CFP: Marxism and Communication Studies (7/15/05; 11/16/05)

"Marxism and Communication Studies: Key Debates and Core Concepts"
Announcing: A one day Marxism and Communication Preconvention Seminar
Conference, National Communication Association meeting 2005
8:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005.
Boston, MA

Seminar Leaders: Lee Artz, Purdue University, Calumet; Dana Cloud,
University of Texas, Austin; Stephen Macek, North Central College

Seminar Description: The current explosion of critical communication
scholarship would be unthinkable without the achievements and insights
of classical and Western Marxist thought. Notions derived from the
Marxist tradition _"ideology," "hegemony," "reification,"
"commodification," "the dialectic," and "imperialism"-- are regularly
deployed in NCA conference presentations and journals such as Critical
Studies in Media Communication and Communication and Critical/Cultural
Studies. They even show up from time to time in textbooks on rhetorical
and communication theory. Yet far too often such concepts are used in
ways that obscure their Marxist roots and divorce them from any hint of
materialism or recognition of class conflict.

There is, thus, an urgent need for an extend conversation about what
exactly a historical materialist view of communication involves, about
the central debates within Marxist communication studies and about what
distinguishes the Marxist perspective from its various liberal humanist,
postmodern and "post-Marxist" competitors. Building on last year's
enormously successful preconvention seminar conference, "Looking Back on
Marx/Moving Forward with Marxism: Marxism and Communication Studies in
the 21st Century", this day-long conference will bring together
communication scholars, scholars from other disciplines and political
activists from outside the academy for just such a discussion.

Requirements: Position papers (10-15 minutes long) are invited on all
topics relevant to the preconference's central theme, but we are
especially interested in contributions that directly address the
following:
1. Communication and the Dialectic of Historical Materialism;
2. Communication Practices: Diversity, Identity and Class;
3. Imperialism: War, the State and the Media;
4. The Health of the Discipline: A Marxist Assessment

Participants should submit 75-to 200-word proposals by July 15, 2005.
Please include your full contact information. Proposals should be sent
by email to: Lee Artz, Purdue University Calumet, 219.989.2988,
artz_at_calumet.purdue.edu; Dana Cloud, University of Texas, Austin, 512.
471.1947, dcloud_at_mail.utexas.edu; and Stephen Macek, North Central
College, shmacek_at_noctrl.edu.

Steve Macek, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Speech Communication
North Central College
30 N. Brainard
Naperville, IL 60540-4690
Phone: 630-637-5369
Fax: 630-637-5140

Webpage: http://stephen.macek.faculty.noctrl.edu/
Blog: http://stevemacek.blogspot.com/

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Received on Sun Apr 03 2005 - 15:38:33 EDT