[Air-L] CFP: Pre-conference on New Media & History at ICA '08

[Park, David]

Fellow air listers:

See below to find a call for papers for "The Long History of New Media:
Contemporary and Future Developments Contextualized," a pre-conference
that will be part of the International Communication Association
conference in Montreal in May, 2008.  This will be a half-day
pre-conference.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this.  Also, please
note that the deadline for submissions is November 1.

Thanks,
Dave Park



Call for papers:

The Long History of New Media: Contemporary and Future Developments
Contextualized

International Communication Association 
Communication History Interest Group Pre-conference Workshop
Montreal, 21 May 2008

This ICA pre-conference explores the historical dimension of new media
with regard to theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and
contemporary developments. The historical dimension of these facets of
new media scholarship is all too often inadequately addressed. The
purpose of this pre-conference, then, is to bring together scholars with
a common interest in exploring the historical contextualization of new
media. This purpose is situated within a wider celebration of the 10th
anniversary of New Media & Society as a leading journal for scholarly
exploration of new forms of mediated communication. This anniversary
will culminate in a special issue of the journal drawing from papers
submitted to this pre-conference. 

We welcome papers on a wide array of historically-grounded themes. The
following illustrations of topics suggest - but are not intended to
limit - topics suitable for paper submissions:
*	Theoretical constructs such as 'interactivity' and 'digital
divide' as applied to computer-mediated communication as well as mass
media within different historical contexts;
*	Contemporary 'promises' of the Internet (e.g., facilitation of
political discourse and engagement) compared with the promises of other
media (e.g., radio, television) in previous historical periods; 
*	Ethical considerations in conducting online ethnography as
compared to such considerations during early anthropological studies;
*	Aspects of Web survey methods (e.g., sampling, instrument design
and deployment) compared to social survey research initiatives in the
1940s-50s;
*	Comparison of Internet Studies, Cyberinfrastructure, and
e-Science developments from an history of science perspective; 
*	Examination of the purposes of social networking sites (e.g.,
Friendster, MySpace) for youth as compared to social activities of young
people prior to the 'Internet era'; 
*	The Web browser 'wars' compared to the tumultuous introduction
of other communication technologies.
*	Issues relating to the methodology of the history of new media.
Abstracts of ca. 300 words should be submitted no later than 1 November.
Send abstracts to: David Park, Chair of the ICA Communication History
Interest Group, at park at lakeforest.edu.  Authors will be informed
whether abstracts have been accepted by 21 November 2007. Papers will be
due by May 1, 2008.  The program for this pre-conference will take place
in the afternoon of Wednesday 21 May 2008, the date established for ICA
pre-conferences. The available time allows for three consecutive blocks
of short presentations and roundtable-style discussions. 

The pre-conference is a joint initiative by the Communication History
Interest Group of the ICA and New Media & Society.  The pre-conference
will be held at McGill University, which is walking distance from the
ICA conference venue.

Organized by
*	David W. Park, Chair of ICA Communication History Interest
Group, http://www.icahdq.org/sections/secdetinfo.asp?SecCode=DIV23
*	Nicholas Jankowski and Steve Jones, co-editors New Media &
Society, http://newmediaandsociety.com