Dear AoIR'ists, Below please find a CFP for a special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Please distribute to colleagues and lists as appropriate. See you in Suffolk! Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/ Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23 == Call for Papers, special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication: CULTURE AND COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION: TOWARD NEW UNDERSTANDINGS Guest editors: Charles Ess (cmess@drury.edu) Interdisciplinary Studies Center, Drury University Fay Sudweeks (sudweeks@murdoch.edu.au) School of Information Technology, Murdoch University. IMPORTANT DATES Proposals due: October 1, 2004 Full papers due: April 15, 2004 Anticipated publication: January 2006 Gert Hofstede¹s oft-cited dimensions of culture, along with Edward T. Hall¹s frameworks for understanding culture and communication (including his distinctions between ³high content/low context² and ³high context/low content² cultures, and between polychronic and monochronic perceptions of time) have emerged as methodological starting points for a considerable range of empirical research into how far extant CMC technologies succeed or fail in fostering cross-cultural communication online. At the same time, these frameworks can be challenged in a variety of ways. First of all, such frameworks inherit the risks and difficulties surrounding the notion of ³culture² in general. Too often, our efforts to define cultural characteristics assume a static and largely hermetically-sealed notion of culture ­ one that is, in many instances, operationally assumed to coincide with membership in a given nation-state or group defined by a specific geographical boundary. Moreover, the efforts of cultural theorists such as Hofstede and Hall to analyze and define culture lead to generalizations that run the risk of falling into overly simple stereotypes and binary oppositions. By contrast, more careful reflection on ³culture² should reveal that whatever else we mean by the term, cultures are fluid, not static; members of different cultures constantly intermix, hybridize, and develop their own distinctive collocations of diverse cultural elements. Moreover, given the complexity of human beings and their identification with multiple cultures and subcultures, it is by no means clear how far such characterizations as ³high content/low context² and ³high context/low content² are adequate explanations of human behavior. For this special issue of the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, we invite submissions that explore (a) the utility and limits of Hall¹s and Hofstede¹s and related frameworks for CMC research, and/or (b) alternative frameworks for researching culture that explicitly seek to move beyond previously identified weaknesses and limits in Hall and Hofstede, et al., and that result in fruitful and insightful findings as regards CMC. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Potential authors should submit a preliminary proposal of 500 words by October 1, 2004, to the issue editors Charles Ess (cmess@drury.edu) and Fay Sudweeks (sudweeks@murdoch.edu.au). The proposal should indicate (a) the theoretical bases and/or earlier research results to be used in analyzing, critiquing, and moving beyond Hall¹s and related frameworks of cultural analysis, and/or (b) alternative frameworks of cultural analysis, to be used for specific empirical research whose goal is to test the fruitfulness and/or limits of these frameworks, as applied to one or more types of CMC (e.g., the Internet, the Web, and/or mobile communication). In addition, proposals should clearly indicate the data to be analyzed, the methods used, the actual or anticipated findings of the empirical analysis, and the implications of these findings ­ including how the findings may confirm and/or point to limitations of the cultural framework(s) used in the analysis. Proposals should demonstrate awareness of key references in the culture and communication debates . For potentially useful sources, prospective authors may want to review one or more publications related to the conferences on Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication [CATaC], for example, Macfadyen et al. (2004); see also the CATaC website at http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/. Since JCMC is an interdisciplinary journal, authors should plan for papers that will be accessible to non-specialists, and should make their papers relevant to an interdisciplinary audience. In addition, judicious use of the multimedia possibilities of web publication are encouraged, e.g., screen shots, photos, etc. Earlier submissions and questions are welcome. Authors whose proposals are accepted for inclusion will be invited to submit a full paper of roughly 7,000-10,000 words by April 15, 2005. Anticipated publication date for the issue is January 2006. Proposals and final submissions should be e-mailed to the special issue editors Charles Ess (cmess@drury.edu) and Fay Sudweeks (sudweeks@murdoch.edu.au). Reference Macfadyen, L. P., Roche, J., and Doff, S. (2004). Communicating across Cultures in Cyberspace: A Bibliographical Review of Online Intercultural Communication. Hamburg: Lit-Verlag.