Feminist Scholarship Division

The Feminist Scholarship Division supports feminist efforts that have impact on women and ethnic minorities. Please see Carolyn Byerly's blog for information on various media issues and telecommunication policies. Byerly recently stated in an e-mail, intended for broad circulation among FSD members: 

"I have just posted a piece to my blogsite (http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/) asking for others to support a petition to the FCC for release of current data on women and minority ownership.  I (and 4 of my Howard colleagues) were among 20 individuals and 25 organizations to sign onto a letter this week written by Professor Angela Campbell (Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation).  You'll find details on the blog about the problem we are addressing and how you can play an active role in resolving it.

The public needs current data to better understand who owns our media and who does NOT.  Academic researchers have a particular need for the information to guide our inquiries into media policy, to inform our teaching, and to work together for an informed dialogue.

Thanks much for joining in the campaign! Carolyn Byerly"

Diana Rios, chair
diana.rios@uconn.edu

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Global Communication and Social Change Division

CALLS FOR NOMINATIONS FOR AWARDS: International Communication Association Division of Global Communication and Social Change

DEADLINE: all materials must be received by 1 March 2011.

SUBMISSIONS: Nomination packages should be sent electronically to Professor Robert Huesca (rhuesca@trinity.edu) and hard copy to Trinity University, Dept. of Communication, San Antonio, TX  78212

1. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - The Award honors established scholars in any one or more of the research fields that pertain to the division*. A full nomination package should comprise a signed rationale from the nominator (who shall not be the person nominated), a signed, supporting statement and rationale from one other person (who shall not be the person nominated), a resume of the person nominated including a complete list of his or her publications. While submissions are electronic, the Awards Committee also requires that signed hard copies of the nominator’s rationale, and the supporting statement be snail-mailed. 
2. BEST BOOK AWARD FOR 2009 AND 2010 - The Award honors any sole or jointly authored book (edited or coedited volumes shall not be included), carrying a date of publication from either 2009 or 2010. The Book should represent a major contribution to research in any one or more of the research fields that pertain to the division*. A full nomination package should comprise a signed rationale from the nominator (who shall not be the person nominated), a signed, supporting statement and rationale from one other person (who shall not be the person nominated), a resume of the person (or persons) whose book has been nominated including a complete list of his or her publications, a summary of the book and copies of any two chapters from it. While submissions are electronic (including copies of book chapters), the Awards Committee also requires that signed hard copies of the nominator’s rationale, and the supporting statement be snail-mailed.
3. BEST JOURNAL ARTICLE AWARD FOR 2010 - The Award honors any sole or jointly authored research article published in a reputable scholarly journal that carries a 2010 date of publication. The article should represent a major contribution to research in any one or more of the research fields that pertain to the division.* A full nomination package should comprise a
   signed rationale from the nominator (who shall not be the person nominated), a signed, supporting statement and rationale from one other person (who shall not be the person nominated), a resume of the person (or persons) whose article has been nominated including a complete list of his or her publications, and a full copy of the article. While submissions are electronic (including the copy of the article), the Awards Committee also requires that signed
   hard copies of the nominator’s rationale, and the supporting statement be snail-mailed.
4. TOP DISSERTATION AWARD - The award honors a dissertation published in the two calendar years preceding the nomination deadline (i.e. January 1 and December 31, 2009 and 2010). The review committee judges each nominated dissertation on several criteria including the importance of the problem it addresses, the strength of evidence it presents, and the significance
   of its conclusions all relative to the mission of the Division.* The committee also will consider the soundness of methodology and quality of writing and argument, along with the nominating letter(s). Nominations must be submitted by the director of the nominee’s dissertation committee.

A full nomination package should comprise:

1. A letter of nomination, 2 pages maximum, that addresses the judging criteria noted above and the division mission statement below;
2. Nominee's resume;
3. No more than two sample chapters, with one of them being either the introductory or concluding chapter;
4. One additional letter of recommendation (preferably from a supervisor or dissertation committee member), 2 pages maximum, that addresses the judging criteria noted above and the division mission statement below is permitted.

