[ecrea] Call for conference paper_Re-enchantment of Arab Television

>Copenhagen University, Denmark
>The New Islamic Public Sphere Programme
>
>RE-ENCHANTMENT OF ARAB TELEVISION:
>AUDIENCE RESPONSES AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTIONS
>
>Call for conference paper and subsequent book proposals
>
>
>The New Islamic Public Sphere Programme invites 
>proposals for papers at the Conference on
>Re-enchantment of Arab Television: Audience 
>responses and identity constructions
>to be held in
>Copenhagen, 27 ­ 29 May 2011
>
>The main issue of this conference is how Arab 
>audiences respond to religion and religious 
>programming on Arab television. A focus on 
>Islamic programming is particularly requested, 
>but also papers on audience responses to other 
>religious programming are encouraged. In spite 
>of the common recognition that the effect of 
>media has to be understood in the encounter 
>between media discourse and audience responses, 
>very often the Arab television audiences seem to 
>be perceived as a passive, impressionable and 
>homogenous mass. This raises the need for 
>further and critical reception and audience 
>analyses taking the heterogeneity and 
>transnationality of the Arab audiences into 
>account. Thus, the main objective of the 
>conference, and subsequent book proposal, is to 
>gain new knowledge about the Arab audiences and 
>how they make use of TV in their construction, 
>negotiation and rejection of religious identities and practices.
>
>The conference objective is to present and 
>discuss qualitative and comparative studies of 
>Arab television audiences. This approach raises 
>questions related to media and (religious) 
>identity formation as well as a number of 
>methodological questions of general interest for 
>media and cultural studies. Concepts like 
>meaning making and individual identity 
>construction are introduced as key notions in 
>general but three interrelated analytical 
>approaches are suggested for further 
>exploration. Firstly, audience identification 
>with religious identity as collective memory 
>constructed through storytelling. Secondly, 
>audience use of religious programming as an 
>instrument to live and identify transnationally. 
>And, thirdly, audience interpretation of 
>religious programming as basis for resistance towards political hegemonies.
>These topics will be investigated at three 
>seminar sessions wherein the following questions might be examined:
>
>"       How does tthe audience integrate the 
>mediatised form of religious storytelling in its 
>own identity discourse and how does the audience 
>construct collective identity through media use?
>o       Arab/Muslim audience as an analytical 
>and theoretical concept with a focus on theoretical discussions hereof.
>o       Media theory on Arab/Muslim audience 
>responses with a focus on methodological and analytical questions.
>o       Case studies on audience responses using cases related to television.
>
>"       How is the transnationality of the Arrab 
>television practiced and consumed by the 
>audience and what does this add to the 
>transnational perspective as a theoretical 
>perspective on religious and cultural identity?
>o       The Arab/Muslim Diaspora and its TV media practices.
>o       The construction of transnational 
>communities as spatial and/or virtual communities.
>
>"       How do Arabs/Musslims in different 
>societal contexts make use of religious 
>narratives offered by the Arab television to 
>negotiate, reject, and contest cultural and 
>political ideas, values and identities?
>o       Arab/Muslim audience as a political 
>public using religious television as source for opposition and resistance.
>
>Submission of proposals:
>Abstracts (300 ­ 500 words) should be sent by 
>30th October 2010 too Ehab Galal at ((ehab /at/ hum.ku.dk)).
>
>Abstract, following this order: author(s), 
>affiliation, email address, title of abstract, 
>body of abstract, short CV (max. 150 words).
>
>A full draft paper of 8000 words should be 
>submitted no later than 1st May 2011.
>
>Selection of the papers will be made on the 
>basis of quality and relevance to the conference 
>themes. Only accepted papers will get an answer 
>by the date mentioned below. Selected papers 
>will be published in a special volume in English.
>
>Deadlines:
>o       Submission of abstracts: 30th October 2010
>o       Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 1st December 2010
>o       Submission of full papers: 1st May 2011
>
>Financial and other support:
>All participants will be provided basic 
>accommodation free of cost for a maximum of 
>three nights for participants within Europe; for 
>participants outside Europe individual arrangement will be made.
>
>For additional information:
>Organizer Ehab Galal
>Assistant Professor in Modern Islam and Middle Eastern Studies
>Department for Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
>University of Copenhagen
>Snorresgade 17-19
>DK-2300 Copenhagen S
>Denmark
>E-mail: (ehab /at/ hum.ku.dk)
>
>The conference will take place under the 
>auspices of The New Islamic Public Sphere 
>Programme at the University of Copenhagen. For further information, see:
>http://www.nyislamiskoffentlighed.hum.ku.dk/english/

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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
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New Book:
Trans-Reality Television
The Transgression of Reality, Genre, Politics, and Audience.
Lexington. (Sofie Van Bauwel & Nico Carpentier eds.)
http://www.lexingtonbooks.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0739131885
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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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