_UPDATED CALL FOR PROPOSALS AND EXTENDED DEADLINE_: DECEMBER 13, 2016! WHAT IS LIFE? LIFEWORKS • LIFESTYLES • LIFEWORLDS UNIVERSITY OF OREGON IN PORTLAND • APRIL 6–8, 2017 _WHATIS.UOREGON.EDU_ [1] The seventh annual "_What is...? _" conference-experience will engage communication, media, and nature by examining everyday life -- our lifeworks and lifestyles -- emphasizing the lifeworlds (environments) we live in. It will investigate how communication/media constitute and permeate all avenues and forms of life -- from scale, pace, and pattern to the public, private, and organic. By building bridges through multidisciplinary networks, the event emphasizes how communication is instrumental in and for living systems. What is life and how is life mediated? _What is Life? _(2017) builds on last year's conference, _What is Media? _(2016), expanding a transdisciplinary notion of medium/media with special attention to its material, historical, and ecological ramifications. It marks the second collaboration with scholars from the natural sciences, life sciences, and the arts. Featured plenaries will include: * Douglas Rushkoff, Communication and Economics (_Generation Like_, FRONTLINE) * Jussi Parikka, Media Archaeology and Aesthetics (_A Geology of Media_) * Amnon Buchbinder, Journalism and Science (_Biology of Story_) * Salma Monani, Environmental Studies (_Ecomedia_) * Brendan Bohannan, Biology and Ecology * Toby Miller, Creative Industries and Environmental Studies (_Greening The Media_) * Gabriela Martínez, Cinema/Media Studies and Latin American Studies * Mark Johnson, Cognitive Science and Philosophy (_Metaphors We Live By_) * Brook Muller, Architecture and Design (_Ecology and the Architectural Imagination_) Keynote address by Fritjof Capra, Complexity and System Sciences (_Systems View of Life_) Papers/presentations already accepted address: the value of human life, algorithms and e-waste, biodiversity, science journalism/communication, sustainable design and apps, Chinese rural experience, microbial ecology, women and work, STS and automation, responsibility and integrity. _What is Life?_ invites scholars, government and community officials, industry professionals, alumni and students, as well as scientists, artists, filmmakers, grassroots community organizations, and the public to collaborate. We welcome submissions for paper presentations and panels, roundtables, and art installations. A wide range of topics and themes can be found under the Call for Proposals at the conference website (whatis.uoregon.edu). SEND 100-150 WORD ABSTRACTS/PROPOSALS BY DECEMBER 13, 2016 TO: Janet Wasko * jwasko@uoregon.edu CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: Janet Wasko and Jeremy Swartz (University of Oregon) University of Oregon * Eugene, Oregon 97405-1275, USA Links: ------ [1] http://whatis.uoregon.edu/