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Dear colleagues As part of our mission to support innovation in arts and humanities scholarship, the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research is focusing its 2016-17 seminar series around the theme of amateurism. Amateurism raises questions about the nature of creativity in fields such as publishing, fine art, fashion, craftwork, photography, film, music, gaming, broadcasting, and media forms such as journalism, documentary and current affairs. Furthermore, the nature of the amateur challenges us to rethink how we understand the boundaries between cultural institutions and the values we associate with different cultural forms and practices, the definition of professions (such as journalism for example), and the role of technological change. By bringing together scholars across disciplines to explore this theme, we aim to promote new ways of studying contemporary society's most pressing topics. We welcome proposals for conventional academic as well as practice-based presentations from researchers at all career stages, including postgraduate students. If you would like to present a paper to our weekly research seminar on any aspect of amateurism, please send a 200-word proposal to Kirsten Forkert by 31 October 2016 ([log in to unmask]). For more information about the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, http://www.bcmcr.org/