The Department of American Literature and Culture together with the Department of Social Communication at Maria Curie Skłodowska University invite the submission of abstracts for Media in America, America in Media conference to be held on 23-24 May in Lublin, Poland. This is a second edition of a joint effort of the American Studies and Political Science scholars who aim to generate a cross-disciplinary debate that brings together divergent yet complementary voices reflecting on American media environment and America’s portrayals in media across the globe. Conference languages are English and Polish.

Since the conference is being held under the patronage of Polish Rhetoric Society, we are honoured to present our Keynote Speaker, Prof. Kris Rutten from Ghent University in Belgium, the President of Rhetoric Society of Europe.

The conference Media in America, America in Media addresses a wide variety of topics across the disciplines of media, political science, language and cultural studies. They may include the following themes, among others:

 

       I.            Media in America

 

1. Media and their representations in America

• Mass media, social media and personalized media

• Rhetoric of media in America - ideology, persuasion, manipulation past and present

• Profile of contemporary audience in the United States

• Media as a tool in identity formation

 

2. Media theories in America

• Contemporary American theories of communication and media

• Mediatization – American model vs. European model

• Rhetorical perspectives on logos, ethos and pathos in media

• Visual media studies, game studies – intertexts and intermediality

3. Media technologies in America

• Technological revolutions – trends and implications

• Media personalities - the role and ethos of a (digital) journalist

• Advertising - role, medium, case studies, micro-rhetorical situations

• Big Data, fake news, bots and apps – new concepts, new challenges

 

    II.            America in Media

 

1. Images of America in American media

• Representations of the majority and the minorities: ideological, feminist, religious, racial, ethnic, LGBT and other

• New phenomena, new audiences – America in TV series, podcasts, games, hashtags, infographics, tweets, pins...

• Adaptations in the media: history, literature and art in a new form

2. Images of America in foreign media

• American models – political and advertising campaigns, newsrooms, sitcoms, talk shows, morning TV, etc.

• American media and international reception – a comparative study

• Whose America? – a homogeneous or heterogeneous media image

Abstracts (150-250 words) in Polish or English + a short bio should be sent by March 30th, 2019 to media.ameryka@gmail.com. The registration should be completed via an online form on our website mediainamerica.umcs.pl (Join Now). The conference fee is PLN 350/EUR 85/USD 95 and includes conference materials, lunches and a gala dinner.

For the 2019 edition of Media in America, America in Media conference publication we are pleased to announce a special issue of Res Rhetorica 2/2020, a peer-reviewed open access quarterly academic journal indexed, among others, in Web of Science and ERIH Plus.

Due to the interdisciplinary character of the conference, the invitation is addressed to representatives of all scientific disciplines dealing with the topic of media.

For more information about the conference visit the website at mediainamerica.umcs.pl or contact the organising committee at media.ameryka@gmail.com