[ecrea] CfP Scandal Conference University of Bamberg

Call for Papers

*1st International Conference in Scandalogy*

*The current state of research on a social phenomenon*

/University of Bamberg/

/Department of Communication Studies and Department of German Studies/

/Bamberg, Germany/

/7-8 April 2016/

Various academic disciplines have started to intensify research on
scandals as social phenomena. Especially communication and media studies
and political science place emphasis on researching scandals, as a
number of thematically relevant publications and conferences within
these disciplines illustrate (e.g. ECREA conference on “The mediation of
scandal and moral outrage”).

‘The scandal’ as a social phenomenon can be approached from several
academic perspectives. Arguably, ‘the science of scandals’ qualifies as
a distinct interdisciplinary research field.

The aim of this conference is to foster exchange between “scandalogists”
from different academic disciplines in order to gather and present
recent findings from a wide range of theoretical approaches. Hence this
call is addressed to all researchers who have a scientific interest in
scandals.

We especially invite scholars of communication and media studies,
political science, literary studies, sociology, psychology, ethnology,
and history to contribute. Papers may address a diverse range of topics
including the following:


/Communication and media studies/

Under what conditions are violations of social norms publicly condemned,
creating a “media scandal” (Burkhardt, 2006)? How do social agents, e.g.
journalists, contribute to such dynamics of scandalization? What
accounts for the great interest of media users in scandalized topics? Do
media and communication history contribute to a better understanding of
the omnipresence of mass-mediated scandals today?


/Sociology /

Do “cultures of scandal” (Hondrich, 2002) which determine specific
patterns of action and topical selections of scandalization exist?


/Ethnology and cultural studies /

Do typical conflict-patterns of scandalization constitute an
anthropological constant which allows us to derive trans-historically
and -culturally valid observations about social coexistence?


/Psychology/

What effect does ‘scandalized’ discourse have on media agents and media
users? Do scan-dals have a specific function for individuals, for
instance as regards moral attitudes?


/Political science /

What functions do scandals have in democratic societies and to what
purpose are scandals communicated in illiberal regimes? Do scandals
exist in dictatorships in the same sense as in democratic societies?

/
/

/Literary studies /

When are scandals used as a marketing strategy? Is it possible to
calculate the risks and opportunities of literary scandals? Is the
literary scandal a phenomenon where the artist is merely ‘doing her job’
by using competencies and resources of her public image to an economical
end? Are there also specific milieus and target-groups where the
literary scandal is a possibility to channel a latent hostility towards
‘art’?

/Confirmed keynote speakers/

Prof. Dr. Robert M. Entman (School of Media and Public Affairs / George
Washington University)

Prof. Dr. Steffen Burkhardt (Hamburg University of Applied Sciences)

Prof. Dr. Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf (WWU Münster)

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words. Please include an additional
short biographical note of no more than 150 words.

As the selection of abstracts will be peer-reviewed anonymously, we ask
contributors to include a separate title page containing title,
author/s, affiliation/s, and the address, phone, fax, and e-mail of the
first author.

All submissions will be evaluated on relevance and originality, clarity
of research purpose, grounding of theoretical and methodological
approach, focus, and organization.

A publication of selected articles is planned.

Please email abstracts to (andre.haller /at/ uni-bamberg.de) or
(hendrik.michael /at/ uni-bamberg.de) by September 30th, 2015. Notifications
will be sent out in early December.


----

Dr. André Haller

Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
An der Weberei 5 / Raum 04.069
D-96045 Bamberg

Tel.: +49 (0)951/863-2136
Fax: +49 (0)951/863-2159
E-Mail: (andre.haller /at/ uni-bamberg.de)
Website: http://www.uni-bamberg.de/kowi
Twitter: @andrehaller <https://twitter.com/andrehaller/>


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