* Division Mission: The Division for Global Communication and Social Change exists to encourage and debate research on issues of production, distribution, content and reception of communications media at global, "glocal," transnational, transcultural, international and regional levels. Within this purview it encompasses work across a wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, concerning issues of media/mediated communication in cultural, economic, political or social contexts, including strategic mediated communication for development, social change or social justice.

Robert Huesca, Chair
rhuesca@trinity.edu

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Language & Social Interaction Division

To aid newcomers to understand the kind of work found in the Language & Social
Interaction Division we have posted the Top Paper and the Top Student Paper
from the 2010 conference as well as papers written or coauthored by the
current LSI Division officers.  These papers can be found at the ICA/LSI
Division website under the "Purpose Statement" link. 
http://www.icahdq.org/sections/cms/LanguageSocialInteraction/default.asp?contentID=521

Richard Buttny, Chair

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Mass Communication Division

KYOON HUR DISSERTATION AWARD - CALL FOR NOMINEES
DEADLINE: March 21, 2011

The ICA Mass Communication Division's dissertation award, named in honor of the late Dr. K. Kyoon Hur, is designed to encourage and acknowledge the best in doctoral research and dissertation writing in mass communication.

Nominations for the 2011 award are invited from programs and institutions granting PhD in any aspect of mass communications. The rules for this year's competition are as follows:

1. Dissertations completed between November 1, 2008, and October 31, 2010 (inclusive), are eligible for consideration. Completion means that the final examination (dissertation defense) has been held and passed.
2. The dissertation advisor, graduate program director, or the student may make nominations. A letter MUST accompany student self-nominations from the advisor attesting to the quality of the work.
3. The following materials MUST be submitted with the nomination:
    
   (a) a cover letter with the name, address, telephone, and e-mail address of the nominee and his or her advisor(s);
   
   (b) a manuscript that acts as an integrated summary of the thesis or dissertation not exceeding 30 (thirty) pages of text (double spaced, 12-point font, 1 inch margins) and 50 pages total (including all references, tables, etc.). Full theses or dissertations or chapters of theses or dissertations will not be accepted for review. Submissions that do not meet the guidelines will be returned. The paper should clearly identify and include the rationale, theoretical framework, research questions, relevant literature, methods, results, and conclusions. The submitted paper should include a cover sheet that contains only the title and the abstract. Care should be taken to mask the identity of the author within the text of the paper.
4. All materials must be received by March 21, 2011, and should be submitted electronically to:

David Ewoldsen
Chair, Mass Communication Division
The Ohio State University
E-mail Address: ewoldsen.osu@gmail.com

The subject matter of the dissertation is more important than the title of the department program under whose auspices it was written. Although it is expected that most nominations will come from programs in communication, speech, journalism, broadcasting, or the like, it is possible that qualifying dissertations on mass communication topics will be submitted from other social sciences, humanities or health sciences programs.

PLEASE NOTE: Dissertation advisors and department heads should be selective in their nominations. The award is for the highest level of scholarship. Although there are many good dissertations in the field, nominations should be made with an eye to their competitiveness among the very best. A cash prize will be presented to the winner at the 2011 ICA annual meeting in Boston.

David Ewoldsen, Chair
ewoldsen.osu@gmail.com

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Political Communication Division

The Political Communication division is getting ready for Boston. The  Division had a record number of submissions and great efforts were made  to create an inclusive and exciting program. The division's virtual  session is devoted to political advertising; please follow this exciting  initiative in the virtual conference space. The conference features  several timely and innovative papers on online political communication,  its contents and consequences.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that 24 student projects were selected (out of 43 submitted) for presentation at the Political Communication Graduate Student Preconference, to be held at Boston  University on May 26. The preconference goals include providing  guidance, feedback and professional socialization to graduate students  and cultivating a network among young political communication scholars.

We thank BU for supporting this event and the preconference committee  (Kevin
Barnhurst, Patricia Moy, James Shanahan and Geoffrey Baym) for  their hard work.

Finally, don't forget to stay updated:
http://www.politicalcommunication.org/newsletter.html

Yariv Tsfati, Chair
ytsfati@com.haifa.ac.il

Claes de Vrees, Vice-Chair
c.h.devreese@uva.nl

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Popular Communication Division

Registration is now open for this year's Popular Communication Division preconference in Boston in May.

