[ecrea] “I have a dream…” Media, utopia and experiment" - Second Symposium of the Society for Media History

Second Symposium of the Society for Media History

“I have a dream…”

Media, utopia and experiment

Université Paris 2

92 rue d’Assas 75006 Paris, France

The first edition of the Symposium of the Society for Media History took 
place on May 26 and 27 2015; it sought to draw up an inventory of 
institutional and historiographical developments in media history since 
it first emerged and to explore current themes of study.

In a context of strong criticism of the media, including the accusation 
of bias – political and economic- this second edition seeks to 
cross-examine the way in which media, rather, have been the flagship of 
social change, of how to conceive and fashion another world.

Fifty years after the events of May and June 1968, the Society for Media 
History invites researchers to reflect on the links between media, 
utopia and experiments. The call for papers is not solely intended for 
media historians; it seeks to be a venue for as many different 
viewpoints and disciplines as possible. The scientific committee will 
favor proposals based on a corpus or a specific field, illuminating 
little known aspects of the history of the media or various epistemologies.

Proposals should preferably be placed in one of the following areas:

_1 - Alternative Media and Countercultures_

The media are often perceived as privileged vectors of mass culture and 
therefore of mainstream culture. We seek to question alternative media 
forms which reject or challenge the social order and established 
cultures, through the quest for another world. Periods of social crisis, 
in particular, favour innovative and potentially subversive media 
creations due to activists, professional journalists and sometimes 
ordinary citizens. Alternative contents and forms may include 
expressions of minority or /avant-garde/ groups, as well as the 
practices that produce them, new organizations of work, in tune with a 
social and political project. In addition, communications may examine 
forms of circulation between the mass media and alternative media and 
revisit the notion of counter-culture.

_2 – Media and utopia/dystpopia_

Media are also privileged channels for diffusion of utopia and dystopia. 
They give rise to different visions of reality, denunciation of the 
present, prophetism, doom-mongering, faith in progress, via combinations 
of fiction, information and political or scientific projects.

Media often give projections of the news in fifty or hundred years time.

How do the media shape this imagined scenario? How do the media give 
reality to individual or collective fantasies about possible, desirable 
or repulsive worlds?

In what historical conditions (war, economic crisis, prosperity), do 
media feed belief in or fear of the future?

Since at least the 19th century, technological change in new media give 
birth to moral panics and dreams of the transformation of society. For 
instance, the « global village » à la McLuhan regains currency when a 
new technology of communication and information emerges.

Thus, the internet is seen as a powerful element of the reconfiguration 
of the public sphere. Its effects on people’s lives attracts attention. 
It contributes to new forms of social action and activism called « 
mediactivism ». The web « philosophy » is often linked to the 
specificity of its technology: the « message » should be within the « 
medium ». These views about the impact of the media technologies on 
society are not always new. Proposals about one or different examples of 
techno-media prophetism will be welcomed.

_3 – Technical experiments_

Media transformations are often due to a unanticipated use of new 
technical tools. These innovations have contributed to shape the 
organization, the contents and the audiences of the media. This section 
would welcome proposals on technical experiments that generate a new 
conception of the media, even if they failed. Proposals could, for 
instance, focus on technologies creating content (the rotary press, the 
professional video recorder, nagra, or the wirephoto), innovations 
changing media consumption (from public libraries to audio cassettes, 
and from audio cassettes to podcasts), and inventions changing relations 
with the public (audiences, audience mails, watermarking techniques). 
Proposals can try to show which media model these experiments create.

_4 – Revolutions in the field of media studies_

This last topic will focus on the epistemology of media studies. What 
are the new tools for media research today? Which innovative or 
alternative research devices are used for media studies to examine 
content and reception. Proposals may also seek how to conciliate 
scientific research with political activism in order to change the world.

