[Commlist] CFP_ Lisbon Winter School for the Study of Communication | Media and Propaganda

*Lisbon Winter School for the Study of Communication*

*Media and Propaganda*

*4-7 January 2023*

The 3^rd Lisbon Winter School for the Study of Communication is taking a 
comparative and global approach to the study of media and propaganda. 
Jointly organized by the Faculty of Human Sciences (Universidade 
Católica Portuguesa), the Center for Media@Risk at the Annenberg School 
for Communication (University of Pennsylvania), the School of Journalism 
and Communication (Chinese University of Hong Kong), the Annenberg 
School for Communication and Journalism (University of Southern 
California) and the Faculty of Social Sciences (University of Helsinki), 
the 3rd Lisbon Winter School offers an opportunity for doctoral students 
and early career post-doctoral researchers to strategize around the 
study of media and propaganda together with senior scholars in the field.

*Call for Applications*

At a time in which multiple places around the globe are dealing with the 
effects of rampant disinformation and misinformation, propaganda is 
being revealed as a concept before its time. Widely associated with the 
falsehoods, manipulation and brainwashing that often accompany wartime, 
propaganda has been generally seen as a negative phenomenon describing 
the practices of ‘others’ who aim to deceive individuals, groups and 
societies. But this connotation is far from universal. While states, 
organizations and groups in the Global North typically reject 
descriptions of their own activity as propaganda, in many geographies in 
the Global South propaganda is mostly understood as a less virulent 
product of political and commercial advertising. Regardless of its 
meaning, propaganda has always played a central role in human societies, 
performed by political, economic, religious, cultural and social agents 
who aim to mold public opinion and people’s perception of reality.

In contemporary media landscapes that are marked by high polarization 
and a profusion of platforms for the instantaneous sharing of 
information, propaganda is easily disseminated and customized to allow 
its purveyors to reach specific targets in the context of wars, election 
campaigns, health crises and conflicts over identity and inclusion. Over 
the last decade, social media have become the main tools for 
disseminating not only state propaganda but also the sentiments of a 
wide set of interest groups designed to interfere in affairs by 
spreading untruthful narratives. While such activity has been apparent 
in multiple regions with the Covid-19 pandemic, political turbulence 
surrounding elections, mounting racial, gendered and ethnic violence as 
well as the recent invasion of Ukraine all point to a lingering 
resistance in the Global North to address these phenomena as propaganda. 
Instead, concepts like disinformation, misinformation, fake news and 
post-truth have become prevalent when describing the contemporary 
circulation of falsities and half-truths. For many, propaganda is seen 
as a thing of the past, despite its very real existence in these 
unstable times.

In his seminal book written a century ago, Walter Lippmann noted that 
“under certain conditions [people] respond as powerfully to fictions as 
they do to realities,” adding that “in many cases they help to create 
the very fictions to which they respond.” To what extent is this 
phenomenon evident today? To which extent is it undermining the 
possibilities of digital participation? What role is being played by 
journalists, activists, scientists, medical practitioners and other 
invested individuals in countering it?

These are some of the questions that will be addressed at the 3rd 
*Lisbon Winter School for the Study of Communication. We welcome 
proposals by doctoral students and early career post-doctoral 
researchers from all over the world *to discuss the intertwined relation 
between media and propaganda in different geographies and across time. 
The list below illustrates some of the topics for possible 
consideration. Other topics dealing with media and propaganda s are also 
welcome:

·Dis-and misinformation, fake news and hate speech

·Participatory propaganda

·Warfare propaganda

·(International) media and soft power

·Propaganda and foreign policy

·Social media platforms and disinformation

·Fact-checking and other activities designed to counter propaganda

·Media and the dissemination of fear

·Persuasion, strategic communication and information management

·Authoritarian regimes and populist movements and propaganda (both 
contemporary and historical cases)

·Recreating history for propaganda purposes

·Bots, sock puppets and the dissemination of propaganda

·Deep fakes

·Propaganda in specific national and regional contexts

·Distorting science for propaganda purposes

·Propaganda and climate change

·Propaganda and racism

·Propaganda and misogyny

·Role of education in offsetting propaganda

*PAPER PROPOSALS
*Proposals should be sent to *(ucpwinterschool /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(ucpwinterschool /at/ gmail.com)> *no later than October 10, 2022 and 
include a paper title, extended abstract in English (700 words), name, 
e-mail address, institutional affiliation and a brief bio (max. 100 
words) mentioning ongoing research. Applicants will be informed of the 
result of their submissions by late- October.

*FULL PAPER SUBMISSION *

Presenters will be required to send in full papers (max. 20 pages, 1.5 
spacing) by December 9, 2022.

*Winter School Convenors:*

Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg School for Communication, University of 
Pennsylvania

Francis Lee, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Nelson Ribeiro, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Risto Kunelius, University of Helsinki

Sarah Banet-Weiser, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 
University of Southern California

*For more information, please visit the Winter School website: 
https://www.lisbonwinterschool.com/ <https://www.lisbonwinterschool.com/> *

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