Archive for October 2002
“Connectivity of the Media – Network Society and Media Communication”
Organising Body: Section Media Sociology of the Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Publizistik- und Kommunikatiosnwissenschaft (Fachgruppe Soziologie
der Medienkommunikation der DGPuK)
Date/Place: 31 January 2003 – 1 February 2003 in Erfurt, Conference
Centre Augustinerkloster
Organising Team: Andreas Hepp, Friedrich Krotz & Carsten Winter
“Connectivity” and “Network (Society)” became key terms within academic debates of recent years: Manuel Castell’s description of the current information age as characterized by connectivity on many levels leads him to perceive of societies in terms of network societies. John Tomlinson depicts – parallel to Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck – the globalised world as one of increasing connectedness. Furthermore, Ien Ang refers in her analysis of contemporary Asian identity to the challenges posed by the ever-growing cultural connectivity. These different theoretical approaches do not only equally recognize the relevance of the concepts of “Connectivity” and “Network (Society)” as such but they also regard the media as central player in establishing these new relational forms. Accordingly, an implicit media theory can be traced within various social science and cultural studies’ approaches.
In the workshop “Connectivity of the Media – Network Community and Media Communication” these conceptions will be considered and further developed in the context of media and communication studies. The aim is to evaluate the importance of the different concepts of “Connectivity” and “Network (Society)” for media and communication studies as well as for other disciplines investigating processes of media communication. Possible questions are:
- How do notions of connectivity and network (society) relate to the
spread of the internet, to computer mediated communication and to the globalisation
of media communication?
- Are concepts of connectivity and network society theoretically plausible
in terms of a media and communication studies?
- Which recent empirical projects are concerned with questions of connectivity
and network society?
- Which are the central media connectivities and media networks today?
- What do concepts of connectivity and network society offer for a
social science and cultural studies’ understanding of media communication?
- Can the theorem of the network society function to replace notions
of the information and knowledge society or even those of the system theory?
- Which consequences do current processes that increase connectivity
and networks have for the change of existing media cultures? And how should
an investigation of inter- and trans-cultural communication respond to
such a development?
- How can a critical approach be based within a theory of networks
and connectivity?
These and other questions form the starting point to further an analysis of the connectivity of the media and network society. The workshop is internationally oriented, which means that a number of papers will be delivered in English. Everyone is thus asked to indicate whether s/he is prepared to give her/his presentation in English. A review scheme will operate to select from the submitted abstracts. Selected abstracts will be presented as papers during the workshop.
The workshop starts on Friday, 30 January 2003 and finishes on Saturday, 1 February 2003, in the conference center Augustinerkloster of Erfurt. Until 01 January 2003, extended abstracts (2-3 pages) can be submitted to Andreas Hepp, Friedrich Krotz or Carsten Winter who can also be contacted if question arise.
Contact:
Dr. Andreas Hepp M.A. Technische Universität Ilmenau
IfMK, FG Medienwissenschaft
D-98693 Ilmenau
Tel: +49 3677 69-4670 Fax: +49 3677 69-4695
E-Mail: (Andreas.Hepp /at/ tu-ilmenau.de)
Prof. Dr. Friedrich Krotz
Universität Münster
Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft
D-48143 Münster
Tel: +49 251 - 83 2 42 66
Fax: +49 251 - 83 2 13 10
E-Mail: (Friedrich.Krotz /at/ uni-muenster.de)
Carsten Winter, M.A.
Universität Klagenfurt
IfMK
A-9022 Klagenfurt
Tel: +43 463 / 2700 18 25
Fax: +43 463 / 2700 18 99
E-Mail: (Carsten.Winter /at/ uni-klu.ac.at)
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