Conference Date/Location: March 1-2, 2012 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Affiliation: Carleton University, School of Journalism and Communication

Paul Attallah Keynote Lecture: Gabriella Coleman, Assistant Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, NYU Steinhardt and 2012 Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy

Many media outlets, from Entertainment Tonight to Gawker and Perez Hilton spend a lot of time profiling the day-to-day life of celebrities. Players of online games create profiles which help them navigate their way through a given space. Setting up a profile —willingly or unwillingly— is fundamental to various online activities, from social networking to tracking Google searches. Developments in security and surveillance technologies, such as biometrics, create ideal body types and act as a means for determining whether one is or is not a security risk. Media coverage of recent events like the "Occupy" movement produce a new profile of protesters. The profile in photography represents an early example of a "media format" and draws attention to the genre or standardization of acts of representation. Political, aesthetic, and cultural dynamics go into creating, maintaining and disseminating a profile in mediated environments. Historical profiles create a past we can interact with, demographic profiles conceptualize our current identity, while genetic and behavioural profiles try to predict our future. This conference examines these different meanings of profile and their intersections.

Among other related topics, we seek papers that consider:
The politics of profiling in journalism
Visualizing profiles
Profiling the body: biometrics and biopolitics
Profiling the self: identity creation and performance
Profiling and social theory
Marginalized profiles
#following and grouping profiles
Design and defaults of digital profiles
Profiles of play

We seek proposals for individual paper presentations as well as pre-formed panels that interpret and explore the theme of Profiles. Submissions from faculty and graduate students and from those who study in departments outside of communication are welcomed and encouraged.

Please submit an abstract of up to 200 words (preferably in Word format) outlining your proposed paper topic along with your name, affiliation, contact information (e-mail address), and audio/visual needs.