Histories, Presents and Futures of Media and Communication
CAMRI, University of Westminster (Regent Street), 22-23 May 2025
In 1975 the first undergraduate Media degree in the UK was launched at the Polytechnic of Central London, now the University of Westminster. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this foundational moment, Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) invites proposals for presentations at a two-day conference in central London on 22 and 23 May 2025. We invite papers and panels that reflect upon aspects of the histories, presents, or futures of the field of Media and Communication. What lessons can we learn from the emergence, shaping and development of this field? Where are we now and how do we matter? And how can we respond as a field to those future challenges — political, social, cultural, environmental, technological — that we can anticipate?
Papers may address developments in the subject area over the past half-century, or assess present conditions and states-of-the-art, or engage with coming challenges. They may also consider key developments, events or moments within media industries and cultural practices in those fifty years that have been important in how the academic field has taken shape and in how it has influenced societies. And while the conference is prompted by the anniversary of the institutionalisation of this subject within universities in the UK, and the opportunity for reflection that this offers, global perspectives and contributions are both vital and very welcome.
Confirmed keynote speakers
- Professor Payal Arora, University of Utrecht
- Professor Nick Couldry, London School of Economics
- Professor Lina Dencik, Goldsmiths, University of London
- Professor Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania
Proposals should be 200-word abstracts that outline the aims, methods, findings and conclusions of the 15-minute paper. Abstracts should include five keywords and a one-paragraph bio. Keywords, bio, and any references are not included in the word count.
Proposals for pre-constituted panels of four papers should include individual abstracts for each paper as well as an additional 200-word rationale for the overall panel. If a pre-constituted panel is accepted, then all presenters must register by the 30 April 2025 deadline.
Full written papers are not required. This event is in-person only.
Cost: £200 for two days, including lunches, refreshments, and drinks reception on first night. Current PhD students £80.
We are unable to offer registration for a single day only.
Proposals: Should be sent to 50years@westminster.ac.uk by 17:00 UK time, Friday 29 November 2024.
Timeline
- Abstract submission deadline: 29 November 2024
- Notification of acceptances: 17 January 2025
- Registration: Opens 31 January 2025, closes 30 April 2025
- Event: 22-23 May 2025
Venue: University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2HW