Conferences
International Communication Association (ICA) Preconference on Media, Religion and Politics, planned by Stewart M. Hoover and Andrea L. Press of the University of Virginia. The preconference will take place on Thursday, May 21, 2009 in the Los Angeles room of the Chicago Marriott Downtown. For more information see the full program.
Islam and the Media. A conference directed by Nabil Echchaibi and Stewart Hoover for the Center, is scheduled for January 7-10, 2010, on the Boulder Campus. See the Conference Call for Papers for more infomation.
The 7th International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture will take place in Toronto, Ontario, August 9-13, 2010. It will be hosted by Ryerson University, Toronto, and directed by Dr. Joyce Smith. The International Association for the History of Religions wil hold its every-fifth-year meeting also in Toronto just after. More information about CMRC VII will be posted in mid 2009.
Media, Spiritualities and Social Change, June 2008, University of 
Colorado. The Conferennce Call for papers. is still available online.
The 6th International Conference on Media, Religion and Culture. This biennial conference was held in San Paolo, Brazil, August 11-14, 2008. For information, visit the conference website at: www.metodista.br/ev/conferencia. In the photo to the right are Conference Director Dr. Magali do Nascimento Cuhna (center rear) and her planning committee.
Ongoing Conferences
American Academy of Religion (AAR). The AAR conference is held each November and attracts more than 7,000 scholars from around the world. At each annual conference a preconference is held focusing on Media, Religion and Culture. Contact Dr. Stewart Hoover, hoover@Colorado.edu for more information.
International Communication Association (ICA). Various panels relating to media, religion and culture are generally offered. ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. ICA began more than 50 years ago as a small association of U.S. researchers and is now a truly international association with more than 3,500 members in 65 countries. Since 2003, ICA has been officially associated with the United Nations as a non-governmental association (NGO).
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR). SSSR's purpose is to stimulate and communicate significant scientific research on religious institutions and religious experience. Scholars from all fields of study who are interested in the scientific exploration of religion are invited to join the Society.
International Association for Media and Communication Researchers (IAMCR). IAMCR has a working group on Media, Religion and Culture.
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. The Society has a journal and annual conference. The ISSRNC promotes critical inquiry into the relationships among human beings and their diverse cultures, environments, and religious beliefs and practices.
Center for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC). The ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change is a 3.7 million Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) - funded major international Research Centre analysing socio-cultural change. It is the first major Research Centre in Britain to develop a broad, empirically focused account of cultural change and its economic, social and political implications. CRESC will bring together the theoretical and methodological expertise of The University of Manchester and Open University staff in disciplines as diverse as Accounting and Finance, Business, Census and Survey Statistics, Geography, History, Social Anthropology and Sociology. The Research Centre is funded for five years in the first instance and was launched in October 2004. The broad research agenda will be focused around the following themes central to the analysis of socio-cultural change:
- Cultural Economy
- Transformations in Media, Culture and Economy
- Culture, Governance and Citizenship
- Cultural Values and Politics
Critical Management Studies. After ten years and four conferences, Critical Management Studies (CMS) has experienced exponential growth. The conference's theoretical diversity is its key strength, and we are keen to further promote productive dialogue across its epistemological boundaries. However, for all its growth and institutionalisation, CMS remains marginal to the core focus of Business Schools and management education. The conference theme for CMS5 is 'Reconnecting Critical Management'. Reconnection refers both to the linkages between the broad areas represented within CMS, and to the relationship of CMS to broader economic, political and social processes. CMS 5 will look at spirituality in business.
Past Conferences
5th International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture
July 6-9, 2006, Stockholm, Sweden
From the Conference Website:
"The religious significance of the media in contemporary culture calls for further exploration, and we are looking forward to the 2006 conference as an important venue for presentations and dialogue. The purpose of the conference is to share developments in and research on media, religion, and culture. Papers and panels are welcome in all areas of this multifaceted field, but we also encourage contributors to address the role of media and religion in the context of cultural tension and conflict."
For more information and details:
http://www.sigtunastiftelsen.se/cmrc
Journalism Through the Eyes of Faith:
Negotiating Values, Fairness, and Accuracy
A conference for journalists, educators, and students
on the role of religious commitments in the work of professional journalists
What challenges does the business of news making present for journalists of faith? How does a journalist writing for a pluralistic audience balance personal values and beliefs with the call for objectivity and fairness?
September 20-22, 2006
Bethel University
3900 Bethel Drive
St. Paul, MN 55112
For more information contact:
Dr. Phyllis Alsdurf
651-638-6149
palsdurf@bethel.edu
Fundamentalism and the Media
The Center for Media, Religion, and Culture
University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
October 10-12, 2006
Co-Sponsors: World Association
for Christian Communication/North American Region and
World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), London
The media today are the primary location of local, national, and global discourse. Social, religious, cultural, and political symbols and ideas are shaped and shared through media words and pictures. It seems that the religion we see in media is increasingly polarized, with emerging fronts of conflict and struggle represented there. It is often thought that the religious impulse most responsible is the impulse to Fundamentalism. While there is great debate about the meaning and applicability of this term, in popular and public discourse it remains the commonplace way to think about these issues.
This conference will focus on the central questions of Fundamentalism and the Media. It is intended to be a starting point of a global conversation about how best to address religious misunderstanding and conflict in the media sphere, and how the media sphere itself might be used to more positive ends of peace and understanding. The media clearly have the capacity to divide and to unite, to feed ignorance and to feed understanding. This conference will open a dialogue between academics, practitioners, and members of the religious community on how to move forward.
The Tehran International Conference on Religion and Media
Tehran, Iran, November 8-10, 2005
Co-sponsored by Tehran University and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
Conference Venues: University of Tehran and IRIB University
Fifty international and Iranian presenters participated in this ground-breaking event. Public and student interest in this conference was quite high, with over three hundred attending the major sessions. The conference concluded with a formal ceremony including cultural presentations and formal remarks from Iranian hosts and foreign guests. Publication venues are being sought for some papers from the conference.
For further contact information, contact:
Hamid Abdollahyan, Associate Professor
Department of Communication
Faculty of Social Sciences
The University of Tehran
Nasr Bridge, Ale Ahmad Avenue
P.O. Box 14395 / 773
Postal Code 14137
Tehran, IRAN
4th International Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture
September 1-4, 2004, Louisville, Kentucky USA
The conference will focus on five themes:
- Production: how and why diverse print and electronic media have acted as bearers of social, cultural, and religious meaning;
- Community: ways that media have been used in temples, synagogues, mosques, and churches to enrich worship and enhance dialogue and a sense of belonging;
- Audience: how audiences have interpreted or used particular media for both implicit and explicit religious ends;
- Ethics: religious responses to issues of media literacy or media justice;
- Globalization: worldwide issues, including virtual religion in which a sense of place doesn't seem to matter.
Conference Organizer:
John P. Ferre, Ph.D.
Department of Communication
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292 USA
ferre@louisville.edu
phone: (Int+1) 502-852-6976
Supported by the Louisville Institute and the International Study Commission on Media, Religion, and Culture.