[ecrea] Between Babel and 'Earth City'

>Between Babel and Earth City
>
> 
>Barriers of Intercultural and International Communication
>October 30th  November 1st, 2008
>Technische Universität Ilmenau (Germany; Thuringia)
>
>English proposals are more than welcome, 
>therefore kindly find attached the call for 
>papers and please feel free to forward the call 
>to possible interested colleagues!
>
>Best regards,
>
>Maria Roeder
>
>
>
>Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin
>Universität Mannheim
>Seminar für Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft L7, 7
>68131 Mannheim
>
>Tel. 0621-181-2303
>Fax 0621-181-3114
>

+++

Call for Papers
for the first conference of the
Network Intercultural and International Communication
Between Bable and Earth City
Barriers of Intercultural and International Communication
October 30th  November 1st, 2008
Technische Universität Ilmenau (Thuringia)
Organisation
Network Intercultural and International Communication
in cooperation with
Institute of Media and Communication Science, TU Ilmenau
Objectives
In 1956, Benjamin Lee Whorf published his 
influential book on the relationship between 
language and thinking. According to Whorf, the 
diversity of language, or more precisely: 
different grammars, lead to different views of 
the world. On the other hand, Marshall McLuhan 
caused a furore at about the same time (1962) by 
stating that the electronic interdependence 
changes the world into a global village, into a 
virtual, barrier-free simultaneous field. 
However, following McLuhan, Europeans cannot 
imagine Earth City. They have remained in old 
cities too long to appreciate new horizons, 
created by new media. In any case, Earth City 
will certainly remain an artefact even on the 
internet although this technology is seen as an 
approximation of McLuhans ideas also by European 
apologists of the global village.
In spite of growing global integration, the world 
by no means becomes a virtual community in which 
cognitive distances shrink to the scope of 
traditional communities. Despite - or because - 
of globalization, the worlds structure will not 
resemble a simultaneous field but remain a 
sphere prone to conflict and containing 
multifaceted barriers (Fred E. Jandt). These 
barriers aggravate, retard and disturb 
intercultural and international (media) 
communication  but conceivably will be of use 
for it, too (sometimes). In view of this 
background, current political, economic and 
cultural barriers of intercultural and 
international communication are to be analysed 
during the conference. Furthermore, concepts of 
how to overcome such obstacles shall be 
discussed. The conference contributes to locating 
more precisely  theoretically and empirically  
the functions of mediated communication in the 
emergence of a world society somewhere between 
Babel  the symbol of communicative 
(Babylonian) barriers  and Earth City.
Call for Papers: Conference Between Babel and 
Earth City  Ilmenau 30/10-1/11/2008
Topics of presentations may include the imbalance 
and relations of dominance in international 
communication, routines and disturbances in 
trans-border crisis and conflict communication, 
(dysfunctional) influences of international 
Public Relations on nations and cultures, the 
complex and often contradictory development of 
transnational and transcultural spheres of 
communication, or factors of success in intercultural dialogue.
Submission and Selection
Please send your proposal for a presentation of 
20 minutes (max.) to Dr Liane Rothenberger 
((liane.rothenberger /at/ tu-ilmenau.de)) before August 
11th, 2008. Your proposal should contain 8.000 
characters max. (incl. blank spaces). The 
proposal must relate the paper to the conference 
topic and elaborate on the subjects relevance 
and originality. Please provide your proposal 
with a cover sheet comprising the paper title as 
well as the names and addresses of the 
submitters. By handing in the submission, you 
give your consent to presenting your lecture at 
the conference. The submissions will be reviewed 
in an anonymous peer-review system taking into 
account criteria such as originality, relevance, 
distinctiveness and conciseness of the issue, 
theoretical foundation as well as adequateness of 
research methods. The general fit with the 
conference topic will also be considered. You 
will be informed about acceptance or rejection of 
your proposal until September 8th, 2008.
Organisation and Contacts
The Network Intercultural and International 
Communication organises the conference in 
cooperation with the Institute of Media and 
Communication Science, TU Ilmenau. Participants 
of the programme committee of the conference are: 
Michael Brüggemann (Bremen), Oliver Hahn 
(Iserlohn), Thomas Hanitzsch (Zurich), Andreas 
Hepp (Bremen), Gabriele Melischek (Vienna), 
Barbara Pfetsch (Hohenheim), Barbara Thomaß 
(Bochum), Hartmut Wessler (Mannheim) as well as 
Nicola Döring, Martin Löffelholz, Andreas Will, 
Jens Wolling and Frauke Zeller (Ilmenau). The 
conference language will be German; however, 
papers in English are welcome, and we strongly 
encourage submissions of non-German scholars. 
Travel and accommodation expenses cannot be 
reimbursed. If a conference fee is necessary, it 
will be calculated as low as possible.
Chair Professor Dr Martin Löffelholz
Organisation Dr Liane Rothenberger
Address Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut 
für Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, D-98694 Ilmenau
Email (liane.rothenberger /at/ tu-ilmenau.de)
Telephone +49 (0) 3677- 69 4669 (Organisation)
+49 (0) 3677- 69 4703 (Conference Secretary)
Facsimile +49 (0) 3677- 69 4695


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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
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&
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