Dear Friends & Colleages,
Please forward
Many thanks
Noureddine Miladi (PhD)
Lecturer in Media Studies and Sociology
University of Northampton
Park Campus
NN2 7Al
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CAMMRO’s 4th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
'NEW MEDIA AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE ARAB AND MUSLIM WORLD'
Date: Monday 16th June 2008
Venue: King’s College, The Strand Campus,
University of London, UK
Satellite TV and the internet have transformed the media landscape in the
Arab and Muslim world. Although their development is a recent phenomenon,
new media have not only opened up new opportunities for journalism but
also empowered audiences and civil society organisations with
unprecedented platforms for ‘free’ expression and social activism. New
technologies are said to have reinvigorated a sense of an ‘Arab
transnational public sphere’ and a ‘pan-Arab market’; brought together the
concerns of Arab audiences and united a region geographically vast. The
possible consequences of such rapid developments on social and political
change in the region are not hard to imagine, hence attempts to censor
information is still rampant in many parts of the Arab and Muslim
countries.
This conference aims to map out the role of new media in the perceived
social changes in that part of the world. It looks at how audiences,
users, civil society organisations, political/social groups have
understood and found in these technologies the right tools and strategies
to power their work sustainably.
Conference themes:
This conference will cover (but not necessarily limited to) the following
areas of enquiry:
- Blogging and bloggers as citizen journalists; are bloggers making a
social difference?
- Satellite TV and the internet as cites of resistance/alternative media
or sets of ‘censored national enclosures’
-E-campaigning and political/social groups
- How are activists/the youth interacting with platforms like ‘Youtube’,
‘Myspace’, ‘Flicker’, ‘Faithtube’, ‘Facebook’ and ‘Blogging’ to pursue
their objectives?
- The internet, development and civil society in the Arab and Muslim world
- Challenges of the Internet in war zones
- The new media and women empowerment in the region.
- Youth subcultures and new media, what is going on?
- In the absence of real democracy in some parts of the Arab and Muslim
world is new media creating a new form of social/political capital:
e-democracy?
- What functions are the internet and satellite TV playing in mobilising
public opinion?
- What expectations and perceptions are there regarding changes in
cultural and political values?
- Reality TV and the new publics, are we witnessing further tabloidisation
of Arab media or new forms of social interaction?
Call for submissions:
Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted by the 25th
February 2008. Papers should reflect one or more of the conference themes
mentioned above. Particularly welcome are papers based on empirical work
and a clear research method (s). Deadline for full papers is 15th May
2008.
Completed papers will also be welcomed for submission to the academic and
peer-reviewed Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research
http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journalissues.php?issn=17519411&v=1&i=1
Please send all submissions and enquiries to Khalil Agha (conference
organizer), E-mail: [log in to unmask] ; www.cammro.com ;
Tel: +44 (0) 7899 878485
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