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

*Media Mutations 14 International Conference Call for Papers – 
**/Investigating Medical Drama TV series: approaches and perspectives/*

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


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 the 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:
       - dialogue analysis and character recognition
       - screenplay summarization
       - semantic video analysis
       - scene segmentation
       - 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:
        - impact on popular culture and behaviors
        - imageries about doctors and medicine
     * Education, training and bioethics:
        - impact on medical professionals
        - 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) 
<mailto:(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).

The conference is 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”, with Dipartimento 
delle Arti, Università di Bologna and the support of Centro 
Dipartimentale La Soffitta.

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

https://www.mediamutations.org/callforpapers 
<https://www.mediamutations.org/callforpapers>

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