2-3 October 2009, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey

What is Europe according to its others? An essence, an origin, a center? Or is it nothingness, a void or chiasm? Where is Europe? In diasporic or migrant spaces? How is Europe different from the West? Can an identity be made European? Could it be Eurocentric or Euro-chiasmic? Can one leave one’s cultural frame to take on another? Can one transnationalize and/or regionalize a national identity or vice versa? Can the European Union create a single entity or a grand signifier of Europe out of multiple differences? What is the role of communication, media, and culture in such exchanges, transformations, processes and practices? Can we account for the similarities, proximities, and relations or should we focus on the differences, cleavages, and tensions?

This conference aims to explore the questions above and how such questions surface in media and cultural texts, ranging from everyday practices to media representations. The papers may deal with various meanings of Europe and its relation to non-European cultures, and how these are experienced or altered at the level of media, culture, and identity. Possible paper topics are:

Eurocentrism and its alternatives
Transnationalism and nationalisms
Global, regional, and local media and culture
Diasporic and migrant culture and identities
Gender equality and cultural diversity
Tactics and strategies of dialogue between cultures
Symbolic representations of Europe in various cultural practices
Theories of European cinema, media and culture
Challenges for European cinema, media, and cultural studies
European communication studies and strategies
The EU policies on media, communication, and culture

Confirmed Keynote Speakers (alphabetically listed):

Prof. Angela McRobbie (University of London, Goldsmiths College, Media and Communications) editor of Back to Reality? Social Experience and Cultural Studies (1997); author of In the Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music (1999); Postmodernism and Popular Culture (1994); Feminism and Youth Culture: From 'Jackie' to 'Just Seventeen' (1991).

Prof. Kevin Robins (Based in Istanbul and a visiting fellow at Goldsmiths College, University of London) author of Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life (1999); Into the Image: Culture and Politics in the Field of Vision (1996); Spaces of Identity: Global Media, Electronic Landscapes and Cultural Boundaries (co-author, 1995).

Prof. William Uricchio (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Comparative Media Studies), author of We Europeans?: Media, Representations, Identities (2009); Reframing Culture: the Case of the Vitagraph Quality Films (1993, co-author); The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and His Media (1991, co-editor).
Other speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Please send a 300-word abstract with the name and institutional affiliation of the speaker (mailing address & email address) to emcs@bahcesehir.edu.tr

Deadline for abstracts: June 15, 2009.
Deadline for acceptance information: June 29, 2009.
Deadline for submitting the completed papers: September 20, 2009.
Deadline for papers for conference proceedings: October 18, 2009.

Organizing Committee:
Prof. Haluk Gürgen (Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey)
Prof. Dieter Mersch (University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany)
Prof. Winfried Gerling (University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany)
Assoc. Prof. Süheyla Schroeder (Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey; visiting fellow at University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany)
Assoc. Prof. Savas Arslan (Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey
) Assist. Prof. Defne Karaosmanoglu (Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey)
Assist. Prof. Christine Hanke (University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; visiting fellow at Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey)

The conference is organized by an EU funded project, “European Media and Cultural Studies and Media Awareness,” jointly run by Bahcesehir University (Istanbul, Turkey), University of Potsdam (Potsdam, Germany) and University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (Potsdam, Germany).

For further details about the conference please visit: http://www.emcs.bahcesehir.edu.tr/conference.html

For further details about the project please visit: http://www.emcs.bahcesehir.edu.tr/

Please note: There is no fee for the conference registration.
The language of the conference is English.

If you have further questions about the conference, please do not hesitate to contact us.
E-Mail: Aysegul Kesirli (conference assistant)
aysegulkesirli@yahoo.com
Phone: +90 (212) 381 0764