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<div style="text-align: left;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Cambria"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Cambria; ">For info – apologies for cross posting.</span></font></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; ">Ben Light</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; ">Associate Dean – Research and Innovation | College of Arts and Social Sciences |</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; ">Professor of Digital Media | Communication, Cultural and Media Studies Research Centre | School of Media, Music and Performance |</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; ">University of Salford | Maxwell Building | SALFORD | M5 4WT |</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Tel. +44 (0)161 295 5443 |</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> </span><a href="http://www.benlight.org/" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; "><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">www.benlight.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">|</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> </span><a href="http://www.smmp.salford.ac.uk/" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; "><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">www.smmp.salford.ac.uk</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">|
Twitter: @doggyb |</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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<div dir="ltr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; "><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">CALL FOR P</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">APERS: </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; "><b>Digcult
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Cambria; "><b>Theory, Context and the Internet</b></span></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">13-14 June, 2012 - MediaCity, Salford, Greater Manchester, UK.</font></span></font></div>
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<font class="Apple-style-span" face="Lucida Grande"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; "><a href="http://ww.digcult.org">http://ww.digcult.org</a></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria"><b>Organizers:</b></font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Times; "><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">B</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">en Light a</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">nd Marie Griffiths, University of Salford</span></font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">Siân Lincoln, Liverpool John Moores University</font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Steve Sawyer, Syracuse University</span></font></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria"><b>Conference Theme</b></font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">Drawing on the success of the 2008-2010 Digital Cultures workshops, we will host the first Digital Cultures conference in June 2012.</font></span></font></div>
</span></font><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; "><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">In a world of virtual communication and social media, it can be argued that we face challenges regarding the theorization
and contextualisation of Internet mediated activity. The desire to generate new knowledge coupled with the hyperbole and ‘upgrade me’ mindset that so often surrounds the Internet means that often new theoretical approaches are introduced as a way to understand
current uses and meanings where perhaps they are not necessary. In terms of context,
</span></font><font color="windowtext" face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">contemporary experiences</span></font><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font color="#FF0E00" face="Cambria"></font></span><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">can
sometimes be decoupled from prior experiences, resulting in rhetoric of ‘the new’. The outcome of this can be an emphasis on discontinuity for example as demonstrated in discourses regarding the pre-Web 2.0 era. Web 2.0 is conceptualised as new, contextualised
in a simplistic fashion and claims are made regarding the necessity of new theory to understand such a ‘revolutionary new world’. While clearly, societal change and socio-technical change are occurring variously across the planet (although the two may not
necessarily be linked) continuity is also present – empirically and theoretically. There is therefore, a need to consider the history of
</span></font><font color="windowtext" face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Internet mediated arrangements and, to continue an interrogation of the abilities of extant theory to respond to and facilitate understandings of contemporary situations.</span></font></span><font><span dir="ltr">
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">We call for contributions that do 2 things:</font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">• One, engage with an aspect of Internet mediated activity and historically contextualise it</font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">• Two, engage with/generate theoretical approaches in a reflexive fashion.</font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Themes that papers might address include, but are not limited to:</span></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "></span></font></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Dating, Commerce, Gaming, Politics, Play, Social networking, Privacy management, Sex work, Home working, Entertainment, Celebrity, Music production and consumption, Pornography,
the intensification of work and Work-life balance, mediated youth cultures, learn/educate, health and well-being, travel/tourism, search information and media consumption, blurring boundaries between work and non-work times and places.</span></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">Following from the previous workshops, we see this conference as an outlet for digital media, ICT and technology related research which may not readily sit within conventional
disciplinary areas.</font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">We seek
</span></font><font face="Cambria"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">extended</span></b></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "></span></font><font face="Cambria"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">abstracts</span></b></font><font face="Cambria"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">
of up to 1000 words</span></b></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> (excluding references) that engage with theory, context and the internet. We also welcome
</span></font><font face="Cambria"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">panel proposals</span></b></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> incorporating three presentations. These should comprise
</span></font><font face="Cambria"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">3 x 1000 word</span></b></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> abstracts and an outline of the purpose of the panel of no more than
</span></font><font face="Cambria"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">750 words</span></b></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">. </span></font></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Times; "><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">We are hoping to see fully polished papers this year and as related to the conference theme. However, we will also consider research in
progress/poster sessions for work</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> that is</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> more generally related to digital culture or which might be in earlier stages of development. Our desire for more focussed and
complete work is two-fold. First, in engaging the structure as above, we hope to generate a more intensive and reflexive discussion about the Internet than might be possible with more fragmented approaches. Second, we intend the conference to be the starting
point for an edited collection of papers in the area and contributors will be invited to submit to a wider call.
</span></font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">This follows in the tradition of previous conferences – for example, a special issue of the journal Information Technology and People entitled ‘Digital Culture: New Forms of
Living and Organising , based partly on based on the 2010 workshop published in January 2011</span></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">
</span></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">(please see
</span></font><a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0959-3845" target="_blank"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0959-3845</span></font></a><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">)</span></font></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> Abstracts should be submitted to Siân Lincoln at
</span></font><a href="mailto:s.lincoln@ljmu.ac.uk" target="_blank"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">s.lincoln@ljmu.ac.uk</span></font></a><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; "> by
</span></font><font face="Cambria"><b><u><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Wednesday 7</span></u></b></font><font face="Cambria"><b><u><sup><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">th</span></sup></u></b></font><font face="Cambria"><b><u><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">
March 2012</span></u></b></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">. Please also email Siân if you require any further information at this stage.</span></font></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria"><b>Important Dates</b></font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">Abstract Submission Date: 7 March 2012</font></span></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">Notification of Acceptance: 30</span></font><font face="Cambria"><sup><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">th</span></sup></font><font face="Cambria"><span style="font-family: Cambria; ">
March 2012</span></font></font></div>
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<font face="Lucida Grande"><span style="font-family: Arial; "><font face="Cambria">Conference: 13 and 14 June 2012</font></span></font></div>
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