folklore feminists communication
Newsletter of the AFS Women's Section
Announcements and Calls for Papers
CFP: Reality Television [2 May 2005]
With the continuing presence of reality TV on our nation’s airwaves, it is clearly time for a more thorough, scholarly analysis of the effects of reality television upon our society. This proposed volume of essays will bring together work on reality television by scholars from numerous fields, providing analyses of this complex phenomenon through several different theoretical lenses. The philosophy motivating the selection of materials will be the notion that we must analyze the social implications of reality television now that it has become a major part of our daily cultural diet. Millions of people watch reality programs every day, yet there are, as yet, very few published works examining the social effects of this phenomenon. Each essay chosen for inclusion in this volume, then, will address the social implications of reality TV through one or more theoretical lenses. Specifically, we are looking for essays that examine this issue from the perspectives of cultural studies, film studies, psychoanalysis, sociology, and history. A phenomenon as diverse in nature and in implication as reality TV must be examined through a variety of different lenses. A single approach to the study of this genre will be limited and will not reveal all of the facets of these cultural texts.
Essay submissions should consider the following types of questions:
For essays in the Cultural Studies section:
How does reality television deal with issues of authenticity and representation?
How are we to read the narrative tropes used in reality television?
What forms of signification are used in reality programming, and how are they decoded by audiences?
How do the effects of reality television compare to the effects of
other cultural texts, from television sitcoms and dramas to literary works, films, plays, etc.?
For essays in the Film Studies section:
How do reality programs compare (in theory or in practice) to documentary films?
How does the (male? other?) gaze function in the hyper-voyeuristic world of reality TV?
How is editing used to create a narrative in reality television as opposed to film or other television genres?
What sorts of framing devices are used in reality programs, and how do they compare to the frames used in films?
For essays in the Psychoanalysis section:
How does reality TV create subject positions?
What do these shows do to our already fragmented sense of identity?
With their hypersexual stagings of desire, what do reality shows tell us about the functioning of the sex drive and of desire in our culture?
What do these shows tell us about the ways in which we deal with loss, otherness, and the search for self?
For essays in the Socio-Historical section:
What are the links between the development of reality television and the workings of late capitalist multinationalism?
What are the economic forces behind the surge in reality TV, and how do those forces effect both program creation and reception?
What happens when reality shows are taken from one cultural context to another, and why have so many British programs been transferred successfully to the United
States?
What is the difference in “truthfulness” or “historical accuracy” between the show as broadcast and its subsequent VHS or DVD release, which generally includes “bonus
material?”
Have these shows altered the way we think about historical or social
change? Have they added to or detracted from our standards for documentation?
Essay submissions should be 20-25 pp. long, in MLA format.
Submissions are accepted either as hard copies, or electronically (in one of the following formats: .doc, .pdf, or .rtf)
Please send submissions by May 2, 2005 to:
David S. Escoffery
Department of Theatre and Dance
Southwest Missouri State University
901 S. National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65807
Or electronically to: dse767f@smsu.edu
posted 3/14/2005
Conference: Language, Communication, Culture (CFP forthcoming)
The 3rd International Language, Communication, Culture‚ Conference
University of Évora, Portugal
23 ˆ 25 November, 2005
First Announcement
The 3rd International 'Language, Communication, Culture' Conference, to
be held in Évora, Portugal, November 23-25, 2005, offers an opportunity
to bring together academics, intellectuals and practitioners in the
areas of media and cultural studies and the social sciences and
humanities from around the world and to promote informed discussion on
globalisation, democracy and culture as a theme relevant for
intellectual work in language, communication and culture studies,
research and practice.
The Conference is organised by the staff and associates of the ŒCulture
and Society‚ Postgraduate Programme (University of Lisbon, Faculty of
Letters)
International and interdisciplinary perspectives and papers will be
invited on
1. The languages of globalisation, the languages of culture:
- The politics of language learning and language hegemony in a global
world;
- The languages of democratic international cinema;
- The languages of documentary and humanist photography;
- Languages and (cultural) identities; performative languages of gender
and race;
- Narrative models of Media discourses as a Œfast-food‚ culture
industry.
2. Globalisation and democracy in global communication:
- The Media, the West and the Rest; globalisation / glocalisation
strategies and tactics in the Media;
- Journalism and war; the Media and terrorism; the Media and human
rights;
- Press freedom and (democratic) self-regulation;
- The Media and alternative (and independent) politics;
- New Media and new democracy.
