Media in Transition, MIT, Call for Papers

[anna balint]

Media in Transition: globalization and convergence, an
international conference

conference date: 10-12 May 2002 
abstract deadline: 1 January 2002

Terms such as "globalization" and "convergence"
increasingly dominate discussions of our media
environment, yet their meanings remain vague and
context specific. Many factors make it difficult to
make broad statements about these trends: The uneven
flow of cultural products across national borders, the
still nascent nature of the new media environment,
unpredictable patterns of use and meaning among media
consumers, diverse national histories of cultural
exchange or isolation, an unstable business climate
which alternately encourages and discourages
innovation and entrepreneurship.
Many core issues remain to be explored: Will
globalization reduce or expand the world's cultural
diversity? Will new technologies empower international
media makers to enter the American marketplace or
leave them more exposed than ever before to U.S.
cultural exports? How do we reconcile the competing
forces of media convergence and media fragmentation
that are shaping the current communications
infrastructure? What patterns can we discern among
convergent content and audiences across media forms
and international borders? What are the implications
of media convergence not only at the corporate level,
but also at the grassroots level where users are in
control of content, context, and flow?
Two years ago, MIT hosted the first Media in
Transition conference, bringing together an
international array of scholars from many different
disciplines to examine the process and consequences of
media change. This year, we invite you back to MIT for
the second Media in Transition conference. As in the
first conference, we encourage reflection across
disciplinary boundaries, and among theorists and
practitioners -- a citizenly discourse makes core
ideas accessible to a broad public.
Focusing especially on North American, European and
Asian experiences, the conference will provide a
platform for a historically and culturally comparative
analysis of our media past, present and future. As in
the first Media in Transition conference,
presentations and multi-media demonstrations will be
framed by plenary "conversations" in which
distinguished panelists will speak briefly and then
participate in extended dialogue with the audience.
We solicit papers on all aspects of media in
transition, including:
changing peripheries and centers
world music -- world media
news and information in the digital age
the internet, policy and popular culture
transnational political activism
cultural disorder: regional censorship and
trans-national media
unofficial cultures, cultures of resistance
cultural authority/autonomy/markets
historical precedents/precursors
global media flows, local media meanings
intellectual property: constructions, enforcements,
implications cyber citizenry and the global public sphere
digital culture: language and infrastructure
convergence and fragmentation public service 
vs the marketplace: traditions, histories and futures
building a global base for local media production
global fusion and hybridity "The Third Culture"
 -- identity in an age of dislocation
the globalization of the media audience
re-examining "the global village"
the transformation of television
narrative forms and cultural change

Abstracts and short biographical statements should be
sent no later than 1 January 2002 to R. J. Bain at the
address below.
The conference will be held at MIT from 10-12 May
2002.
Please visit the web site from the previous Media in
Transition conference:
http://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/conferences/m-i
 R. J. Bain Comparative Media Studies
14N-207 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
Email: cms at mit.edu

Visit the Call for Papers website at
http://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/conferences/m-i-t/