[ecrea] Military and the Media symposium @ University of Leeds, 2 June 2015

*Military and the Media symposium @ University of Leeds, 2 June 2015*


**Deadline: *Friday 24 April 2015*


This is a reminder about our one-day symposium on *Military and the
Media* at the University of Leeds on *Tuesday 2 June 2015*, bringing
together researchers interested in the military, media, communications
and popular culture.


Thesymposiumis organised as part of a British Academy funded project on
‘Representations of contemporary soldiering in digital and visual
cultures’ which asks how mediated discourses of ‘war’ and ‘the end of
war’ might work to facilitate, complicate or obstruct the wider cultural
and political understandings which occur both within the armed forces,
and between them, their families and the wider public. The British
soldier has become a regular focus of mainstream media attention, but
also the producer or co-producer of digital materials disseminated via
various media forms and museum displays. Whilst the UK military provides
a focus for our own research, we are also interested in the
representations of the military and soldiering in other national and
international contexts.


We already have a number of fantastic speakers, including:

*
*

*Neil Jenkings* (Newcastle University), on (mis-)representations of
‘friendly fire’ incidents

*
*

*Adi Kuntsman* (Manchester Metropolitan University), co-author of
‘Digital Militarism: Israel's Occupation in the Social Media Age’

*
*

*Katharine Millar* (Oxford University) on the ‘support the troops’ discourse

*
*

*Debra Ramsey* (Glasgow University), on archives of war, memory and
self-representation

*
*

*Nick Robinson* (Leeds University), on military games and militarism

*
*

*Chris Terrill* (Uppercut Films) documentary film-maker, including
‘Marine A: Criminal or Casualty of War?’ (BBC)

*
*

*Helen Thornham* (Leeds University) from the ‘DUN Project: Defence,
Uncertainty and 'Now Media': Mapping Social Media in Strategic
Communications’


We now invite further contributions. The idea is that one conversation
develops across the day – hence there will be no separate, parallel,
sessions.


Overlapping themes for possible contributions:

-       Social media use by military institutions or serving personnel
-       The military and sports events (London Olympics, Invictus Games)
-       (In)visibility of military operations overseas
-       Concern of militarisation (troops into schools, cadets, OTC)
-       Recruitment campaigns
-       Photographic practices (cameras in the battlefield, Combat
Camera teams)
-       Military blogging, online profiles and personal safety
-       ‘YouTube wars’ and perception management
-       The murders of Lee Rigby (UK) and Nathan Cirillo (Canada)
-       Scandals and alleged cover-ups
-       PTSD and mental health (drinking culture, suicide)
-       Self-representations, memoirs and life-writing
-       Violence, criminality and killing
-       Commemoration and memories of war
-       Robots, drones and drone operators
-       Interactions with cultural institutions and/or the defence industry
​
The suggested themes may encompass diverse media forms and genres, as
well as addressing issues such as gender, ethnicity, class,
able-bodiedness, masculinity and military identity.
Titles and abstracts for presentations (250 words max) are invited by
*Friday 24 April 2015.* Please send submissions, along with any queries,
to symposium organiser Katy Parry ((k.j.parry /at/ leeds.ac.uk)
<mailto:(k.j.parry /at/ leeds.ac.uk)>) with the subject line ‘Military and
Media symposium’. For submissions please include the full title,
abstract, and your name and professional affiliation attached in a word
document. Speakers will be notified of acceptance by Tuesday 5 May 2015.
If you are interested in attending but not presenting a paper, please
email Ysabel Gerrard ((ed09yg /at/ leeds.ac.uk) <mailto:(ed09yg /at/ leeds.ac.uk)>)
with your name and affiliation before 24 April 2015. We will let you
know if you have a place by 5 May 2015. Attendance is free but numbers
are strictly limited.​
​--
Ysabel Gerrard
PhD Student and Research Assistant
School of Media and Communication
University of Leeds
LS2 9JT

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