Dear colleagues, With the usual apologies for cross-postings and duplications - please pass on to potentially interested students and colleagues. CATaC¹12 (Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication) ­ Call for Papers, Panel Proposals Conference theme: Beyond the digital/cultural divide: in/visibility and new media. The conference will take place June 18-20, 2012, at Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. A pre-conference field trip will help us explore local sites of historical and contemporary significance in the development and deployment of diverse communication technologies. The conference dinner will feature some of the best of new Scandinavian cuisine at Nordens Folkekøkken, Aarhus (<http://www.nordensfolkekokken.dk/>). Keynote speakers * Dr. Rasha Abdullah (Associate Professor and Chair of the Journalism & Mass Communication Department, The American University in Cairo). Provisional title: ³Lessons from Egypt: the roles and limits of social media in political activism and transformation.² * Dr. Randi Markussen (Associate Professor and Head of Group, ³Technologies in Practice,² IT University of Copenhagen).  Provisional title: ³E-Voting and Public Control of Elections.² The biennial CATaC conference series, begun in 1998, has become a premier international forum for current research on the complex interactions between culturally-variable norms, practices, and communication preferences, and interaction with the design, implementation and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).   CATaC has been ranked by the Australian Research Council among the top 20% of conferences in terms of international impact and significance. Our 2012 conference, as the title suggests, begins with the recognition that the ongoing issues and challenges clustering around digital divides - often involving mutually reinforcing cultural divides - extends beyond classic and stubborn problems of access to new media and communication technologies.  Additional submissions are encouraged that address further conference points of emphasis:   - Theoretical and practical approaches to analyzing 'culture' - New layers of imaging and texting interactions fostering and/or threatening cultural diversity - Impact of mobile technologies on privacy and surveillance - Gender, sexuality and identity issues in social networks - Cultural diversity in e-learning and/or m-learning - Culturally-variable approaches to online identity management/creation, privacy, trust Copyright and intellectual property rights: recent developments, culturally-variable future directions - Culturally-variable responses to commodification in online environments For further details on conference themes and topics, please see the conference website, <catacconferences.org>. Both short (3-5 pages) and long (10-15 pages) original papers are sought for presentation.  Panel proposals addressing a specific theme or topic are also encouraged.   IMPORTANT DATES: Submission of papers (short or full), panel proposals: 17 February 2012     Notification of acceptance: 16 March 2012     Final formatted papers (for conference proceedings): 19 April 2012     Conference: 18-20 June 2012   Registration fees (including pre-conference field trip and conference dinner) Earlybird (until April 20, 2012): Full: $515.00 Reviewer: $495.00 Author: $495.00 Author & Reviewer: $475.00 Student: $400.00 (After April 20, 2012, add $50.00) The primary conference hotel is First Hotel Atlantic (<http://www.firsthotels.com/Our-hotels/Hotels-in-Denmark/Aarhus/First-Hotel -Atlantic/>)  Conference participants will receive a discounted rate for accommodations.  Additional accommodations are also available: more details soon on the conference website, along with further details regarding program, submission and registration procedures, travel, etc.   We look forward to welcoming you to Aarhus next June!   Charles Ess (IMV, Aarhus University, Denmark), Chair Fay Sudweeks (Professor Emerita, Murdoch University, Australia), honorary chair Herbert Hrachovec (University of Vienna, Austria) Leah Macfadyen (University of British Columbia, Canada) Jose Abdelnour Nocera (University of West London, UK) Kenneth Reeder (University of British Columbia, Canada) Ylva Hård af Segerstad (Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden) Michele M. Strano (Bridgewater College, Virginia, USA) Andra Siibak (University of Tartu, Estonia) Maja van der Velden (University of Oslo)