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[ecrea] "What is Communication History? - European Answers"

Tue Nov 23 18:32:43 GMT 2010



CfP ?What is Communication History? ? European Answers?


Special issue of medien&zeit [media&time]


medien&zeit is an interdisciplinary, Vienna-based journal that welcomes contributions addressing theories, methods and issues of communication history. Number 3/2011 will be guest edited by the ECREA Communication History Section.


This special issue aims to assemble statements and articles (3000 ? 6000 words) focusing on two aspects: firstly on the actual state of Communication History in the authors' respective national settings and cultural areas, secondly on their efforts to foster European perspectives, e.g. by doing collaborative research or by engaging with European issues. Thereby we want to explore whether there is a common core in terms of theories used, methods applied and research topics in focus. Thus we intend to lay a foundation for mapping the field of Communication History in Europe. This mapping of structures, interconnections, shared points of reference and common spaces of understanding should help to identify whether a European Communication History exists or whether we are primarily faced with multiple National Communication Histories with occasional references to Europe or certain parts of it.


Questions to be addressed include but are not limited to topics like:


* What does or should Communication History mean? In how far does historical communication research differ from research on contemporary communication processes or research on history in general? How should an understanding of Communication History be defined with respect to media change towards the digital?


* To what end are we doing Communication History? Who is doing Communication History in terms of disciplinary backgrounds and what is driving the field of research? What role do certain fields of communication history play like the history of (media) technology, the history of media institutions, the history of the public sphere or the history of mediated interpersonal communication? How is the field of communication history related to the academic disciplines of history, communication studies and media studies?


* What paradigms, ideas and methodologies are present and deployed in historical communication research? Are there mega-trends, meta-narratives or big intellectual themes to be identified in Communication History across Europe?

* What could be considered European about European Communication History? What concepts of Europe are referred to and what differentiations are made between Communication History in Europe, Communication History of Europe, and other ways of contextualizing European Communication History?


* How does European communication historiography differ from international or global communication historiographies?


* To what extent could Communication History be uncoupled from frameworks of the nation-state? Is overcoming national histories becoming necessary?


* How similar and how different are the institutional settings of researchers who work in the field of Communication History? What is the status of Communication History as an academic research area?


* Does the trans-boundary character of broadcasting and digital communication affect the field of Communication History? Does it foster transnational academic collaborations and a rethinking of (national) research interests?


Authors who would like to contribute to the special issue of medien&zeit should first submit an extended abstract (in English, max. 800 words) by January 15, 2011. Editors will review these proposals within two weeks of receipt. Authors whose proposals are accepted will be asked to submit full papers (in English, 3000 ? 6000 words) by May 15, 2011. Papers must be original, and should not be published or be under review in other journals. All papers are peer-reviewed.


Abstracts should be submitted electronically via email as Microsoft Word or PDF attachments and should include a cover sheet containing corresponding author's name, paper title, affiliation and email address.


Submissions should be sent to <mailto:(c.schwarzenegger /at/ isk.rwth-aachen.de)>(c.schwarzenegger /at/ isk.rwth-aachen.de).


For any further information concerning the CfP and the special issue feel free to contact either of the three guest editors:


<mailto:(s.kinnebrock /at/ isk.rwth-aachen.de)>(s.kinnebrock /at/ isk.rwth-aachen.de) (Prof. Dr. Susanne Kinnebrock, RWTH University Aachen and Vice-Chair of the ECREA Communication History Section)


<mailto:(c.schwarzenegger /at/ isk.rwth-aachen.de)>(c.schwarzenegger /at/ isk.rwth-aachen.de) (Christian Schwarzenegger MA, RWTH Aachen University, YECREA Representative in the ECREA Communication History Section)


<mailto:(emclusk /at/ boisestate.edu)>(emclusk /at/ boisestate.edu) (Prof. Dr. Ed McLuskie, Boise State University)

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