Apologies for cross-posting

Dear colleague

'Approaching the New Millenium:Lessons from the Past - Prospects for the
Future' 
University of Bergen from 14-18 August 2000

I am pleased to announce a call for papers on the subject of The Media in
Europe: Histories, Strategies and Identities 
as part of the ISSEI's 7th international conference. Full details of the
workshop's scope and aims can be downloaded from the attached files and
appear below. Conference details are also available at
http://www.uib.no/issei2000/Workshop/papers4.htm
The International Society for the Study of European Ideas will be staging
its seventh conference at the University of Bergen from 14-18 August
2000.The conference theme will be 'Approaching the New Millenium:Lessons
from the Past - Prospects for the Future'. The conference is traditionally
organised around workshops where academics come together to give papers
which investigate or debate common strands or ideas in a multidisciplinary
environment. The conference language is English. I would be grateful if
you would draw this notice to the attention of any colleagues interested
in this area of research.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a paper on an aspect of
The Media in Europe, please email your abstract of no more than 300 words
to the workshop convenor
[log in to unmask]
or post to
Dr Helen Davis
Faculty of Arts and Media
The Surrey Institute of Art and Design, University College
Farnham
Surrey GU9 7DS
United Kingdom

fax 01252 732213
telephone 01252 892806

Closing deadline for submissions will be Friday 5 November 1999.


	APPROACHING A NEW MILLENNIUM: LESSONS FROM THE PAST - PROSPECTS FOR THE
FUTUREThe seventh conference of the InternationalSociety for the Study of
European Ideas
The University of Bergen, Norway 14 - 18 August 2000	

The Media in Europe: 
Histories, Strategies and Identities

Workshop chair: Dr Helen Davis
The Surrey Institute of Art and Design, University College

Workshop abstract
The mass media in Europe figures as one of the most significant cultural
and economic agencies in articulating national and European histories.
Traditional vehicles of communication such as print, radio and film are
subject to ever-increasing pressure from global industries such as the
internet and other new media technologies. The mass media in Europe has
evolved in response to the need for faster and better methods of
communicating ideas, fears and fantasies. From the invention of the
printing press to the development of the world wide web, media
technologies have underpinned and in some cases come to determine not only
the means of communication but also the nature of thought. Within
Journalism, news management and documentary for example, the mass media
continues to negotiate in ever more creative ways the demands of national,
regional and international audiences. 

The concept of ‘European identity’ itself presents epistemological
difficulties when trying to examine the histories and practices of
broadcasters, film makers and journalists over decades of political,
geographical and social change. The erosion of public service broadcasting
can be read for example not only as an inevitable consequence of the new
de-regulated trans-national markets, but also as an interesting corollary
to the debate over the sovereignty of the nation-state. How do European
nations speak to each other? How do they construct their own independent
identity as a cultural and geographical entity, separate from their
neighbours? The emergence in recent years of the European Union Directives
has offered up opportunities for European funded projects in order to
generate and sustain a European market to resist in part the influence of
American media products. How successful have these been and what may be
the future for such initiatives? 

Cinema in Europe has evolved as a significant medium for the articulation
and representation of national cultures. How have national cinemas managed
to balance the desire for an indigenous film industry with the economic
demands of international audiences? Will the British government’s current
attempts to sustain a film industry meet with success in the future? 

Aims of the workshop: Looking to the past as well as the future, this
workshop invites media scholars to take part in a debate which aims to
embrace many different areas of media research such as audiences, texts,
structures, policies, politics, histories and institutions, as they relate
to the discussion of what might constitute ‘European identity’. The
workshop aims to draw scholars from across Europe to discuss and evaluate
the contribution of different media forms and agencies in the creation and
dissemination of ideas, texts and images which relate to a wider
understanding of regional identity, its variant history and the strategies
of representation which construct in part our identity as Europeans. 

If you would like to submit a paper for this workshop as part of the
conference, APPROACHING A NEW MILLENNIUM: LESSONS FROM THE PAST -
PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTUREThe seventh conference of the International
Society for the Study of European Ideas, please email an abstract of no
more than 300 words to [log in to unmask] or post to Dr Helen Davis,
Faculty of Arts and Media, The Surrey Institute of Art and Design
University College, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7DS, United Kingdom. Full details
of the conference are available at http://www.uib.no/issei2000/

	ISSEI 2000 - Registration and accomodation 	
Registration fees: 
Before April 30 2000 1500 NOK (ca. 190 $) 
>From May 1st 2000 1900 NOK (ca. 240 $) 
Students and guests 500 NOK (ca. 65 $) 
1 $ is approximately 8 NOK by June 15 1999. 
Registration procedures 
Coming soon... 
All queries about registration, hotel accommodation, lunches and social
programme must be directed to Plus Convention 
Plus Convention Norway ASE-mail: [log in to unmask]: +47 55
54 20 50