[Commlist] Race and Media Conference - Call for Papers University of Leeds

Race and Media Conference - Call for Papers University of Leeds, April 
22nd-23rd 2026  Deadline for paper abstracts/panel submissions: 19th 
September 2025  Confirmed keynote speakers: Herman Gray - Emeritus 
Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Cruz Paula Chakravartty - James Weldon 
Johnson Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, NYU 
About the conference: How we live with racial difference has long been a 
defining issue for modern societies, but recent years have brought this 
question into even sharper focus. We are witnessing a striking 
contradiction: while media content around the world has become 
increasingly superdiverse, this has occurred alongside the resurgence of 
the far right in ostensibly stable democratic societies and includes the 
distressing everyday live-streaming of systemic racialised violence. The 
growing presence of generative AI further complicates this terrain, 
raising urgent questions about the politics of race-making in 
algorithmic and seemingly automated cultures. Scholars have long shown 
how media serve as powerful sites for the dissemination of racist 
ideologies – but also as spaces for resistance and transformation. 
Today, the representation of race across news, entertainment, and social 
media offers a rich landscape for interrogating how racial hierarchy is 
constructed and contested in contemporary life.   This international 
conference will bring together researchers producing fresh, incisive 
critique, and new insights working in the field of race and media 
research. We are inviting papers that explore this topic in myriad ways, 
adopting a range of theoretical and methodological approaches, though 
with a shared criticality. We welcome work that re-examine the theories 
and concepts that have defined our sub-field and/or explores new 
frameworks and paradigms for research. We are interested in how ‘race’ 
as an analytic is being put to work outside Anglophone contexts, and in 
societies that seek to bury their racialised histories. We encourage 
contributions that analyse rising ethnonationalism and nativism in 
Global South/Global Majority media spheres. This conference aims to 
bring a global perspective to the study of race and media, tracing the 
filiations and resonances of racist, divisive and far-right discourses 
across ‘liberal’ and illiberal, ‘democratic’ and authoritarian media 
landscapes and political contexts.   We welcome papers related to any of 
the following topics: Intersectional approaches to race and media Media, 
racism and authoritarianism Race and generative AI / algorithmic media 
cultures The politics of race in popular culture Mediating colonial 
violence and genocide Race and production studies Reactionary media 
Digital race/racism Anti-racist media activism Postcolonial nationalism, 
race and media Affect, emotion, race and media Racial capitalism and 
media in the Global South Race in influencer culture and promotional 
culture Caste, racialisation and media Mediating urban multiculture 
Diasporic and transnational media cultures Intersections of race and 
religion in media ‘Decolonising’ media studies Race, media and migration 
 Key dates: 19th September 2025: Deadline for proposal submissions 17th 
October 2025: Notification of decisions; registration opens 16th January 
2026: Full programme released  Submitting proposals We welcome both 
paper and panel proposals for this conference.   Paper proposals should 
be for 15-minute presentations. Submitted abstracts should be no more 
than 300 words (excluding references).   If you wish to propose a panel, 
please note the following stipulations: • Panel proposals should include 
a panel overview (max. 300 words), outlining the title, synopsis, and 
chair details, as well as the abstracts for each contributor (no more 
than 250 words each). • Panels usually consist of three to four papers 
and a chair. • Panels should aim to reflect the diversity of the 
profession.   Please submit all proposals as Word document or PDF via 
email: (raceandmedia /at/ leeds.ac.uk)  Practice-based presentations We are 
also interested in receiving submissions based around creative practice. 
If you are interested in putting together a session around a 
practice-based presentation then please email us at 
(raceandmedia /at/ leeds.ac.uk).  Registration fees The cost of attendance is 
£180 for salaried academics and £80 for students or low-waged 
participants. This covers lunches, coffee breaks and a drinks reception. 
   Bursaries We aim to offer a limited number of travel subsidies to 
support postgraduate student participation in this event. Postgraduate 
students interested in applying for these subsidies should please note 
this when submitting.  For all enquiries please email: 
(raceandmedia /at/ leeds.ac.uk)  Conference organising committee: Maitrayee 
Basu, Israel Campos, Helen Kim, Cindy Ma, Dibyadyuti Roy, Anamik Saha, 
Sara Takafori
---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------