2nd Global Conference

Monday 8th December - Wednesday 10th December 2003
Vienna, Austria

 

 


This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary project seeks to examine the idea of 'transformation' and explore the impact of transformations in politics, culture, and society. The role of media in provoking, supporting and representing such changes - for example, art and art history, cinema and film, literature and poetry, music, newspapers, and television and radio - will also be explored.

Papers, presentations, and short surveys are invited on issues related to any of the following themes;

  • dissolution, liberation, reconstruction; political, and economic rejuvenation
  • invasion, resistance, revolution
  • coalitions, governments, social reform, and the presentation of political agendas
  • state control of media; political mass communication, election campaigns, lobby groups; propaganda; fringe movements; pressure groups
  • the place of street drama, posters, graffiti
  • the importance of land; territory; boundaries; rural/urban; land redistribution
  • education, student rebellions, and the role of the intelligentsia
  • cultural revolutions: status of women, feminism, sexual freedom; representations of gender, ethnicity, sexuality; pornography
  • exposure of labour issues; exposure of class issues
  • cultural difference and otherness; immigration and immigrants
  • international confrontation; the role and influence of the military
  • the impact of globalisation
  • third world issues; global responsibility; public awareness; ecological issues
  • medical and social issues in film - for example, drugs, aids, euthanasia
  • role of religion and religious institutions
  • role and influence of the United States
  • influence of new technologies; multimedia industries, internet, www, cyberspace
  • accessibility to data, information, knowledge; the fate of intellectual property. Control of knowledge; anonymity; privacy
  • the role of the law and legal processes; regulation and legislation; appeal systems
  • market economies; monopolies and mergers; control of multinationals

Papers will be considered on any related theme, writer, book or film. 300 word abstracts should be submitted to Dr Rob Fisher by Friday 1st August 2003. Full draft papers should be submitted by Friday 21st November 2003. Abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, PDF or RTF formats.

The conference is the second in a series of annual research projects, run under the general banner ‘Probing the Boundaries'. It aims to create working 'encounter' groups between people of differing perspectives, disciplines, professions, and contexts. The project is to be supported by an e-mail discussion group, threaded forum board, e-journal, and dedicated publication series.

All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be published in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be published in a hard copy themed
volume. A themed hard copy volume arising from the first conference is shortly to be published.