Call for Papers: Media Sociology Preconference 2015
Venue: Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
(Chicago
Campus)
Date: August 21, 2015
We invite submissions for a third preconference on media
sociology to be held at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
on Friday, August 21, 2015. (This is one day before the start of the annual
meeting of the American Sociological Association in Chicago.) To encourage the
widest possible range of submissions, we have no pre-specified theme again this
year and invite both theoretical and empirical papers on any topic related to
media sociology. Submissions from graduate students and junior scholars are
particularly welcome.
This preconference is linked to an effort to strengthen
media sociology within the ASA: After a long period of negotiation, the
media sociology steering committee was able to broker a deal with the
Communication and Information Technologies section (CITASA) at the end of
2014. If all goes well in 2015, CITASA will be changing its
section name to "Communication, Information Technologies and Media
Sociology." The current section membership still needs to
formally vote in favor of this change but we have been assured--based
on the recent survey of current CITASA members—that this will most likely
happen.
Media sociology has long been a highly diverse field
spanning many topics, methodologies, and units of analysis. It encompasses all
forms of mass-mediated communication and expression, including news media,
entertainment media, as well as new and digital media. Outstanding research
exists within the different subfields both within and beyond the discipline of
sociology. Our aim is to create dialogue among these disparate yet
complementary traditions.
Papers may be on a variety of topics including, but not
limited to:
- production processes and/or media workers
- political economy (including the role of the state and markets)
- media and the public sphere
- mediatization
- media content
- the Internet, social media, cellular phones, or other technology
- the digital divide
- new uses of media
- media globalization or diaspora
- media effects of media consumption
- identity, the self, and media
Invited Speakers
Last year’s
preconference, held at the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of
Business at Mills College in Oakland, California, was again very well-attended
and featured an invited keynote by Clayton Childress (University of Toronto –
Scarborough) and a plenary panel addressing the theme, “Media Sociology as a
Vocation” featuring Laura Grindstaff (UC Davis), Paul Hirsch (Northwestern University),
Ron Jacobs (SUNY Albany), Paul Lopes (Colgate University), and Guobin Yang
(University of Pennsylvania).
This year’s keynote speaker will be Tressie McMillan Cottom (Virginia
Commonwealth University, starting fall 2015). There will again be a closing
special plenary session. We will announce further invited speakers in due
course.
Submissions
Submissions should include:
- Separate cover sheet with: title, name and affiliation, and email address of author(s).
- Abstract of 150-300 words that discusses the problem, research, methods and relevance.
- Also include at least three descriptive keywords. Note: DO NOT put identifying information in the body of the abstract; only on cover sheet.
- Use Microsoft Office or PDF format.
Send abstracts to casey.brienza.1@city.ac.uk.
Please write “Media Sociology Preconference” in the subject line.
Abstract deadline is March 31, 2015.
Notification of acceptance will occur sometime in mid-April.
Contact Casey Brienza (casey.brienza.1@city.ac.uk)
or Matthias Revers (matthias.revers@uni-graz.at)
for more information about the preconference.