Below is the full line up for what promises to be a fantastic event. The format will be discussion-based, workshop style. With the exception of the keynote address, presentations will be kept short: brief position papers and extended abstracts by the presenters will be circulated to all participants before the preconference to enable full participation from everyone attending. Registration is on a first come first basis: Places are limited to 50 - including the presenters!

Placing the Aesthetic in Popular Culture:
Quality, Value, and Beauty in Communication and Scholarship
 
Cosponsored by the Popular Communication, Philosophy of Communication, and Visual Communication Divisions
 
26th May 2011 9.00-17.00
 
Location: Emerson College, Boston
(Transportation is provided to and from the main conference hotel)
 
9 - 9.30: Breakfast (provided onsite) and Opening Remarks 

9.30 - 10.30: Keynote Address
Speaker: Georgina Born (University of Oxford)
Chair: David Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds) 

10.30 - 12.00: Experiencing the Aesthetic
Chair: Paul Frosh (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) 

Emily Easton (University of Illinois, Chicago), "Turn to Stone: The Dangerous Impacts of Aesthetics on the Values of Popular Culture"

Paul Frosh (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), "The Aesthetics of Inattention: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges"

David Hesmondhalgh (University of Leeds), "Defending Aesthetic Experience"

Annemarie Kersten (Erasmus University) & Denise Bielby (University of California, Santa Barbara), "Talk of the Talkies in the Twenty-First Century: Film Discourse on the Praised and Acclaimed"

Eric W. Rothenbuhler (Ohio University), "The Banishment of Aesthetic Criticism"

Cornel Sandvoss (University of Surrey), "Horizons of Expectations and the Aesthetic Challenge of Popular Media"

12.00 - 1.00: Lunch Break (lunch is provided on site)
 
1.00 - 2.15: The Politics and Ethics of Aesthetics
Chair: Mark Andrejevic (University of Iowa) 

Lilie Chouliaraki (London School of Economics), "Post-Humanitarianism: The Visual Politics of Contemporary Solidarity"

Ken Feil (Emerson College), "Camp and Circumstance: Aesthetics, Identity, and Mainstream Culture"

Tim Markham (Birkbeck College), "The Rough-and-Ready Aesthetics of Citizen Journalism"

Anna Roosvall (Örebro University), "Aesthetics, Geo-Politics, and Ethics of World News Pictures: Narratives and Metanarratives of 'Good Picture' Slideshows"

Anamik Saha (University of Leeds), "The Aesthetic Politics of 'Race' and the Racialization of the Cultural Commodity"

2.15 - 3.30: Production Aesthetics
Chair: Miranda Banks (Emerson College) 

Alex Leavitt (Microsoft Research), "'Open-Source' Culture and Networked Aesthetics"

Johann Sumiala (University of Helsinki), "Participatory Aesthetics: Reflecting Ritual Practices of Nonprofessional YouTube Posting"

Katja Valaskivi (University of Tampere), "Capitalizing Creativity: Yet, Revival for Aesthetics?"

Margaret Weigel (bambini media), "How the Digital is Impacting Perceptions of Quality in Aesthetic Domains"

Espen Ytreberg (University of Oslo), "The Parts of Aesthetics 'Authorship' Does Not Reach"

3.30 - 3.45: Coffee Break
 
3.45 - 5.00: "Quality" TV
Chair: Jonathan Gray (University of Wisconsin, Madison) 

Linus Andersson (Sodertorn University), "Television Aesthetics Reconsidered: What Can Art Teach Us About the Medium?"

Irene Costera Meijer (University of Amsterdam), "Quality Taste or Tasting Quality? The Value of Excellent Television from a Professional and an Audience Perspective"

Deborah Jaramillo (Boston University), "Rescuing Television from the 'Cinematic': Why We Need to Take Television Form Seriously"

Jason Mittell (Middlebury College), "The Quality of Complexity (and the Complexity of Quality)"

Jane Shattuc (Emerson College), "The Lifetime Network: The Problem of Degraded Culture as Women’s Culture"