[ecrea] CFP: Communication History Conference - Venice, Italy - 16-18 September, 2015

Call for Papers:
Bridges and Boundaries: Theories, Concepts and Sources in Communication 
History
An International Conference in Venice, Italy – September 16-18, 2015

Organizer: Communication History Section of the European Communication 
Research and Education Association (ECREA - History)
Co-Sponsor: Centre for Early Modern Mapping, News and Networks 
(CEMMN.net) - Queen Mary University of London


Fernand Braudel in his seminal essay History and the Social Sciences: 
The Longue Durée pointed out that many academic disciplines/fields which 
study different aspects of social life inevitably encroach upon their 
neighbors, yet often remain in “blissful ignorance” of each other. 
Braudel and others have repeatedly called for historians and social 
scientists to overcome their deep ontological and epistemological 
differences in order to work together.

Despite much progress in this regard, communication history remains one 
of the fields where profitable interdisciplinary dialogue can still take 
place. Being aware of this need, the Communication History Section of 
ECREA invites researchers who focus on various aspects of the history of 
communication, media, networks and technologies (broadly defined), to 
come together with two main aims: 1) to explore the bridges and 
boundaries between disciplines; 2) to exchange ideas about how 
communication history is being done and how it might be done, while 
emphasizing theories, concepts and sources beneficial to their research, 
as well as emerging trends and themes.

A three-day conference will take place in Venice, one of the great hubs 
of early modern communication, at Warwick University's seat in Palazzo 
Pesaro Papafava. The opening keynote address will be delivered by 
Professor Mario Infelise, a leading scholar of early modern print and 
journalism and the head of the graduate program in the Humanities at the 
University of Venice Ca’ Foscari. Instead of traditional panels and 
papers, the conference aims to foster dialogue among scholars of various 
disciplines through topically organized round-tables, master classes, 
and countless opportunities for informal discussions.

The organizing committee invites scholars to submit abstracts (max. 400 
words) in which they address one of the main themes listed below and 
outline a short intervention that they might contribute to a round table 
on that theme. Such interventions should focus mainly on theoretical or 
methodological approaches, issues and experiences that the speaker has 
engaged with in his/her research. Historical case studies can be 
presented only so far as they contain a high degree of 
historiographical/theoretical significance. Interdisciplinary roundtable 
sessions will be organized in which participating scholars will also 
discuss questions raised by a chair and the audience, based on these 
proposals.

The deadline for abstract submission is January 10, 2015. The conference 
registration fee will be 140 euro and participants will be asked to 
cover their own travel expenses. Abstracts should be submitted through 
the conference website: http://ecreahistoryvenice2015.wordpress.com.

Main Themes:

(1) Theories and Models
Grand theories or meta-narratives often have at their core information 
networks and communication technologies. To what extent are theoretical 
premises advocated by scholars such as Braudel, Innis, McLuhan, 
Habermas, Luhmann, Benedict Anderson, Lefevbre – and more recently by 
Hallin and Mancini, Castells, Gitelman, Simonson, Mosco, Hendy, 
Hesmondalgh, F. Kittler, Fickers – applicable in historical inquiry? How 
has your own research in communication history been inspired by such 
concepts and theories?

(2) Space and Place
Communication networks and information technologies are always embedded 
in a material setting that can foster or hinder certain communication 
practices, call into being new forms of exchange, and drive 
technological development. What is the place of the geographical 
imagination in current communication history research? How valuable are 
the ideas of ‘place’ and ‘space’ in historical research? What are the 
current trends within the field of historical geography that can advance 
our understanding of communication history?

(3) News and Networks
How valuable is the idea of ‘the network’? What were the technologies 
that historically mediated the spread of information through networks? 
Who participated in networks used in advancing what Bourdieu later 
called cultural capital? To what extend did such networks contribute to 
the rise of public opinion and the public sphere? Can we talk about 
historical continuities between the early modern republic of letters and 
what Castells later popularized as the network society?

(4) Alternative Media
In order to understand communication history as a long-term, inclusive 
process, which alternative media or communication technologies (besides 
the familiar 'mass media' of the 20th century) need to be considered, 
and how? Possibilities might include migration flows, civic and 
religious ceremonies, theatre, preaching, fashion, the visual arts or 
architecture. What kinds of methodological or theoretical implications 
does their consideration carry?

(5) Sources and Methods
The progressive digitization of archives and libraries is opening access 
to primary sources for increasingly wider circles of scholars. What are 
the advantages and challenges raised by this development? To what extent 
do issues of materiality matter particularly to the realm of media and 
human communication research? What are the most relevant sources that 
you use for your own research?

(6) ‘New' Media
At one time, even the oldest communication technologies were looked upon 
as suspicious novelties. Socrates famously condemned writing; the 
introduction of print may have been hailed by some as a ‘revolutionary’ 
enterprise - a term now often applied also to the digital age. What are 
the lessons that scholars can learn from studying critical periods 
during which one dominant technology is replaced by a new mode of 
communication? How do such lessons serve our understanding of the 
phenomenon called new media?

Organizing Committee:
Dr. Rosa Salzberg, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Dr. Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Dr. Juraj Kittler, St. Lawrence University, USA



Juraj Kittler, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Performance and Communication Arts & English
St. Lawrence University
23 Romoda Drive
Canton, NY 13617
U.S.A.

Cell/Office Phone: 717-350-4804
E-mail: (jkittler /at/ stlawu.edu)


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