OURMedia / NUESTROSMedios 5th International Conference Democracy and the Media www.ourmedianet.org An International Conference Bangalore, India5-9 December 2005 CALL FOR PAPERS, PANELS and PRESENTATIONS *** DEADLINE: August 31, 2005 *** OURMedia/NuestrosMedios is a transnational network with over 400 academics, activists, researchers, practitioners and advocates working across every continent and in more than 40 countries. Its aim is to research, strengthen and support media and information/ communication technologies (ICT’s) that support social justice, human rights, community autonomy and grassroots empowerment. OURMedia Annual Conferences have taken place since 2001 and have become active spaces for enabling strategic collaboration and analysis. Past conferences have been organized in Washington D.C (2001), Barcelona (2002), Barranquilla, Colombia (2003) and Porto Alegre, Brazil (2004). This year the conference will take place in Bangalore, India from December 5-9, 2005. CONFERENCE THEME AND OBJECTIVES In line with previous meetings, Our Media 5 Conference, Democracy and the Media is aimed at building strategies and collaborations among researchers, non-governmental organizations, practitioners, artists and advocates for the promotion of communication rights, effective access to ICTs, and community and citizen participation in the media. This year’s specific focus is on community and grassroots communications for social change and current models and experiences in community participation and advocacy on media and ICT in the region will be showcased. Presentations will be mainly in English, with Spanish translation. PANELS The Conference Planning Committee is seeking proposals for three types of sessions: 1) PANELS: There will be 10-12 moderated panels allocated during the 3-day conference which may be organized around individual paper presentations, or small roundtable debates/discussions where panelists respond to a series of questions/problems established in advance. 2) PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS: are being framed as facilitated discussion groups, or group presentations on major case studies of relevant projects action plans or program implementations. 3) SCREENINGS: media projects or excerpts of no more than 20 minutes that reflect the topics of the organization and annual conference theme. TOPIC AREAS For Presentations and Participatory Sessions, the Conference Planning Committee is seeking proposals that address one or more of the following topics: · ICT and Communication for Social Change – local, regional, international · ICT for Development · Communication Rights – advocacy, campaigns, strategies - global overview · Community Media / Citizens Media – theory and practice · Connecting Research and Advocacy for Citizens' Media – case studies · Media Policy, Transnational Governance and copyright regimes · Media Education / Communication and Learning · First Nations / Indigenous Communications and Media · Interactive media in collaborative and participatory research and practice. · New media arts activism and tactical media · Politics of media production and distribution processes · Technology and Knowledge · Health communications · Comparative media studies · Media diversity and democratization of media and IT · Peace and community building through media · Grassroots networking PROPOSALS for PAPERS, Presentations and PANELS Your proposal or abstract must include: · Name(s) of presenters, panelists AND session coordinator/moderator · Contact information (organization, address, phone/fax, email) · Short bio (150 words or less) for each participant named, including country where they are based, institutional affiliation, nature of their work and/or field of expertise or study · Description/abstract of your session (no more than 500 words) that includes: title, topic to be covered and detailed session plan. Please be sure to reference the relevant topic areas as listed in this announcement. Please also indicate if you are already an OURMedia member and if you have attended past OM conferences. ***DEADLINE*** Proposals and abstracts must be submitted by WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2005 Email to Juan Francisco Salazar : j.salazar@uws.edu.au and Rev Dr. John Joshva Raja : joshvajohn@hotmail.com CONFERENCE FEES The full registration fee for the 3 day Conference is $200 USD per person. This includes basic food and accommodation for 5 days and 4 nights at the United Theological College. An additional US$15.00 is payable to cover transport costs for a field trip planned for Day 4. This years OM Conference will be hosted by the Department of Communication of the United Theological College, Bangalore. For more information see the OURMedia Website : http:// www.ourmedianet.org/ -- Marcus Foth MA(DigitalMedia) BCompSc(Hons) BMultimedia m.foth@qut.edu.au - http://www.vrolik.de/ Research Associate Creative Industries Research and Applications Centre Queensland University of Technology (CRICOS No. 00213J) Creative Industries Precinct, Brisbane QLD 4059, Australia Phone +61 7 3864 3800 - Fax +61 7 3864 3723 http://www.creativeindustries.qut.edu.au/