3. Globalisation and culture:
- Globalisation and cultural internationalism: Learning / Unlearning
dominative global discourses and practices;
- Negotiating meaning across cultural differences and in multicultural
discourses; forms of democratic participation in formal and informal
communities of cultural practice and shared languages;
- Cultural knowledge in the Information Age: Learning how to acquire,
transfer, produce and use cultural knowledge effectively and in
innovative ways;
- Processing cultural knowledge in the informational society;
- New cultural intermediaries.
A new, more detailed announcement (with cfp and information on fees and
deadlines) will be published in early to mid March.
posted 3/02/2005
CFP: Conference on Digital Cultures [1 April 2005]
Conference on Digital Cultures
Place: Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Date: June 21-22, 2005
This multidisciplinary conference will explore the cultural implications of the spread of digital technologies throughout Asia. Following recent media theory based on US and Japanese digital cultures, we will analyze how Asian uses of digital technology are transforming local experiences, aesthetics, and social formations. Papers may focus on particular digital practices, such as personal web pages, PC and on-line gaming, digital animation, and cellphone text-messaging, or analyze representations of digital technology in discourses such as science fiction and chatroom discussions. We will place emerging digital cultures in the context of both local cultural traditions and globalization.
Themes include:
- adaptations of local art forms to the digital media, and how these
adaptations effect the meaning of those arts in their traditional milieu as
well as how people conceptualize the digital media
- local conceptualizatioins of the global community and the "network society"
- concepts of the self, the body, and language emerging in Asian digital
genres and practices, and how these emerging concepts draw on or challenge
concepts of the self, the body, and language in local religious, philosophical,
or popular discourses.
Scholars in anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, video arts, history of
science and related disciplines are invited to attend. Please submit abstracts
(approximately 250 words) to Teri Silvio by electronic mail at
tsilvio@gate.sinica.edu.tw; or by fax: 886-2-2785-5836
Deadline for abstracts: April 1, 2005
Deadline for papers: June 15, 2005
Funding for airfare and lodging may be available for presenters.
NB: The language for discussion will be English; if you wish to submit a paper
in Chinese or another language, you must notify us in advance.
posted 3/02/2005
CFP: Anthropology and Violence
The Undergraduate Anthropology Club at the University of Minnesota, Twin
Cities is excited to announce our 27th Annual Undergraduate Anthropology
Conference! Since its inception, the conference has averaged about 100
participants; it provides a unique and informal academic setting for
undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty from neighboring
universities and colleges to interact and share ideas. This year, our
conference will be held April 15th-17th at Camp Ihduhapi
(www.ymcacamping.org/ihduhapi.asp), located approximately 30 minutes from
the Twin Cities. Enclosed, you will find information pertaining to the
conference, including fliers, call for papers, registration forms,
directions to Camp Ihduhapi, and a copy of the weekend format.
At this years conference, we intend to open up a space within the discipline
of anthropology for a critical and particularly timely discussion of war.
Drs. Lesley Gill (American University), E. Valentine Daniel (Columbia
University), and David Hurst Thomas (American Museum of Natural History)
have graciously accepted our invitation to present their current research on
issues of violence, human rights, and conflict resolution. The conference
will above all be a place for students to interact with faculty, scholars
and community members, and to present their own work in the context of rich
discussion and creative exploration of ideas in a relaxed environment.
We invite students from all disciplines, faculty, staff and anyone from the
community at large to join us for what promises to be a thoughtful, fun, and
inspiring weekend. We encourage you to post information regarding the
conference throughout your department or student space. Feel free to
duplicate any information or contact the club with any questions you may
have. Thank you for helping us make this conference a reality! (Please
find attached the call for papers: registration forms may be found on-line,
abstracts may also be submitted to: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~anthro)
posted 3/02/2005
CFP: Music of the South [15 April 2005]
The Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the Office of Outreach at
the University of Mississippi are sponsoring a Music of the South Conference
in September 2005, on the University campus. The conference focuses on a
wide range of music that is rooted in the American South, either having
origins in the region or making use of regional themes and context. Country,
bluegrass, blues, gospel, jazz, rock 'n' roll, and art music that came out
of the South will all be covered in lectures, workshops, and musical
performances. We hope to explore the connections among particular genres and
understand the refined context that has produced such musical creativity.
Papers should draw from academic research, but be presented for a general
audience interested in the American South and its culture. Submissions
should be mailed to marybeth@olemiss.edu by April 15. Call 662.915.5993
with questions.
posted 3/02/2005
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