Call for Papers: Communication and HIV/AIDS Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference
Cities, creativity, connectivity, Istanbul, Turkey, 13-17 July 2011

The Communication and HIV/AIDS Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) welcomes the submission of papers for the 2011 Conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey from 13 - 17 July 2011. The theme of the conference is "Cities, Creativity, Connectivity". Cities have always been experimental sites of connectivity through creativity. Cities and their interlocutors: artists, intellectuals, government officers, and activists, have attempted to overcome the historical and contemporary ruptures through creative acts and enactments. Every corner, every stone in every city the world over bears the traces of ruptures in memory, identity and ways of living and imagining. The memories we excavate are reminders of pasts we long for, as in nostalgia, or events we would wish to forget, in moving ahead towards a more captivating future.  The instruments we employ to communicate and connect these urban strands often come from the worlds of the Arts, whether displayed on the streets, in the historical houses of religion, in the old abandoned industrial premises, or in the newly built monumental art houses and museums. The conference aims to assess the present state of the city, interrogate the processes that generated the present, and evaluate the future(s) that lay ahead. As citizens, what are the rights, norms and standards we desire? What does global connectivity offer to the riches and uncertainties of urban everyday life? What are the aesthetics and economies of creativity in which we invest the future of the city? What are the communicative possibilities that cities afford and hinder?  These and other questions await our scholarly responses and intellectual interventions.


The Communication and HIV/AIDS Working Group wishes to invite papers that engage with these dynamics in relation to HIV/AIDS. We are interested in both theoretical and practice-based work that reflect upon HIV/AIDS in communication practice. In the context of this year's conference theme, we are interested in issues related to HIV/AIDS and urban processes: what are the intersections between cities, HIV/AIDS and communication? How has HIV/AIDS changed urban communication processes, and how have urban communication processes (particularly with access to information) been changed by the epidemic? Where have spaces of communication about HIV/AIDS been created in cities and urban environments? What are their dimensions and textures? What are the uses of and intersections with alternative media and HIV/AIDS? What about peri-urban environments, held in tension between rural and urban landscapes and livelihoods?

In addition to conference-specific themes, we will continue to encourage papers that engage with critical, dynamic reflection on communication research and practice, addressing the multiple dimensions of HIV/AIDS and communication, from multiple disciplinary perspectives. This may include, for example, HIV/AIDS and communication policy, implications of cultural contexts for communication and HIV/AIDS, the influence of treatment on communication practice, campaign fatigue, governance and accountability, communication and the construction of HIV/AIDS and the gendered nature of the epidemic. Please consider the implications of your paper for HIV/AIDS communication theory and/or practice.

We are particularly interested in papers that present innovative approaches to HIV/AIDS communication theory and practice, and take a critical approach to HIV/AIDS communication, exploring the interdisciplinary, multi-dimensional nature of the epidemic. As such, we hope to see more studies that move beyond traditional health communication models, and reflect upon the diversity of approaches to communication, including, for instance, social change communication, citizen/alternative/radical media approaches, participatory communication, advocacy communication, folk media and other cultural approaches.

Both individual abstracts and panel proposals are encouraged. The sessions of the working group will be organized to suit emerging themes from submitted abstracts. We are also convening at least one joint session, the details of which follow.

Joint session

Health, Communication, HIV/AIDS and change (joint session with the Health, Communication and Change Working Group)
The Communication and HIV/AIDS Working Group and the Health, Communication and Change Working Group will be hosting a joint session exploring communication and social change in the context of HIV/AIDS as a global health catastrophe. Responses to HIV/AIDS have raised questions about how we understand change within health communication interventions. In particular, questions remain in understanding processes of social and cultural change surrounding the epidemic. We invite papers from those engaging in research and practice that critically explore social and cultural change related to health, communication and HIV/AIDS.


Logistics & Deadlines
Joint sessions with other relevant sections and working groups will be organized. However, IAMCR does not permit multiple submissions of identical abstracts to more than one section.

Abstracts or panel proposals should include: the name(s) of author(s) and professional title(s); institutional affiliation; and e-mail address/contact information. Due to scheduling considerations, a limited number of panels will be accepted.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts (500 words maximum) is February 8, 2011. You will be informed whether or not your abstract is accepted by March 15, 2010. The deadline for full papers is June 3, 2011.

Abstract Submission:
Please submit your abstract through the IAMCR open conference system at:

http://iamcr-ocs.org/index.php/2011/2011

If you have trouble with the online submission process or questions related to this call for papers, please contact the co-chairs of the working group. Please CC all three co-chairs:

Sarah Cardey:  [log in to unmask]
Nancy Muturi: [log in to unmask]
Joseph Muyangata: [log in to unmask]

Please note that if your abstract is accepted, you may be called upon to facilitate or moderate one of the working group sessions.


Conference Information
For more information about the conference, please see the conference website: http://iamcr2011istanbul.com/


Access CANCHID archives at: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/canchid.html
plus CANCHID subscription management. CANCHID is a joint service of the Canadian Society for International Health < http:www.csih.org > and the Distributed Knowledge Project at York University.  Queries to: [log in to unmask]