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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
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