Date: 20th - 21st May 2009
Venue: Marriott Downtown Chicago, Magnificent Mile Hotel
The study of audiences constitutes a central concern of contemporary (popular) communication research. As Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama fills football stadia addressing enthusiastic supporters and political commentators frequently refer to "Obama fans" and "Palin fans", evidence of the centrality of notions of affect and participation in contemporary mediated communication within and beyond the realm of traditional popular culture is abundant. This preconference aims to explore the social, cultural, textual and psychological conditions through which readers engage with, and attach meaning and emotional significance to the texts they privilege in their everyday life media consumption.
Corresponding with the theme of the 58th International Communication Association's conference Keywords in Communication (21st-25th May 2009 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) the field of audience studies constitutes a key conceptual battleground that has witnessed a number of paradigm changes over the past half century which have both reflected and contributed to the wider discourses of Social and Cultural Theory.
"Affective Audiences" explores these recent paradigm changes by offering a dedicated space within the ICA conference programme that combines empirical audience research with a thorough examination of the field's canon and a discussion of its conceptual challenges vis-à-vis convergence and globalization. The preconference will therefore include, but not be limited to, the following themes at the heart of contemporary audience studies:
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The impact of cultural globalization and the formation of transnational audiences on communities
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Affective media consumption and identity (including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality)
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Affective engagements of readers beyond the realm of popular culture o Convergence and audience participation
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Fan Democracy and the role of affective media consumption in the public sphere
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Aesthetics and politics of transformative audience responses
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Teen and childhood media consumption
For full details of the 2009 ICA conference please visit http://www.icahdq.org/conferences/2009/2009CFP.pdf