*Submission*

Each abstract (3000 characters max.) should have a title, an explicit 
problematic and a short bibliography. No proposal may have more than 
three authors. The abstracts will be blind peer reviewed.**

You may also submit a proposal for a panel on a specific topic (three 
proposals minimum).**

*The deadline for submission is December 7^th *.Authors are invited to 
submit their titles, abstracts and cv electronically on the homepage of 
the conference:**

https://congressphm2018.sciencesconf.org/submission/submit

*Practical information*

Inscription fees (speakers and audience): member of the French Society 
for Media History (SPHM) – free until May1st (Membership fee: 25 euros, 
13 for students) ; Non-member and after May 1st : 40 euros.

The conference will provide coffee and lunches. Travel and accommodation 
costs are funded by those who present papers.

Papers can be presented in either English or French. The digitized 
presentation will be in the other language.

*Schedule*

  * December 7, 2017: deadline for proposals
  * January 15, 2018: results of the peer-review
  * May 23-25, 2018: Conference venue: University Paris 2-Panthéon Assas
    (92 rue d’Assas, 75006 Paris)

SPHM website: histoiredesmedias.com <http://www.histoiredesmedias.com/>

Conference website : https://congressphm2018.sciencesconf.org/

*Scientific committee*

  * Anne-Claude Ambroise-Rendu, Université de Versailles
    Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, CHCSC
  * Romain Badouard, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, AGORA
  * Claire Blandin, Université Paris 13, LabSIC
  * Jérôme Bourdon, Université de Tel Aviv, Israël
  * Marion Brétecher, Université d'Orléans, GRIHL-CRH
  * Josette Brun, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
  * Tamara Chaplin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA
  * Evelyne Cohen, ENSSIB-Université de Lyon, LARHRA
  * Ross F. Collins, North Dakota State University (NDSU), Fargo, USA
  * Christian Delporte, Président de la SPHM, Université de Versailles
    Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
  * Emmanuelle Fantin, Université Paris Sorbonne, GRIPIC
  * Anne-Marie Granet-Abisset, Université Grenoble Alpes, LARHRA
  * Françoise Hache-Bissette, Université de Versailles
    Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, CHCSC
  * Josiane Jouët, Université Paris II, CARISM
  * Zdravka Konstantinova, Université de Sofia St. Kliment Ohridski,
    Bulgarie
  * Benoît Lafon, Université Grenoble Alpes, GRESEC
  * Thibault Le Hégarat, Université de Versailles
    Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, CHCSC
  * Mélisande Leventopoulos, Université Paris 8, ESTCA
  * Fanny Lignon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - ESPE, THALIM
  * Laurent Martin, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, ICEE
  * Caroline Moine, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines,
    CHCSC
  * Katharina Niemeyer, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada
  * Isabelle Paillart, Université Grenoble Alpes, GRESEC
  * Michael Palmer, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, CIM
  * Christian Pradié, Université de Valenciennes, IRMECCEN
  * Nelly Quemener, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, CIM
  * François Robinet, Université de Versailles
    Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, CHCSC
  * Emilie Roche, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, CIM
  * Valérie Schafer, CNRS, ISCC
  * Jean-François Têtu, Institut d’Études Politiques de Lyon, ELICO
  * Marie-Ève Thérenty, Université Montpellier 3, RIRRA
  * François Vallotton, Université de Lausanne, SHC
  * Isabelle Veyrat-Masson, CNRS, LCP-IRISSO
  * Jean-Claude Yon, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines,
    CHCSC

*Organization committee*

  *   Maëlle Bazin (Université Panthéon-Assas, CARISM)
  * Alexandre Borrell (Université Paris Est-Créteil, CEDITEC)
  * Jamil Dakhlia (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, CIM)
  * Pierre-Emmanuel Guigo (Paris-Est Créteil, CRHEC)
  * Arielle Haakenstad (Université Panthéon-Assas, CARISM)
  * Cécile Méadel (Université Panthéon-Assas, CARISM)
  * Bibia Pavard (Université Panthéon-Assas, CARISM)
  * Blandine Rousselin (Université Panthéon-Assas, CARISM)
  * Claire Sécail (CNRS, LCP-IRISSO)
  * Anna Tible (Paris 13, LabSic)



---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------