Reminder: Conference on science and research in popular culture - Deadline June 15, 2015
Dear colleagues,
please note that the deadline (June 15) for our
conference call is approaching soon.
Here is the invitation to submit a proposal:
International Conference on Science, Research and Popular
Culture, Klagenfurt, Austria, September 17-18, 2015
Research on public engagement with science has strongly
focused on science content in journalistic news media and so far only a few
studies seriously examined other products of media and popular culture. Science
is also often part of wider popular and entertainment culture and these other
popular images of science and research are also likely to have an influence on
public imaginations of science, research and scientific work. However, some
scholars have stressed that entertainment media also influence public
perceptions of science, research and technology, such as genetic risks and
beliefs and prejudices about biotechnology, and should therefore be studied
accordingly.
What members of the public know about science and
research is the outcome of formal science learning, as in schools, and informal
learning of science, such as the encounters with scientific contents and issues
in the media and in popular culture. Alongside science education and once
formal science education is completed, informal accounts of developments in
science and technology, such as through the media and popular culture, are very
important sources of knowledge for most people. Science education and science
journalism will still be important sources of information for many people.
However, the historian A. Bowdoin Van Riper addresses a central problem:
“Popular culture probably does more than formal science education to shape most
people’s understanding of science and scientists. It is more pervasive, more
eye-catching, and (with rare exceptions) more memorable” (EMBO Reports 4(12):
1104-1107).
We are interested in bringing together various
perspectives on science, research and popular culture (e.g. scientists and researchers,
artists, media professionals). For instance, we’d like to learn more about how
science and research are presented in different formats, for example fictional
movies and TV series, in digital games, comic books and cartoons, in music and
music videos, on social media sites (such as facebook or YouTube), in artistic
and theatrical performances, science slams, science parodies and satire, etc.
Other interesting questions are how various audiences
perceive science and research in various popular cultural formats. Are
scientists and researchers relating to issues, themes, topics and channels of
popular cultural as well, and if so how? What role do humour and aesthetics
play in the public representation of science and research? Can particular
depictions of science and research in popular culture influence the career
choices and academic subject choices of young people, and if so how? How do
scientific and research institutions use popular cultural formats to make
themselves heard, and how do people and organizations opposed to scientific
consensus views use the same channels and formats?
What are science and technology studies perspectives on
popular culture and science and research? How can perspectives from cultural
and media studies and (science) communication research illuminate the
interrelations between science, research and popular culture? And what is
happening in the world of science and research itself? Are scientists and
researchers relating to issues, themes, topics and channels of popular cultural
as well, and if so how?
We are looking for empirical, conceptual, and theoretical
contributions and experience reports that illuminate the manifold interactions
between science, research and popular culture.
If you are interested in participating, please send an
email including contact details and an abstract (up to 500 words) before June
15 to Joachim.Allgaier@aau.at.
For further information or general enquiries contact
either Joachim.Allgaier@aau.at. or
Hauke.Riesch@brunel.ac.uk.
It is planned to edit a special issue of a peer-reviewed
journal or an edited book, based on the contributions of the conference.
The conference will take place at Alpen-Adria-Universität
in Klagenfurt, Austria, September 17-18, 2015. The language of the conference
is English.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers are:
Darryl Cunningham (Author of Science Tales) David Kirby
(Manchester) Chun-Ju Huang (Taiwan) Rainer Winter (Klagenfurt) Bernhard Seidel
(Vienna)
The conference is organised by Joachim Allgaier,
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, and Hauke Riesch, Brunel University London,
and supported by the European Association for the Study of Science and
Technology (EASST): http://easst.net/
Best wishes
Joachim
--
Joachim Allgaier,
Dipl.Soz., Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Institute of
Science, Technology and Society Studies
Alpen-Adria-University
Sterneckstraße 15
9010 Klagenfurt,
Austria
Phone:
+43/463/2700-6157