[Commlist] Media Mutations International Conference CFP: “Investigating Medical Drama TV series: approaches and perspectives”

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Media Mutations 14 International Conference – "Investigating Medical 
Drama TV series: approaches and perspectives"

Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti – DAMSLab, May 25th-26th, 2023

Organized by Stefania Antonioni (Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo 
Bo) and Marta Rocchi (Università di Bologna).
In collaboration with the research project “Narrative Ecosystem Analysis 
and Development framework (NEAD framework). A systemic approach to 
contemporary serial product. The medical drama case”

Confirmed keynote speaker: Irene Cambra Badii (Universitat de Vic – 
Universitat Central de Catalunya)

Media Mutations is an international conference on contemporary 
audiovisual media hosted by the Department of the Arts at the University 
of Bologna. The event has now reached its 14th edition. This year’s 
focus is on medical drama TV series and on different methodological 
approaches employed to analyze this type of audiovisual serial product.
Since its inception in 1960s, medical drama has become one of the most 
relevant genres on the television scene and derives its name, on one 
hand, from the context in which the events take place, usually the 
hospital; on the other, from the narrative development of medical cases, 
professional dynamics and sentimental relationships.
The wide diffusion and the success of this genre, almost entirely due to 
television, has attracted the attention not only of critics and 
researchers in the field of media studies, but also of providers of 
medical devices and more generally of medical professionals. Moreover, 
the recent Covid period requires further investigation from this point 
of view into how much this has affected the representation of medical 
professions in television series.
Although many of the most famous medical TV series, first and foremost 
E.R., are no longer airing, OTT platforms such as Netflix and Amazon 
Prime Video allow the audience to continue enjoying them. Moreover, 
recent years have seen a global increase in serial productions of the 
medical genre. In this context, much research has investigated the 
narrative model of medical dramas and the role of the audience in their 
reception, also in relation to the pedagogical ability of these stories, 
which are considered a powerful medium from an educational point of 
view. Indeed, the popularization and the social impact of medical dramas 
are studied primarily for their influence on medical students and on the 
representation of healthcare delivered to the public. Medical dramas 
represent also relevant social themes and hence they have been analyzed 
from a bioethical perspective. On the same level, the representation of 
marginalized categories has acquired more and more importance and 
several medical TV series have been analyzed in gender studies 
considering for example the evolution of the depiction of diversity. 
Lastly, these products require the use of a specialized language and 
consequently, from a linguistic point of view, research on dubbing, 
medical terminology and textual analysis has also been prolific.
Drawing on these multi-disciplinary perspectives, the conference aims to 
promote discussion and share research results on medical drama TV series 
focusing on the different methods and approaches employed for their 
analysis.
Media Mutations 14 encourages submissions that focus on medical drama TV 
series, using different methodologies and perspectives such as:

  * Quantitative and qualitative content analysis (e.g. textual and
    narrative analysis)
  * Linguistic analysis
  * Text analysis and machine learning (e.g. topic modelling, Natural
    Language Processing) for:
      o dialogue analysis and character recognition
      o screenplay summarization
      o semantic video analysis
      o scene segmentation
      o emotional arc classification   * Network analysis and 
visualization of audiovisual data
  * Consumption and reception analysis
  * Gender studies
  * Production and distribution strategies
  * Narrative ecosystem approach
  * Cultural Studies:
      o impact on popular culture and behaviors
      o imageries about doctors and medicine   * Education, training 
and bioethics:
      o impact on medical professionals
      o ethical questions

The official language of the conference is English. Abstracts (300-500 
words for 20-minute talks) should be sent to 
(submissions /at/ mediamutations.org) by February 15th, 2023. Please attach a 
short biography (maximum 150 words) and an optional selected 
bibliography (up to five titles) relevant to the conference theme. The 
conference will be in presence. Notification of acceptance will be sent 
by February 28th, 2023. A registration fee will be requested after 
notification of paper acceptance (€80 for speakers and professional 
attendants).
This Conference is promoted by Media Mutations Association and 
financially supported by the research project “Narrative Ecosystem 
Analysis and Development framework (NEAD framework). A systemic approach 
to contemporary serial product. The medical drama case” and by DAMSLab 
and Dipartimento delle Arti, Università di Bologna, in collaboration 
with Centro Dipartimentale La Soffitta.



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