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OFF-SCREEN SAPCES: REGIONALISM AND GLOBALISED CULTURES
AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FILM, TELEVISION AND MEDIA: 
CULTURES AND POLICIES             
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http://www.bftv.ac.uk
http://www.bftv.ac.uk/events/osscall2.htm


SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

A conference organised by the AHRB Centre for British Film 
and Television Studies in association with The Centre for 
Media Research, University of Ulster 
 

Wednesday 28 - Friday 30 July 2004

University of Ulster, Coleraine (Portrush Campus)



This major international conference will explore the 
relationship between 'global' popular culture and various 
definitions of 'local' culture. Crucial to an understanding 
of this relationship is the concept of 'the region' as it 
has become reconfigured by global economic and cultural 
forces. Regional cultures exist in relation and in 
opposition to dominant national cultures and interact with 
them in complex and contradictory ways. 

National cultures are themselves often posited as 
'regional' cultures in opposition to the global and the 
concept of 'critical regionalism' has been canvassed as a 
challenge to global conformity or homogeneity. On the other 
hand, in line with the strategies of multinational 
corporations more generally, multinational software 
manufacturers have divided the global market into 'regions' 
for the purpose of controlling the DVD market. This would 
suggest that, despite the potential of regional cultures to 
offer alternatives to the global market, there is in fact 
nothing intrinsically challenging or radical in the concept 
of the region. 

The conference will explore the complex and contradictory 
relationships among the local, the regional, the national 
and the global and assess the implications for both media 
representation and local, national and transnational 
audio-visual policy. Central to discussions will be the 
concept of comparative film studies and a number of papers 
will address the rationale and theoretical implications of 
comparative media research. 

The conference also encourages papers that explore the role 
that new ICTs play in shaping regional digital cultures and 
politics. How, for instance, have social movements adopted 
new technologies in order to become organised in ways that 
challenge national borders? What responses have the state 
and supranational entities had to such practices? How have 
new media industries redefined cartographies of production, 
distribution and consumption and what are some of the new 
antagonisms and collaborations that attend such 
socio-technical formations? The conference is interested in 
both theoretical and reflexive empirical responses to 
questions along these lines.

 
PROGRAMME:

Confirmed speakers so far include: 
John Tomlinson, Ien Ang, Toby Miller, John Hill, Ned 
Rossiter, Valentina Vitali, Desmond Bell, Máire Messenger 
Davies and Paul Willemen. 


Conference sessions will include the following themes:
Regional Cultures
Digital Cultures & the role of ICTs
Ukania and the Cultural Break-up of Britain
National Cinemas
Irish Cinema (and other small Anglophone Cinemas)
Globalised Hollywood
Comparative Film/Media Studies


There are two special plenary sessions:
Regional Policy and the BBC Charter Renewal Debate (with 
Pat Loughrey, Director, BBC Regions and Nations) Four Years 
of the Film Council (with John Hill from the Film Council)


CONFERENCE FEES:

Fees (with two nights accommodation)	£130.00

Fees only				£90.00

Fees include breakfast, tea & coffee, light lunch and 
evening meals on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Please note that paper presenters need to register for the 
conference and pay the registration fee.  Cheques made 
payable to University of Ulster

Due date for abstracts: June 11, 2004


ABSTRACTS AND ENQUIRIES TO:

Janet Mackle				Martin Mcloone 
Conference Co-ordinator 		Conference Organiser

Cultural Development			
Centre for Media Research
Tel: 028 7032 4683
University of Ulster
Coleraine
Northern Ireland
BT52 1SA

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

Registration form can be downloaded from:
http://www.bftv.ac.uk/events/osscall2.htm


	
The Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) funds 
postgraduate and advanced research within the UK's higher 
education institutions and provides funding for museums, 
galleries and collections that are based in, or attached 
to, HEIs within England. The AHRB supports research within 
a huge subject domain - from 'traditional' humanities 
subjects, such as history, modern languages and English 
literature, to music and the creative and performing arts. 
The AHRB makes awards on the basis of academic excellence 
and is not responsible for the views or research outcomes 
expressed by its award holders.

Hosted by Birkbeck College, the AHRB Centre for British 
Film and Television Studies - www.bftv.ac.uk - is funded 
for a period of five years under the AHRB Research Centres 
Scheme and is a partnership of eight institutions. 


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AHRB Centre for British Film & Television Studies

http://www.bftv.ac.uk

Tel: 020 7631 6137
Fax: 020 7631 6136
Email: [log in to unmask]