[ecrea] Call for Papers: Arab Women, Media and Sexuality Conference

Call for Papers: Arab Women, Media and Sexuality Conference

We are delighted to invite you to the Arab Women, Media, and Sexuality 
one-day conference at the University of York, to be held on the *26th of 
May 2012*. The conference is hosted by the Centre for Women's Studies 
and focuses on the interdisciplinary study of sexuality, media, and 
gender from an Arab perspective and the intersection between all three. 
It aims to provide grounds for discussion and analysis of these three 
disciplines and to encourage debate, research and networking in these 
fields. Scholars, early career researchers, and practitioners are 
encouraged to submit 250-300 word abstracts to Ebtihal Mahadeen (im 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>544@ <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>york 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>. <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>ac 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>. <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>uk 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>) by* November 30th, 2011* on or around the 
following themes:

- Representations of Arab women's sexuality in Western and/or Arabic 
media (media as an umbrella term encompassing traditional, online, new 
media, and so on). How are Arab women's sexualities represented in 
various forms of media? Do these representations differ between Western 
and Arabic media? Are women active agents in these representations or 
passive images? What do these representations reveal about Arab and 
Western societies' perceptions of Arab women's sexualities? What do they 
reveal about gender and power relations inside and outside Arab 
cultures, and where do Arab women fit in this picture?

- Approaches to sexuality in Arabic media. How does media content like 
home-grown talk shows and foreign series present sexuality to Arabic 
audiences? What can we make of the ubiquity of provocative music video 
channels alongside conservative Islamic channels beamed to Arab homes? 
What sexualities are socially acceptable and what, on the other hand, 
are some of the unacceptable sexualities as presented by the media? How 
are these sexualities reinforced or challenged by media?

- Arab women's perceptions of their sexuality vis-à-vis the media. How 
do Arab women claim their sexuality in light of media emphasis on 
certain sexual images and certain sexualities? What meanings do sexual 
symbols such as the veil and virginity hold to contemporary Arab women? 
How do Arab women navigate the images, expectations, and stereotypes of 
their sexuality as portrayed in different media?

We welcome papers and posters for this interdisciplinary conference and 
we may be able to arrange long-distance conferencing services for 
participants who are not be able to travel to York. Invitation to this 
conference is open to all and the registration fee is £25 (to cover 
lunch, tea, coffee, water, and programme copies and payable by all 
attendees and presenters). Accepted presenters will be notified by 
January 10th, 2012.

**There may be an opportunity for publication of selected papers 
presented at the conference in a special edition of the Graduate Journal 
of Social Science (GJSS), an open-access, student-run journal published 
by EBSCO. Deadlines and other details of this opportunity will be 
published once available.

*Important details:*

*Conference page: http://awmsconference.wordpress.com/*

Abstract submission deadline: November 30th, 2011

Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted to Ebtihal Mahadeen 
((im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)) containing the following information and in this 
order: name(s), email address, affiliation, abstract title, abstract body.

Notification of accepted papers: January 10th, 2012

Registration deadline: March 1^st 2012

If you have any queries or comments please contact Ebtihal Mahadeen: 
(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)