RMeS Conference – All About Media?

RMeS Conference: All About Media? The Future of Media Studies

9 & 10 November 2023 | 9.30-17.00 | Amsterdam – LAB111, Arie Biemondstraat 111 Amsterdam 

Registration will open Wednesday 20 September via this link. Please register before 1 November 2023. RMeS PhD Candidates, RMa Students and Staff members have first access.

IMPORTANT NOTE: when registering for this conference, we assume you will be there on both 9 and 10 November, in case you can only attend on Thursday OR Friday, please specify at remarks on which day you would like to attend. We would like to accommodate as much participants as we can.

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

  • Professor David Morley (Goldsmiths, University of London)
  • Dr Anne Helmond (Utrecht University)

Over the last two decades, Media Studies has moved from the periphery to the core of the Humanities. Thinking about media has now become a central site for understanding contemporary society and culture at large. Rendering its consideration has become indispensable for scholars in many different disciplines. The multi- and interdisciplinary character of the field of media studies has always been one of its key strengths; but in this rapidly evolving landscape, what counts as media studies is increasingly coming into question. If everything ‘cultural’, ‘social’ and ‘political’ now seems to be about media, in one way or another, the question arises; what’s the role of and future of the field?

On the occasion of its twelve and a half year anniversary, the Research School for Media Studies (RMeS) aims to unite the Dutch Media Studies community to discuss what it means to study media when they are ubiquitous. How will, and should, the discipline develop in the future? What questions will be relevant and what challenges should we address? What will we study at our next anniversary in 2035?

RMeS was founded in 2011 and was instrumental in establishing and institutionalising the field in the Netherlands. To explore and actively shape new directions for Media Studies, RMeS invites  submissions for the upcoming conference All About Media? The Future for Media Studies. The event will be held at LAB111 in Amsterdam from 9-10 November 2023.

The conference wants to draw on the collective knowledge of the Dutch Media Studies community by exploring new research directions, questions, and challenges for the field. At the same time, we want to showcase Dutch Media Studies research and create a space to further debates.

Preliminary programme

Thursday 9 November 2023

10.00-10.30: Welcome, registration coffee

10.30-10.45: Opening

10.45-12.00: Keynote Professor David Morley (Goldsmiths, University of London)

12.00-13.00: Lunch

13.00-14.30: Parallel sessions

  • Media and Innovation (paper panel)
  • Media Studies and the Promise of a Practice-Based pedagogy (thematic panel)
  • Screening the Future of Media Studies
    Personal favorites of prominent Media Scholars
    t.b.c
  • Former directors & Advisory Board round table
    t.b.c.

14.30-15.00: Tea break

15.00-16.30: Parallel sessions

  • Media and Democracy (paper panel)
  • Addressing Environmental Challenges for and in Media Studies (thematic panel)
  • PhD Council round table
    t.b.c.

16.30: Drinks

Friday 10 November 2023

10.00 10.30: Welcome, registration coffee

10.30-12.00: Keynote Dr Anne Helmond (Utrecht University)

12.00 13.00: Lunch

13.00-14.30: Parallel sessions

  • New Frontiers of Media Studies: Socio-Digital Inequality Research (thematic panel)
  • Advancing Methods (paper panel)
  • Four Critical Data Studies Perspectives in Media Studies Projects:
    reflections and future ideas. (round table)
  • The Future of Media Studies is History (round table)

14.30 15.00: Tea break

15.00 16.30: Parallel sessions

  • Media Platforms (paper panel)
  • The Blind Spots in Conflict Reporting: Future Research Directions (thematic panel)
  • Screening the Future of Media Studies
    Personal favorites of prominent Media Scholars
    t.b.c.
  • Exploring the Intersection of AI and Media Studies: A Multidimensional Approach (round table)

16.30-16.45: Closure

16.45: Drinks

 


Organizing committee: Tomás Dodds (UL), Rashid Gabdulhakov (RUG), Tim Groot Kormelink (VU), Niels Kerssens (UU), Annika Richterich (UM), Inge van de Ven (TiU), Yosha Wijngaarden (EUR), Maryn Wilkinson (UvA), Josette Wolthuis (RU), Marcel Broersma (RUG; RMeS director) and Chantal Olijerhoek (RMeS coordinator).

Should you have questions, you can contact RMeS coordinator Chantal Olijerhoek at rmes@rug.nl