Category Archives: Media Studies

Mind over Chatter”:Mindfulness, Media, & Misinformation in the Digital Era

Friday, September 13, 2019

Indiana University Kokomo

Kokomo, Indiana

Keynote speaker: Michael Caulfield, Director of Blended and Networked Learning, Washington State University, and author of Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers

“Falsehood is the essence of all media, extending mankind’s natural inclination to myth-making.” – Marshall McLuhan

This symposium seeks to bring together a diverse group of scholars, teachers, and thinkers from around the state of Indiana and beyond to discuss pedagogical strategies and solutions to help today’s college students cope with “network propaganda” of all kinds. In an increasingly complex, fast-moving, and confusing digital media environment rife with problematic information (mis- and disinformation, propaganda, so-called “fake news,” pseudo-science, manipulation, etc.), what are our responsibilities as teachers and literacy advocates? How might we reconceptualize our roles against a societal backdrop of declining trust in professions and institutions?

We are most interested in exploring how the practice of mindfulness—in a variety of forms and formats—can contribute to and deepen our students’ understanding of the current epistemological moment and the way misinformation flows, functions, and moves through the digital media ecosystem. Approaches may draw from any of the following topics, though presenters are encouraged to depart from and elaborate on these ideas as they see fit:

  • Using mindfulness techniques/habits of mind approaches to teach digital information literacy (e.g., confirmation bias, truth-default theory, mere exposure effect, epistemic dependence, etc.)
  • Machine learning and artificial intelligence in classroom/teaching applications
  • The epistemology/structure/theory of network propaganda, dis- and misinformation, manipulation, and the “post-Truth” era
  • The architecture of social media networks, especially as it pertains to the spread of disinformation, propaganda, and problematic information in general
  • Pedagogical approaches to digital literacy/teaching resistance to disinformation
  • Misinformation in science, medicine, and technology
  • The history of misinformation, histories of misinformation
  • Network theory and the role of networks/social media in spreading misinformation: networks and actors, algorithms, micro-targeting, actor-network theory, materiality, object-oriented rhetorics and approaches
  • Intersections between politics and misinformation

The conference organizers welcome either individual paper proposals (approx. 15 minutes) or panel presentations of 3-4 presenters (approx. 45 minutes). All sessions will be 60 minutes total with 15 minutes reserved for a robust Q & A. Please upload your proposal (500-word maximum) with contact information to this Google form by June 21, 2019 at 11:59pm EDT. Presenters will be notified of their acceptance via email no later than July 12, 2019. For any and all queries, contact the conference organizers via email at cfp19@iuk.edu.

Library 2.019 Shaping the Future of Libraries with Instructional Design

We’re excited to announce our first Library 2.019 mini-conference: “Shaping the Future of Libraries with Instructional Design,” which will be held online (and for free) on Wednesday, March 13th, from 12:00 – 3:00 pm US-Pacific Daylight Time (click for your own time zone).

This conference will bring together the community of librarians, instructional designers and other educators whose work happens at the intersection of instructional design, educational technology, learning, and libraries. This is also a conference for those wanting to learn more about how instructional designers are advancing the educational mission of their libraries and institutions, how the latest innovations in educational technology are being applied in libraries and classrooms, and what we can expect as instructional design and technology transitions from a peripheral to core function within libraries. While the future of libraries may be uncertain and unpredictable, this is an opportunity to explore how library professionals and their colleagues can shape it through the application of instructional design and technology.

We invite all library professionals, employers, LIS students, and educators to consider submitting a proposal for the conference for a concurrent session presentation. Sessions slots are 30 minutes long, and the suggested presentation time is 20 minutes maximum, with 5 minutes of Q&A. Proposals will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and the number of sessions will be limited, so you are encouraged to get your proposal in early!

The deadline to submit presentation proposals is February 25th. Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

  • Becoming an Instructional Design or Instructional Technology Librarian – what are the pathways to gaining the skills and knowledge
  • Partnerships with Faculty Development Units
  • Partnerships with Educational Technology Units
  • Designing Library Instruction
  • Universal Design & Accessibility (AODA, Section 508) for Learning framework
  • Integration of educational technology into library instruction
  • Instructional Design and Online/Distance Learning library services
  • Global perspectives on instructional design & technology
  • Student engagement and high-impact practices
  • Top or ne technologies/Go-to EdTech Resources

The call for proposals is now open and you can submit yours HERE.

Consumer Identities and Social Change Symposium

Submission deadline: January 10, 2019

In partnership with The Institute for International Communication at St. John’s University, Consumer Identities is now accepting submissions for paper presentations at an upcoming one-day symposium, Consumer Identities and Social Change.

We seek transdisciplinary interpretations and critical analyses of consumer identity, broadly defined, across various cultural and media landscapes that address some aspect of social change. This symposium follows the 2017 installment, Consumer Identities and Digital Culture.

