Section Head Election 2016 - Candidate statements

History Section

The IAMCR History Section will hold elections for the positions of chair and co-chair. If you wish to stand for either of these positions, which are for 4 years in the first instance, send an email with your name, institutional details, email address and up to 400 words in support of your position to the section Chair, Chandrika Kaul <ck24[at]st-andrews.ac.uk>, with a copy to IAMCR General Secretary Maria Michalis <M.Michalis[at]westminster.ac.uk> and to the IAMCR secretariat <membership[at]iamc.org>, by July 13th at the latest.

The current co-chair Epp Lauk will not be standing for reelection.

The election will take place during the business meeting of the History section at the Leicester Conference in July. You do not need to be present for this meeting and can be elected in absentia. Please refer to the election rules at: http://iamcr.org/governance/swg-rules.

Candidates and statements

For Chair:

For Co-Chair:

Prof. Gideon Kouts, University of Paris 8, France

After 25 years of membership in the IAMCR and the History section, and as I understand that our distinguished colleague Epp Lauk has decided not to stand  for reelection for  this position, I  am honoured to submit my candidature and  offer my services as Co-chair of our section . My planned agenda   for the next four years would allow me to   focus on fulfilling the different duties, with the Section Chair, and spend a significant time in the service of our section and Association.

I am Full Professor of Communications and Head of the Masters Programme in Cultures, Civilisations and Societies at the University of Paris 8. Author and editor of numerous books and articles dealing mainly with the History of Media and Communications in the Jewish societies, History of the European press in the 19th century, Propaganda and National Identity studies.  (One of my books was based exclusively on the papers presented in the History section of IAMCR...)Editor of the International Journal of Jewish Press and Communications Research and the European Journal of Hebrew Studies. I am a member of many professional associations and participated in many important international conferences, often as key speaker, and my participation was mostly concentrated on historical aspects of the press and communications. I have also a rich working experience as a correspondent for international media.

The History section of IAMCR  was the first established section in any international communication’s scholars’ professional bodies ,dealing exclusively with History ,and served as an example in reproducing such sections and activities , for instance at the ICA ( with which I have often collaborated in conferences and publications). Our section should maintain its privileged “founder’s” status and continue to lead the research in the field, exploring new directions and initiating original activities. I would be glad to contribute, as much as I can, to answer this challenge.

PS This statement of candidature may be extended to the position of Chair only if the actual Chair who did an excellent work and whom I encourage very much to continue, would  decide for some reason not to stand for reelection.

Dr Chandrika Kaul, University of St Andrews,United Kingdom

I am currently Co-Chair of the History section.  I wish to stand for election to the post of CHAIR of the History section. If successful, this will be my final term of office.

a) I have 8 years of experience in helping organise the History section, first as Vice-Chair and then Co-Chair. I believe I have the requisite knowledge, experience and commitment to guide the History section successfully over the next 4 years.

b) I would like to encourage wider participation from new and younger scholars from across the globe, which given IAMCR’s international scope should be a very feasible project.

c) I would also be keen to encourage participants and members to think seriously about publication – either monographs or edited books – based on their submissions to the IAMCR. Every year there are excellent papers presented on a wide variety of themes from an international and diverse groups of scholars. I am in a strong position to encourage and guide publication being a member of the Publications Committee of the IAMCR as well as editing my own book series titled: ‘Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media’ (Palgrave Macmillan).

d) If elected, I would also want to encourage the History section to continue to expand its appeal and relevance by offering a platform for new and innovative research and responding to new trends in media and communication history.

Nelson Ribeiro, Catholic University, Portugal

I am running for the Chair position of the History Section as I will be happy to contribute to its development in the next 4-years.

My research focuses on communication history and therefore I do understand the importance that IAMCR History Section can have for those working in the field. In the last six years I have been an active member and therefore I am aware of the dynamics of the Section and do believe I can give a contribution for its improvement.

If elected, I would:

  • Do my best for achieving the Section’s aims and goals, contributing to its strengthening and enrichment. My plan is to co-operate with section members in order to get them more actively involved and especially give them a voice on how the section shall evolve.
  • Dialogue with other IAMCR sections and working groups in order to promote common initiatives, namely thematic pre conferences in which historical research can be presented;
  • Encourage more young scholars to join the History Section, making it more attractive for them to discuss their work within our group.
  • Promote ties with other international organizations and groups of scholars working in communication history.

Having in mind the enormous potential of the group and the quality of the papers that are annually presented at the IAMCR conferences, I will also be committed to developing initiatives that will give visibility to the research produced by the members, taking advantage of the global scope of IAMCR.

I am an Associate Professor in Communication Studies at the Catholic University of Portugal and a member of the board of directors at the Research Centre for Communication and Culture (CECC) where I have been coordinating the research line on “Media, Technology, Contexts” for the last three years. During my academic career, I have organized numerous conferences, have participated in several research projects and international networks, and have published on different topics dealing with media history.