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Call for Papers
Theme: Freedom of Culture – Culture of Freedom, Type: Interdisciplinary Conference, Institution: Department of British and Commonwealth Studies, University of Łódź, Location: Łódź (Poland), Date: 3.–4.10.2015, Deadline: 1.9.2015
In 2015, 800 years has elapsed since the adoption of Magna Carta, regarded as the symbolic beginning of parliamentary culture and the cornerstone of British democracy. Its spread in the era of Great Britain’s colonial expansion influenced governance of many countries that were hewn from the Empire’s fabric, increased the popularity of the myth of Britishness, and enhanced the development of democratic values throughout the world. We believe that the forthcoming anniversary is a great opportunity to reconsider Magna Carta’s legacy and its notions of freedom in culture, politics and mass media. We invite researchers dealing with cultural, literary, political and media studies, as well as those working in the fields of art, history, anthropology and ethnology, or any other area with the interest in the proposed topic. The conference aims to create a forum for discussions for representatives of educational and cultural institutions, media, social and non-governmental organizations, as well as activists fighting for freedom, human rights and equality.
The Conference will be organized in three panels: culture, media, and political studies.
Culture
Possible topics:
- contemporary Polish cultural studies – identity of the discipline and its location in transnational culture, globalization and regionalization, pop culture studies;
- intermingling of cultures within the national culture;
- trans-textuality, inter-medial culture; the use of social media tools (text messaging, e-mail, photo and video sharing, social networking and the like) in the contemporary cultural landscape;
- borders of freedom in culture in the 21st century; provocation as a cultural tool;
- main discourses of contemporary culture; major areas of cultural exclusion;
- cultural freedom in the context of posthumanism;
- hegemonies, hegemonic bonds and counter-hegemonies in the newest culture;
- blurred borders between the private and the public in culture (new biographism, celebrities industry);
- intellectual property rights versus the freedom of the cultural market;
- cultural wars, cultural nationalism and inter-ethnic rivalries,
- clashes of cultures, dominant and subaltern cultures, multiculturalism;
- cultural diplomacy and international cultural interaction (festivals, student exchange programs, international cultural projects).
Mass Media
Possible topics:
- media versus freedom/ censorship / self-censorship and the politics of political correctness; anti-censorship software programs;
- freedom of speech versus the speech of hate in the media (poetics of "hate" and "like" / new forms of cultural criticism on the Internet)
- role of the Internet and social media in the expansion of civic and cultural freedom;
- privacy policies in new media; power relations in media;
- new cultural genres of new media (literary and artistic blogs and videoblogs);
- ubiquity of the Internet and social media as a tool for increasing cultural awareness.
Politics
Possible topics:
- the influence of the Magna Carta on the development of the British and world culture;
- the pitfalls of Internet freedom;
- political movements in social media;
- civic freedom nowadays; social media’s support of civic society; an increase of public awareness due to activity of social media;
- new media as political force; mobilizing massive political responses in social media; collective action power of social media;
- weaponization of the Internet and social media;
- ‘the text messaging generation’ and the public sphere.
Conference Committee
Chair: Krystyna Kujawińska Courtney
Secretary: Izabella Penier
Members: Piotr Maszewski, Katarzyna Fossa, Zbigniew Bednarek
The Conference schedule will consist of plenary lectures and 20-minute papers. The Conference languages will be Polish and English. We welcome submissions of individual papers in English or Polish from experienced researchers, graduate students, PhD candidates, and all people with keen interest in the Conference’s topic.
Abstracts in Polish or English of no more than 300 hundred words should be submitted via registration form by 1.9.2015.
We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal, in that case please resend it. Approved participants will be notified as the proposals flow in, not later than by 3.9.2015; please visit: www.culturalstudies.uni.lodz.pl Papers presented at this Conference will be eligible for publication.
The conference fee is 360 PLN (85 Euro) for early birds (payment before 31.07.2015) or 400 PLN (95 Euro) (after 31.07.2015). The deadline for paying the registration fee is 10 September 2015.
For more information please visit the conference website:
http://www.culturalstudies.uni.lodz.pl