[Commlist] CFP: "Migrations / Mediations. Promoting intercultural dialogue through media, arts and culture"

*Call for papers:*

Migrations / Mediations. Promoting intercultural dialogue through media, 
arts and culture

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, 06-07 April 2020 - Rooms 
NI.110-111-112

*Deadline CFP: 1 February 2020 *

*Scientific Board:*Naures Atto (University of Cambridge), Paola Barretta 
(Associazione Carta di Roma – Osservatorio di Pavia), Nadia Bellardi 
(Community Media Forum Europe), Nico Carpentier (Charles University – 
Prague), Sabine Hess (University of Goettingen), Judith Keilbach 
(Utrecht University), Pierluigi Musarò (Alma Mater Università degli 
studi di Bologna), Tim Prentki (University of Winchester.

*Confirmed Keynote Speakers:* Naures Atto, University of Cambridge Laura 
Corrado, Legal Migration and Integration Unit in DG HOME - European 
Commission

In the context of the migrant and refugee crisis, the EU Member States 
and the European Union itself have recently demonstrated sensitivity 
toward exploring the ways in which media, the arts and performative 
practices are able to both facilitate intercultural dialogue among 
migrant and host communities – thereby empowering their participation in 
social life –, and to promote cultural diversity (different ethnic, 
cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage) within 
European societies. Indeed, different “liberal” and “applied” arts 
(film, theatre & performance, photography, crafts, architecture, design, 
etc.) as well as emerging cross-media forms (interactive and social 
media, games, street art, circus and performative practices, etc.), have 
a pivotal role to play in this direction. In a nutshell, “artistic and 
cultural expressions can help us to communicate with each other, in an 
immediate manner, and allow us to understand our similarities as well 
our differences, in an area where we must also resolve disputes “ 
(Report How culture and the arts can promote intercultural dialogue in 
the context of the migratory and refugee crisis, 2017, p. 10).

Despite this high potential for opening new perspectives on EU societies 
based on integration and a willingness to engage in dialogue, these 
guidelines seem mostly unexplored and little discussed within the 
academic communities – primarily focused on the current regime of 
representation of migrant people and newcomers. Moreover, it can hardly 
be disregarded that a practical implementation of these guidelines faces 
many difficulties: national cultural policies affect cultural 
productions by institutionalizing the process of othering through 
rhetorical discourses and hegemonic representations; the projects and 
practices in this field are often vital but fragmented and poorly 
reciprocally connected (also due to their strong roots in specific areas 
and territories); the skills and professional figures associated with 
these processes are poorly defined and have no particular training 
centres; and finally, the evaluation methods of the initiatives are 
different and lacking consolidated protocols. The combination of all 
these factors produces a fundamental weakness in a sector that in any 
case, remains extremely lively and promising.

On this basis, and within the framework of a research program that the 
UCSC’s Department of Communication Sciences and Performing Arts has been 
developing over the last two years (Migrations / Mediations. Media and 
performative arts as tools for the intercultural dialogue: 
<https://www.migrationsmediations.com/>https://www.migrations-mediations.com/), 
this International Conference intends to gather academic and independent 
researchers, artists, cultural providers, public and private funders, 
and policymakers – both at a local and at an international level – with 
the aims to:

· Reflect on the role of media, arts and culture in the management of 
policies devoted to migration phenomena, also on the basis of an 
exchange of best and worst practices;

· Focus on the ways and the degrees in which media, arts and culture 
have been considered as critical tools for intercultural dialogue by 
policymakers, at different levels (local, national, European).

· Draw attention to the ways through which artists and cultural 
providers can create and develop models of action in territories 
oriented toward bringing host populations into contact with migrants and 
refugees, as well as to empower newcomers themselves by offering a space 
for dialogue and a basis for voice-attaining and self-organising;

· Empower the professional figure of the cultural provider in contexts 
of intercultural and shifting societies, by defining its skills, methods 
of work, and formation paths.

· Develop a specific set of tools and a methodology to assess the 
social, cultural and economic impact of intercultural dialogue 
activities through arts, media and culture. Along with quantitative 
indicators of success, such as counting audiences reached or scoring 
intercultural stakeholders included in the action, it is worthwhile to 
elaborate new models of evaluation for the measurement and assessment of 
the efficiency and effectiveness of such projects.

On these bases, we invite abstracts on any of the following topics.*

· Practices of empowerment of intercultural dialogue through media, arts 
and performative activities.

· Networks (formal and informal) with publicly-funded cultural 
organizations, civil society and other stakeholders.

· Employment opportunities for migrants in cultural and creative industries.

· Comparisons between the approaches of public and private media.

· The role of immigrant/diaspora/minority media.

· Participatory media and arts projects devoted to working directly with 
refugee and migrant groups in socially engaged practice.

· Audience development strategies aiming at promoting cultural diversity.

· Practices and experiences in assessing projects in the field of 
intercultural dialogue

· Fundraising creative projects to support intercultural dialogue and 
migrants

· The formation of cultural providers and the role of intercultural 
dialogue professionals in supporting cultural and artistic projects for 
the integration of refugees and migrants.

* Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of topics, and we will 
review any abstracts related to the media and 
migration/immigration/multiculturalism and related topics. Especially 
welcome are submissions rooted in media studies, visual, performative 
and cultural studies, critical data studies, postcolonial studies and 
from scholars who build bridges between academia, policy, public and 
private funding, media system, arts and public debate, and stakeholders’ 
networks.


*The deadline for the submissions is 1 February 2020*. Interested 
contributors should send a 300-500 word abstract and a short 
biographical note at the following e-mail address: 
(migrations-mediations /at/ unicatt.it) <mailto:(migrations-mediations /at/ unicatt.it)>.

*The accepted proposals will be notified by 15 February 2020*. The 
languages of the conference are Italian and English (the latter is 
preferred).


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