Mormon Media Studies Symposium call for papers, panels, presenters

PROVO — Organizers of the Mormon Media Studies Symposium 2012 have issued a call for conference papers, panels and presentations for the event Nov. 8-9 at Brigham Young University. The symposium will focus on the interdisciplinary academic study of all aspects of Mormons and the media — including print, electronic, books, film, etc. — in the present as well as the past.

Academics, practitioners and students are invited to submit work about any aspect of Mormons and the media.

Papers and panels may be broadly interdisciplinary; international perspectives are encouraged; all rigorous scholarly methodological frameworks and theories are welcome. Submissions, which will be peer-reviewed, should be either full papers with approximately 6,000 to 8,000 words, with a 100-word abstract or an extended abstract, with approximately 500 words.

Panel proposals must include the following for all panel participants: name, title, expertise on the topic and short abstract about planned remarks. For all submissions, include in a cover letter the title, author's or panel organizer's full name and title and full contact information. Identifying information should appear only on the cover page. Proposals to make audio and/or visual presentations, including short films, are welcome (must include rigorous analysis). Papers recently presented or published elsewhere may be considered (provide details.)

Examples of topics falling under the theme of the conference include but are not limited to:

Analyses of media content by or about Mormons (textual, rhetorical, thematic, etc.)

Mormon-produced media (contemporary, historical, international, etc.): Internet, social media, newspapers, magazines, books, television, radio, film, etc.

Content, producers, and effects of recent and historical depictions of Mormons in news and popular culture

Mormons, media and politics — U.S. and international

Mormon media uses and effects, including social media

Mormon media image and depiction (present and historical)

Concepts of voice, identity and community in media by or about Mormons

Content and effects of LDS public relations, advertising, messaging

Audience studies: meaning-making; effects; responses; influences; behavior and attitudinal changes

Institutional LDS perspectives on media; responses and effects