Potential topics (including but not limited to):

  • Activism and consumption
  • Anti-consumerism
  • Consumer identity and global issues
  • Corporate social responsibility and popular culture
  • Cultural marketing and consumer relationships
  • Environmental responsibility, greenwashing and branding
  • Grassroots media
  • Historical changes in consumer culture
  • The political economy of consumption

    We welcome scholarly submissions that address audience, industry, and critical/cultural perspectives and are particularly interested in the intersections thereof.

    Website: https://consumeridentities.com/

    Location: St. John’s University, New York City, Queens Campus

    Date: March 22, 2019

    Keynote: Dr. Emily West, Associate Professor, Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

    Submissions:

    350-word abstract and brief biographical note by 01/10/2019 to consumer.identities@gmail.com.

    Accepted panelists will be notified in mid-January.

    Please address any questions to:

    Candice D. Roberts
    Assistant Professor, Communication
    St. John’s University
    robertsc@stjohns.edu

    or

    Myles Ethan Lascity
    Assistant Professor, Fashion Media
    Southern Methodist University
    mlascity@smu.edu

TERS 2019

The Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology (PAECT) is honored to offer you the opportunity to present at the 3rd annual Technology Education Research Symposium (TERS) 2019!

Proposals are now being accepted at:

https://www.smore.com/mvnaf

Priority submission deadline for proposals — Dec. 13, 2018

Deadline for proposals — Feb. 1, 2019
*Based on availability with no assurances of acceptance*

When is TERS 2019? April 13th, 2019


Where? Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

·         Present your educational technology research to others

·         Accepted publications will be published in Volume 3, Issue 1 of the PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal

·         Attend sessions to learn from other Ed Tech leaders and researchers

Who should attend?

Higher education faculty

Doctoral students

Educational Technology researchers

Educators

School Administrators

Corporate e-learning specialists

Instructional technology specialists

Anyone interested in educational technology research topics!

Click here to submit a proposal for presentation, publication, and to learn more about this event.

Feminisms and Leadership: Psychology of Women and Equalities Review Special Issue

Call for papers
Psychology of Women and Equalities Review Special Issue
Feminisms and Leadership

‘Leadership’ is a highly regulative practice, and is pervasive in our personal and political realms. Under late capitalism, academic and popular discourse continues to represent leadership in gender essentialist terms, through the figure of the ‘great man’. Notions of the ‘great leader’ are rarely tied to colonial domination, which consolidated leadership as the natural and legitimate enterprise of white, ‘civilizing’ masculinity (Mohanty, 2004). This is reflected in the ongoing proliferation of leadership as a marker of individual stature, and the reproduction of white patriarchal power in global corporate and political spaces.

Feminist attention has been dedicated to understanding differential leadership experiences within this highly gendered terrain. However, a wealth of feminist literature continues to promote women’s leadership in these spaces without dismantling the spaces themselves. Moreover, unchecked histories of racism, sexism, classism, and ableism function to keep notions of ‘successful’ leadership firmly within the confines of dominant globalizing forces.

The call: “Do not become the master’s tool!” (Ahmed, 2017, p. 160), inspires the commitment that we will never use the master’s tools (Lorde, 1984) to resist these forces. Following this commitment, current feminist work in psychology calls for collective feminist leadership and resistance through ‘feminist counter-publics’ (Rúdólfsdóttir & Jóhannsdóttir, 2018). More broadly, Lewis and Pullen (2018) call for the strengthening of feminist work in organizational studies, arguing: “…we have never needed it more than we do now” (p. 108).

In the spirit of these calls to action, this special issue invites feminist work that rewrites notions of ‘successful’ leadership in psychology and related academic and non-academic disciplines. Contributions may include, but are not limited to work that considers:

*   Intersections of race and class, gender, sexuality, and/or disability, with leadership.
*   Leadership in contexts of feminist activism, movements, and political resistance.
*   Reimagining leadership in/outside of elite or corporate contexts.
*   Bad or ‘toxic’ leadership.

Contributions may include original articles (up to 3000-7000 words), observations and commentaries (up to 2500 words) or creative pieces (up to 2000 words). Submissions will be subject to the usual peer review process. The deadline for submissions is January 7th 2019. Queries can be sent to editor.powsr@gmail.com Lucy Thompson (aymorluc@msu.edu<mailto:aymorluc@msu.edu>).

Realizing Resistance: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Star Wars, Episodes VII, VIII & IX

Please follow the link to a CFP for Realizing Resistance: An
Interdisciplinary Conference on Star Wars, Episodes VII, VIII & IX
<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigital-frontiers.org%2Fresistance%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cdxf19%40psu.edu%7C13a3e0fc3e284b13a13408d612827336%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C636716748819570671&amp;sdata=Uke47JHGUpbG9RDQioYx%2B3IxyPE0rNUSqLS7%2BW7FPPU%3D&amp;reserved=0>. Feminist, women’s studies,
critical race theory, and queer theory papers particularly welcome!

