The Visual Culture Division of Cultural Studies Association invites
submissions for the 8th annual meeting of the Cultural Studies Association
(US) to be held at the University of California, Berkeley, 18-20 March 2010.
Deadline for abstracts (500 words): 4 September 2009
1. Visual Culture and Privacy
Privacy is generally understood as being alone, freedom from intrusion, or
the right of freedom from public attention. With advances in new media,
privacy issues have become more pertinent and prevailing to everyday life.
For example: governments since 9/11 are using biometric technology for
surveillance purposes; DVR and TiVo offer consumers the freedom to watch TV
on their own schedules and to 'fastforward' through commercials, but also
allow media companies to track consumer preferences and financial
transactions; the use of work related devices such as iPhones, Blackberries
and laptops to conduct work-related activities at home in the 'private
sphere' and personal activities at work in the 'public sphere'; the
widespread use of social-networking sites to store and share personal
information; and the ability to use camera phones to take photos of
individuals without their consent or awareness and to circulate personal
images in the public sphere.
Considering these new modes of living, does the modern definition of privacy
still make sense? How is visual culture changing our understanding of what
constitutes privacy? Is privacy possible in the Information Age? What are
some of the legal and political ramifications of shifts in the notion of
privacy?
Chair: Elizabeth Patton, Doctoral Candidate/Adjunct Instructor Department of
Media, Culture and Communication NYU-Steinhardt
2. Open Session on Visual Culture
This session is broadly defined around the theme of current debates in
visual culture studies. Papers addressing the theoretical, aesthetic and
political limitations of current models and/or new directions in visual
culture studies are invited.
Chair: Randal Rogers, Associate Professor Department of Visual Arts
University of Regina Regina, Canada
Please include the following with your abstract:
1. Name, email address, phone number, departmental and institutional
affiliation.
2. A 500-word (max.) abstract for the 20-minute paper, including title.
3. Audio-visual equipment needs.
Forward proposals to the chair of the division, Randal Rogers, by 4
September 2009 at (randal.rogers /at/ uregina.ca)
Randal Rogers, PhD
Associate Professor
Interdisciplinary Studies and Visual Arts University of Regina
