[ecrea] Hollywood and the Culture Wars: A Study Day, 1 March 2007, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

>Hollywood and the Culture Wars: A Study Day
>1 March 2007, De Montfort University, UK.
>Call For Papers.
>
>Under the leadership of George W. Bush, public opinion in America 
>seems more polarised than it has been in decades. Divisions between 
>liberals and conservatives, secular humanists and religious 
>fundamentalists, red states and blue states, have widened to the 
>point where many Americans now seem to hold fundamentally opposed 
>views of the nation's purpose and identity. This cultural division 
>is by no means new, but it has become a far more visible feature of 
>American life since the inauguration of Bush Jnr, and the terrorist 
>attacks of 9/11. In particular, the political, spiritual and social 
>disputes which make up these so-called 'Culture Wars' have been 
>focused on the media. For those on the right, Hollywood productions 
>invariably exhibit an offensive, even damaging, liberal bias 
>(despite frequent academic claims that Hollywood is innately 
>conservative). Alternatively, liberals have voiced concern about the 
>rise of highly partisan conservative alternatives to the Hollywood 
>mainstream. Again, these debates about the influence and moral 
>purpose of the media have deep roots, but they have become burning 
>issues for many Americans in the last six years.
>
>'Hollywood and the Culture Wars' looks specifically at the 
>relationship between the political and spiritual polarisation of 
>popular opinion in American, and the media itself. For secular 
>European scholars the increased power and visibility of the 
>Christian right in America can provoke bafflement and dismay. 
>However, this event seeks to move beyond simplistic assumptions 
>about American exceptionalism, and will take shifts in American 
>attitudes seriously. We believe that the international research 
>community can offer a valuable perspective on questions of American 
>identity. Therefore, we invite papers from both established scholars 
>and research students on any aspect of American attitudes and the 
>media, but topics that we are particularly interested in include:
>
>The representation of politics and religion in mainstream Hollywood 
>productions.
>The emergence of movies and television shows aimed specifically at 
>Christian audiences.
>The influence of lobbying groups on the media.
>Liberal and conservative political activism in Hollywood.
>The rise of right leaning media institutions, such as Fox News and 
>Walden Media.
>Popular and institutional responses to controversial texts (such as 
>The Passion of the Christ, or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas).
>
>The ways that disputes over gender, sexuality and identity more 
>generally are incorporated into media texts.
>Uses of the media by audience groups.
>The question of bias in the media.
>European or other international responses to the Culture Wars.
>Cultural division and Hollywood history.
>
>If you wish to take part in the study day, please submit a 300 word 
>abstract of your paper by email attachment to (JRussell /at/ dmu.ac.uk). 
>The deadline for submissions is 13 November 2006. We will also 
>accept papers via mail, which should be sent to the address below.
>
>Dr James Russell
>Faculty of Humanities
>De Montfort University
>The Gateway
>Leicester LE1 9BH

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carpentier Nico (Phd)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
Office: 5B.401a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
Vrijheidslaan 17 - B-1081 Brussel - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-412.42.78
F: ++ 32 (0)2/412.42.00
Office: 4/0/18
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  


----------------
ECREA-Mailing list
----------------
!!!!!!NEW!!!!!!!!
ECREA Communication Doctoral Summer School information at:
http://www.comsummerschool.org/ &
http://www.ecrea.eu/summer.html
---
This mailing list is a free service from ECREA.
---
To unsubscribe, send an email message to (majordomo /at/ listserv.vub.ac.be)
with in the body of the message (NOT in the subject): unsubscribe ecrea
---
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
Postal address: ECREA - P.O. Box 106, B-1210 Brussels 21, Belgium
Email: (ecrea /at/ ulb.ac.be)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------