IAMCR 2014: History Section CfP - Deadline 10 February

History Section - Call for Papers – IAMCR 2014

The IAMCR 2014 conference will be held in Hyderabad, India on July 15-19, 2014. The History Section invites submissions of individual research papers, complete panel and workshop proposals and poster presentations, which intersect the main topic of the conference – "Region as Frame: Politics, Presence, Practice."

The History Section interprets the main theme broadly, viewing the physical and ideological boundaries as nothing fixed, as being in constant change, and forming and re-forming both material and mental maps. The division of these maps into political, geographic, economic, cultural or national regions depends on a number of factors that are present in one time and gone in another. Often, they become understood only through historical examination and interpretation. One of the most influential phenomena, which changed the lives of millions of people, was the ‘Cold War’ that constructed impermeable borders between the countries, nations, cultures and ideas. The collapse of the Soviet empire transformed these borders. The digital revolution has drawn completely new maps of ‘virtual regions’ that do not necessarily correspond to any physical space. 

Within these general lines, the History Section proposes sessions for papers around the following themes:

1. Communication over the borders and among the regions of the ‘Cold War’ world (How (im)permeable was the ‘iron curtain’? The practices of impeding the exchange of information; the ways of distributing alternative information; journalists’ professional and moral dilemmas on both sides of the ‘iron curtain’; people’s experiences with using alternative information channels; communist and anti-communist propaganda mechanisms and contents).

2. 25 years of Central and Eastern European media transformation (Historical continuities and discontinuities of the media development in CEE countries; interpretations of the ‘legacies’ of the past and their influence on the national media cultures; history of journalism education and research in CEE countries).

3. Media and Empire  (Considering the development and relationship of media and forms of imperial control in South Asia and around the world in historical perspective).

4. Changing perceptions of privacy in the media (Interpretations of the border between private and public in different times and different media cultures; journalistic ethical standards in different times).

5. Journalism as a history chronicle, journalists as chroniclers of their times (How journalists’ (auto)biographical materials reflect their times; influential journalists, their production and heritage; retrospective constructions of historical discourses in communication, media and journalism).

6. Historical development of forms of public communication other than the news media and journalism (Crisis communication, advertising, public relations, film, libraries etc.).

7. Searching for new perspectives in the research on communication, media and journalism history (Historical research on digital media and the Internet; how digital archives advance research on media history; viewing ‘old’ history from new theoretical and methodological perspectives).

The range of topics is not limited to those listed above. Papers on other themes relevant to the main topic of the conference are also welcomed.

The History Section also invites papers addressing World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) related topics with the focus on its 10 year history to be presented in a session organized by the Working Group on Global Media Policy, IAMCR.

Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words. Those exceeding the limit will not be considered. Abstracts should have a clear title and the main argument proposed, clearly defined research objectives/questions, an outline of the theoretical framework and methodology. Each abstract must also include name(s), affiliation, institutional address and email address(es) of the author(s). IAMCR accepts presentations in English, French and Spanish. However, it is requested that abstracts, if at all possible, be submitted in English. 

Panel proposals should include a title, description of the central theme and subthemes, number of panelists (max 5), and the name and e-mail address of the person responsible for the panel.

All individual abstracts and panel proposals must be submitted through IAMCR Open Conference System (OCS) at http://iamcr-ocs.org from 1 December 2013 to 10 February 2014. Early submission is strongly encouraged. There are to be no e-mail submissions of abstracts addressed to the Section Heads.

It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract per person will be submitted for consideration by the Conference. Under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same applicant either individually or as part of any group of authors (incl. panels). Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to other Sections or Working Groups of the Association for consideration, after an initial submission. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be automatically rejected by the Open Conference System, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Such applicants risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
Upon submission of an abstract, you will be asked to confirm that your submission is original and that it has not been previously published in the form presented. It is expected that prior to the conference, a completed paper will be submitted by 20 June 2014.

The History Section encourages its members to volunteer for moderating and chairing sessions and to serve as discussants to the papers. We are also looking for voluntary reviewers (in the blind review system). Please, inform the Chairs of your interest to contribute: Epp Lauk (epp.lauk[at]gmail.com) or Chandrika Kaul (ck24[at]st-andrews.ac.uk).

Important deadlines to keep in mind are as follows:

History Section Co-Chairs:

Epp Lauk, University of Jyväskylä
epp.lauk[at]gmail.com

Chandrika Kaul, University of St.Andrews
ck24[at]st-andrews.ac.uk