FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS ­ Deadline 30 April, 2005

CELEBRITY CULTURE: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE
University of Paisley - Ayr, Scotland,
Hosted by the School of Media, Language & Music

12th - 14th Sept 2005

Plenary Speakers (to be confirmed)
Prof Ellis Cashmore, Prof Susan Drucker, Prof Garry Gumpert, Prof Barry
King, Dr Paul McDonald, Dr Diane Negra

Abstracts of no more than 250 words are invited for a major
interdisciplinary conference on Celebrity Culture. The aim of this
conference is to examine the role played by celebrity and stardom in
contemporary societies. The conference plans to develop existing work on
celebrity through a uniquely interdisciplinary range of perspectives. It is
open to a wide range of methodological approaches including audience
research, historical studies, textual analysis, industry research and
theoretical analysis. Papers will be considered for a Special Edition of
the International refereed journal Cultural Politics, published by Berg
[guest-edited by Dr. Philip Drake and Dr. Andy Miah; general editors: Dr.
John Armitage, Professor Douglas Kellner and Dr. Ryan Bishop].

Areas considered will range across the cultural industries, including film,
television and popular music, as well as sports celebrities, politicians,
monarchy, and literary celebrity.

Questions that might be addressed and of interest include (but are not
limited to):
What is the changing role of celebrity/stardom in the 21st Century
and is it similar to/different from earlier periods?
How important are celebrities to the contemporary global media
industries?
What new academic paradigms are needed to consider the commercial
and symbolic significance of celebrities in an era of increasing inter-
media connections?
What can we learn from studying audiences' consumption of
celebrities?
How do celebrities articulate constructions of ethnic/national
identity, gender, age, class and sexuality?
How do celebrities/stars perform and how can we analyse their
performances?
To what extent is the political sphere mediated through celebrities
and celebrity discourse?
What is the historical importance of celebrity figures, and have
they replaced traditional role models and heroes?
How do celebrities function as brands, and how important is
celebrity sponsorship of public causes?
Has celebrity journalism changed contemporary news production?
What is the contemporary star system in Hollywood/other national
cinemas?
How do celebrities control their intellectual property rights?
What has been the effect of celebrity biography on literary
publishing?
How important are celebrities to a sense of national/cultural
identity?
Are there alternative forms of celebrity/fame?

We would particularly welcome themed panels in addition to independent
papers. Please send abstracts (deadline 30 April, 2005) of no more than 250
words by email to:

Dr. Philip Drake & Dr. Andy Miah
School of Media, Language and Music, University of Paisley - University
Campus, Ayr, Beech Grove, Ayr KA8 0SR, Scotland, UK

Email: [log in to unmask]

For Further information:
http://www.celebrity.paisley.ac.uk

Location
The conference will be set in the seaside town of Ayr, close to excellent
beaches, the Royal Troon golf course and near Prestwick and Glasgow
International airports.

Stay in touch:
The official mailing list for the conference is hosted by Jiscmail, which
will aim to provide further information on the development of this work
after the conference. To subscribe and stay in touch with the host and other
delegates, please subscribe to http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/celebrity











Dr Andy Miah
http://www.andymiah.net
http://bioethics-sport.blogspot.com
http://posthumanisms.blogspot.com
http://cybermedicine.blogspot.com

Latest:
The chemist, the politician and the athlete (Harvard Law School, Apr 2005)
http://www.media.paisley.ac.uk/andymiah/harvard2005.html

Current:
http://www.celebrityculture.net
http://www.gspjournal.com
http://www.paisley.ac.uk/mlm
http://www.fast.paisley.ac.uk

Author of: 
http://www.GMathletes.net

[t] +44 7891 850497
[f] +44 1292 886371
[e] [log in to unmask]

Lecturer in Media, Bioethics and Cyberculture
University of Paisley, Ayr Campus, KA8 OSR, Scotland, UK.