everything will only lead to the destruction of the archive, for if something cannot be found, it will forgotten (1995: 12).

Filmic engagement with the archive has taken a variety of shapes. From the particularities moving images pose to processes of classification and conservation; to the archival associations of ethnographic film; or to montage, avant-garde and artistic practices that might be read under the umbrella of ‘archiveology’: where archival films “can have a real effect on the archive itself”(Russell, 2018: 90).

The book we propose — Archives in ‘Lusophone’ Film — aims to expand this area of knowledge into a region that has yet to see an expansive international study: the ‘Lusophone’ world. Having lived through an imperialistic and colonial past, the vast majority of Portuguese-speaking countries have faced political disturbances and censorship, economic hindrances and quick developments that raise questions about history and memory, in the public and private sphere, in political, social and cultural terms, and the way in which these have been (or are still to be) archived. Although there are a number of places in the diaspora that still speak Portuguese, ten territories have Portuguese as their official language: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe. Here we do not seek to imply that the notion of the ‘Lusophone’ is bounded by geographical and linguist regions, instead we look to question these assumptions as remnants of a colonial system that influenced the construction of archives in these territories, identifying both internal and external links and tensions.

Fostered by the ‘Cinema and the World - Studies on Space and Cinema’ cluster at THELEME – Interarts and Intermedia research group, Centre for Comparative Studies, University of Lisbon, the book will be grounded on case studies – particularly that of film, be it documental, fictional or experimental – to illuminate broader archival processes and thinking.

We invite proposals for individual papers on topics related to Archives in 'Lusophone' Film, which may include but are not limited to:

• comparative study of archival processes and methodologies during dictatorships and authoritarian regimes in 'Lusophone' countries;
• colonial, anti-colonial and post-colonial perspectives on film archives;
• the role of the archive on the construction of history;
• cultural heritage and collective memory practices: the reconfiguration of memory in archival film works;
• filmic archival self-reflexivity;
• the status of the 'original' within found footage;
• independent and institutional archival spaces and exhibition venues;
• curatorship of archival films;
• copyright, legal issues and policy;
• collection, preservation and availability within institutional archives.

Please send your 500-750 word proposal and 100 word bionote, as well as 3-5 keywords to archivelusophonefilm@gmail.com by October 15, 2019. We welcome initial email enquiries to discuss possible proposals.

Final submissions will be 5000-6000 words, in English, and submitted by April 30, 2020.

A one-day workshop with the selected authors will be held at the School of Arts & Humanities, University of Lisbon, in June 2020.

Any questions should be sent to Sandra Camacho, Ana Bela Morais and Filipa Rosário (School of Arts & Humanities, University of Lisbon).

ECREA Communication History Section book proposal

Deadline: July 9, 2019

ECREA Communication History Section is launching a call for chapters for a new book project tentatively entitled Historicizing media and communication concepts of the digital age. The book aims to historicize some of the most relevant ideas and concepts in contemporary digital media studies, and will appear in the series “Studies in digital history and hermeneutics” directed by Andreas Fickers (DeGruyter Editor). The volume will be both online with free access and printed thanks to the support of C2DH at the University of Luxembourg, and will be edited by Gabriele Balbi, Nelson Ribeiro, Valérie Schafer and Christian Schwarzenegger – the former and current management team.

The main goal of the book is to show how several concepts did not originate with digital technologies, but existed before the digital age and have been used for long time, also in the “analogue times”. This should help to understand how concepts have changed over time and to see both continuities and profound mutations in their meanings between past and present, between the analog and digital eras. We have selected more than 20 concepts and part of them will be assigned thanks to this Call for Chapters.

We are looking for authors for the following words/concepts:

• Fake News
• Virtual/Reality
• Convergence
• Mobility
• Divide/Inequalities
• Multimedia
• Privacy/Private Life
• Data
• Network
• Sharing
• Piracy

If you or your team of authors are willing to write a chapter of 5’000-6’000 words, please express your interest to christian.schwarzenegger@phil.uni-augsburg.de by July 9, 2019 and enclose an interest statement (no more than 500 words) mentioning the concept you selected and giving us a few a details on:

– How would you historicize this concept?

– How is the concept you selected linked to your previous work and why did you pick it? (small biography)

– Which are the media historical examples you plan to consider in your chapter?

For more info: https://ecreahistorysection.com/last-news-2/

We are very excited to launch this new book project and we are looking forward to reading your proposals.

Gabriele Balbi, Nelson Ribeiro, Valérie Schafer and Christian Schwarzenegger

November 1, 2019

Coventry University

Deadline: July 31, 2019

MeCCSA Local and Community Media Network

Abstracts are invited for a one-day symposium examining the current landscape for local and community media. The event is the first organised by the MeCCSA Local and Community Media Network and aims to bring together scholars and practitioners together to reappraise the sector as it undergoes rapid change and disruption. Keynote sessions will be delivered by Professor Bridgette Wessels from Glasgow University, researcher in the REGPRESS project, which is based in Sweden and which is examining the role of regional and local press, and Matthew Barraclough, head of BBC Local News Partnerships.

Papers which examine any area of the above are welcome and may include both theoretical reflections and practice-based interventions to consider the range of responses to this disruption and how those relate to the perceived role and purpose of local and community media.

Areas which might be addressed include, but are not limited to:

• Local democratic processes
• Social justice
• Information provision
• Local media ecosystems
• Communities
• Policy makers
• Media entrepreneurs and emerging business models
• Alternative local and community media
• Interventions, for instance the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Facebook-funded Community News Project.

Papers will be peer-reviewed. Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a cover sheet with a brief biographical note, your institutional affiliation (where relevant) and your contact details (including your email address). Abstracts should be sent to network chair r.matthews@coventry.ac.uk. Please address any queries to the same address in the first instance.

Closing date for proposals: July 31 2019. You will be notified of the acceptance of your paper by early September.

The event will be held at Coventry University in the Midlands of the UK on Friday, November 1, 2019. A nominal fee of £10 will be charged for attendance. A limited number of travel grants will also be available to enable attendance by PG/ECR researchers. Please state on your abstract if you would like to be considered for a grant and the amount requested.