Sam Langsdale
UNT Philosophy & Religion

An Interdisciplinary Conference on *Star Wars*, Episodes VII, VIII & IX

May 2–4, 2019, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

*Call for Papers:*

Although *Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope* may have started out on shaky
ground, its cinematic release in 1977 forever changed the landscape of
American pop culture. As Douglas Brode has argued, “*Star Wars*, simply
put, had turned out to be not merely the latest momentary blip on the
entertainment screen but an essential element of how we define ourselves
through the movies and related media” (2012, 7). Far from simply reflecting
a particular film genre, *Star Wars *has become a cultural phenomenon that
has impacted pop culture for over four decades.

Throughout the original trilogy, the prequels, and most recently the
sequels, the films have focused on the struggle between Imperial forces and
rebellious fighters who seek to throw off the yoke of an authoritarian
regime. In the opening crawl of *Episode VII–The Force Awakens*, we are
told that the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, is fighting against
the First Order so that peace and justice may be restored to the galaxy.
This conference seeks to critically explore what it means to be “with the
Resistance” by focusing on Episodes VII, VIII, and (to the extent possible)
IX, as well as the various ways these films reflect, contribute to, or even
fail to show “how we define ourselves through the movies and related
media.” In other words, this conference aims to bring together scholars
from across disciplines to examine the three most recent *Star Wars* films
as cultural texts, with an explicit focus on themes of resistance and
justice, and on how these films contribute to, reflect, or depart from
broader contemporary cultural practices and social discourses.

[image: leia_poster]We are interested in, for example, the paradox inherent
in certain fan criticisms of *Episode VII–The Last Jedi* as “social justice
propaganda,” in light of the enduring theme of resistance and justice
throughout the film franchise. We seek to analyze what it means for *Star
Wars *slogans to be used on posters at contemporary political rallies, in
what ways, and by whom. We want to ask how Episodes VII, VIII & IX might be
productively used in a classroom to teach students about various concepts
of justice, or about histories of social resistance movements. We want to
pose critical questions about cultural appropriation and Orientalism in the
most recent films and throughout the franchise. We also want to explore
what limitations there may be in attempting to theorize about and practice
resistance to hegemonic power in relation to a film franchise owned by one
of the most powerful and successful corporations in our contemporary
capitalist economy.

Scholars may analyze any one of the three sequels, or some combination of
them. While we are aware that Episode IX will not be released until
December, we have included it here in order to give interested participants
the opportunity to reflect on trailers, the marketing in the lead-up to the
cinematic release, or even to include analysis of the film itself by the
time of the conference. Further, because the most recent films are part of
the larger franchise, we welcome (and would even expect) papers that put
Episodes VII, VIII & IX in dialogue with any other *Star Wars *films.
Finally, in addition to the films themselves, papers may engage with any
media related to the sequels including comics, animated series, SW fiction,
merchandise, advertising, or other types of social media.

And so, we invite all interested participants to join us in thinking about
the themes of resistance to hegemony, justice, and the restoration of peace
in Episodes VII, VIII & IX and how these films reflect, contribute to, or
depart from wider social discourses and cultural phenomena. In analyzing
“the Resistance,” in the films and beyond, paper proposals, in the form of
250-word abstracts, may address—but are not limited to—any of the following
topics:

– Generational differences or continuities
– Sexualities
– Models of friendship
– Human relationships with technology
– The role of the Environment/non-human animals/creatures
– The role of women
– The role of people of color
– The role of children/young people
– Ambiguity around “good guys” and “bad guys” in social conflicts
– Family/found family/lineage/heritage
– Class hierarchies
– Cultural appropriation and Orientalism
– Heroism through necessity
– Digital Scholarship and New Media Studies interventions
– The significance of names/naming
– The use of humor
– Clothing/fashion/color motifs
– Religion/belief/ritual
– Icons/symbols
– Hope
– Languages
– Teaching

As aca-fans it is our hope that this conference is both a celebration of
the films, and the broader culture engendered by the *Star Wars *franchise,
as well as an opportunity to engage in constructively critical analysis. We
welcome scholars from any discipline, employing any methodology, however in
the spirit of the conference theme, we request that all papers avoid
racism, sexism, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and religious
bigotry. Accepted participants will be invited to present their 20-minute
papers, or to exhibit their work, at a two-and-a-half-day interdisciplinary
conference at the University of North Texas in Denton. To submit a paper
proposal, please *submit this form
<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgoo.gl%2Fforms%2FEXVIyx74BaToVNyC3&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cdxf19%40psu.edu%7C13a3e0fc3e284b13a13408d612827336%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C636716748819570671&amp;sdata=3K1WIJFncF%2BJX6p7DP2xVnSaR%2F1x1UEoBWoFnlZh67A%3D&amp;reserved=0>* with
the following information:

– Name, institutional affiliation, email address of corresponding author
and all co-authors (if applicable)
– 250-word abstract
– Short bio

*Dates and Deadlines*

Submission Deadline: November 15, 2018
Notifications: January 5, 2019
Conference Dates: May 2–4, 2019

If you have questions please contact resistance@digital-frontiers.org.