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Dear MeCCSA Members,

Having already received many excellent abstracts we are happy to announce that we’ll be extending the CFP’s for the MeCCSA Post-Graduate Conference to Monday 8th April! If you’re a post-graduate with an interest in Media and Culture we’re looking for abstracts of 200 - 400 words dealing with the Evolution of Media.

Please send all abstracts to [log in to unmask]

Please see our CFP’s below:

CFP MeCCSA PGN Conference 2019

July 1-2, 2019, Bangor University

‘Delivery technologies become obsolete and get replaced; media, on the other hand, evolve.’ –Henry Jenkins (2006: 13)

The changes that have taken place within any aspect of media over the last several decades have been immense; some areas of the field are all but unrecognisable following such drastic adaptations and alterations. It is these adaptations, these changes, the evolution of media itself that is the theme of this conference. ‘Media evolution is a cultural process; it does not follow a grand plan either, but sometimes the direction and speed of the development can be – more or less – planned’ (Stöber, 2004: 485-486). However, ‘recent developments in literature as well as in literary theory… have posed new challenges to established theories and concepts’ (Reinerth and Thon, 2016: 11), and as such we must ourselves evolve both creatively, and academically. Elements of media evolution are the focus of this conference but such a topic can be interpreted in a multitude of ways; fields of research such as narratology, practice-based research, creative practice, film studies, game studies, performance analysis, etc. are but a few of many examples.

Marshall McLuhan stated that ‘the personal and social consequences of any medium – that is, of any extension of ourselves – result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology’ (1964: 7), and therefore as technology evolves, media evolves with it. For the MeCCSA PGN Conference 2019 we invite proposals for presentations, performances, or media works (maximum of fifteen minutes) that address or contribute to any of the areas of research mentioned above but also any further fields that might apply. We will also consider workshop/panel proposals (up to fifty minutes) that address such elements of media with particular interest to practical application within the industry. Proposals may be from an academic discipline but we are equally welcoming of proposals from outside the academy especially if submitted by those with experience within the industry.

Many fields of research within the greater disciplines have the potential to overlap, and we welcome submissions from interdisciplinary sources and experimental practitioners. Though candidates are not limited to this list, below are some example areas that candidates may present on:

— Evolution of Media

The examination of how differing forms of media have evolved and adapted with passing time and how these changes affected both the industry and creative output.

— Evolution of the Creator

The examination of how the creators of media have needed to adapt and change over time; script writers, novel writers, short-story writers, directors, producers, etc.

— Evolution of the Recipient

The examination of the evolution of the audience. Impact of changes that have taken place in film and TV audiences, video-game players, internet users, students in a classroom, readers of novels and short-stories, listeners to podcasts and radio broadcasts, etc.

— Evolution of Practice

Examinations of changes in the creative process, how creators view their own work critically and build from it, including in particular practice-based research within academia.

— Evolution of Communication

The examination of communication in relation to media and the ways in which such communications have evolved and adapted with changing technology and content.

— Evolution of Culture

The examination of evolution of wider culture in regards to media, changes within society or expectations that have in turn altered the forms of media popularity. This could be narrowed to cover only a sub-culture or portion of society at large, including minorities.

— Evolution of Experience

The examination of how media has evolved to heighten its impact and the ways in which it can affect a recipient(s). How experiencing a form of media has changed with time and technology.

— Evolution of Enhancement

How forms of media have enhanced one another in order to change the ways in which it is interpreted and received, elements of ergodic literature, virtual reality systems, augmented reality systems, etc.

Proposals/Deadlines

The MeCCSA PGN Conference 2019 will be a large conference in which presentations, workshops, and keynotes speeches will be given over a two-day period with the aim of constantly building discussion between attendees for the advancement and application of theory and practice methods. Given the expected number of attendees it is highly likely the conference shall run parallel sessions, though the keynotes and some workshops will run alone. Please send proposals (200-400 words) to [log in to unmask] by 5pm, 8th April 2019. Proposals should be for a 15-minute presentation (followed by time for questions after the talks) or for a 50-minute workshop/panel (please include a brief rationale for the workshop/panel and abstracts for all papers, including authors and affiliations). All conference spaces will have access to a lectern, computer, and projectors with speakers as standard but if any specialist technology should be required this should be specified within the proposal.

In addition, Networking Knowledge (the journal of MeCCSA Postgraduate Network) will publish a guest edition with papers delivered during the conference in late 2019 or early 2020. We would like to encourage delegates to write the full version of their papers for further peer review and potential inclusion in this special edition. Full papers submitted by 24 June 2019 will enter the Best Paper Award competition. The paper(s) that receives this award will be included in the guest edition of the journal. We look forward to receiving your submissions, and if you have any questions please email us at [log in to unmask]

References

Jenkins, H., 2006. Convergence culture. New York: New York Univ. Press.

McLuhan, M., 1994. Understanding media. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Reinerth, M.S. and Thon, J.-N., 2016. Subjectivity across Media: Interdisciplinary and Transmedial Perspectives. London: Taylor & Francis.

Stöber, R., 2004. What Media Evolution Is: A Theoretical Approach to the History of New Media. European Journal of Communication, 19(4), pp. 483–505.