CFP: 2nd International Conference Semiosis in Communication: Differences and Similarities

CFP: 2nd International Conference Semiosis in Communication: Differences and Similarities

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

SEMIOSIS IN COMMUNICATION

Differences and Similarities

Bucharest, 14-16 June, 2018

http://centrucomunicare.ro/semiosis/semiosisc_2018.html

Conference description

The second edition of the International Conference Semiosis in Communication: Differences and Similarities will be organized by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania (NUPSPA) in participation with Southeast European Center for Semiotic Studies (SEECSS) at New Bulgarian University (NBU), Sofia, Bulgaria, and under the auspices of the International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS-AIS). It will be held in Bucharest, Romania, from the 14th to the 16th of June, 2018.

This conference explores the role of semiosis in communication. As such, the conference offers an insight towards the epistemological relations between semiotics and other approaches to communication coming from perspectives such as sociology, philosophy of language and communication theory.

Objects of interdisciplinary knowledge par excellence, semiotics and communication are complementary ways of world mastery, of the big game, just like Solomon Marcus (2011) would say. In a world of global communication, where each one’s life depends increasingly on signs, language and communication, understanding how we relate and opening ourselves to otherness, to differences in all their forms and aspects is becoming more and more relevant. From this perspective, an important objective of the International Conference Semiosis in Communication: Differences and Similarities is to emphasize the importance of semiotic queries in the communication sciences.

The conference proceeds in three panels (sessions), each focused on a theme. In addition, Professors Susan Petrilli and Augusto Ponzio will hold a special session as honorary guests. In accordance with the paper proposals, the preliminary list of suggested sessions will be updated.

1. Semiotics and communication

This panel approaches directly the act or phenomenon of communication in the light of semiotic theory. Its purpose is to develop the premises for a semiotic theory of communication. While communication was explored thoroughly in the light of other disciplines, and, as such, understood within the perspective of sociology, psychology, cognitive sciences, cultural studies or philosophy of language, semiotics accounts for communication as an act of signification. As such, communication is not accounted for as necessarily dependent on categories such as social interaction, cognitive abilities or cultural background, but as purely a phenomenon of signification. This is the most theoretically general and open panel.

Panel head(s): Dumitru Borțun, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania; Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania.

2. Differences and Similarities. Alterity as the Basis of Communication

This panel explores the question of understanding the alterity from a semiotic perspective. Objects of interdisciplinary knowledge par excellence, semiotics and communication are complementary ways of world mastery, of the big game, just like Solomon Marcus (2011) would say. In a world of global communication, where each one’s life depends increasingly on signs, language and communication, understanding how we relate and opening ourselves to otherness, to differences in all their forms and aspects is becoming more and more relevant. The papers presented in this panel will capture and investigate integrative aspect of semiotics, its ability to subtly and discreetly unite ideas, people and things, in a word differences.

Panel head: Will be announced soon.

3. Why Europe? Narratives and Counter-narratives of European Integration

Special Panel organized by the ECREA Temporary Working Group “Communication and the European Public Sphere”

Pressured by what appears as a never-ending crisis, the European Union has to face multiple internal fractures and external pressures. Populism, nationalism and right-wing extremism are seeing resurgence in a number of states across Europe, with consequences on the decision-making process in the European Union. As it became a very familiar narrative in recent years, this phenomenon creates severe discontinuities from the previous EU communication paradigm. The dangers associated with extremism and populism in the political discourse is that in order to meet the increasingly Eurosceptic public opinion, many political leaders artificially oppose the “national interest” to the EU’s interest. Populist tendencies are worth exploring in the light of EU’s multiple difficulties, the immigrant crisis being only the latest one. This panel welcomes contributions related to the latest communication patterns in the EU, as depicted in the media and in the political discourse. Our aim is to promote a critical, yet constructive, approach on European integration. Contributions may include, but are not restricted to:

– Narratives and counter-narratives of disruption: nationalism, populism and extremism
– The multiple crises of the European Union: fuelling far right movements
– Symbolical representations of intra-EU fractures: East-West/North-South divides and the “Brexit”
– Public opinion in the EU
– Populism, nationalism, and/or extremism across EU member states (the discourse of the political leaders, public opinion, media research, etc.)
– Framing the European Union in turmoil contexts
– Social media and extremism
– EU Communication as a means of resurrecting the “European idea”
– Europeanization models and narratives – recent developments

A broad goal of this edited panel is to explore new theoretical and empirical frameworks that might explain how current communication practices, including media visibility and framing, public discourse, citizens’ perceptions and participation, influence the development of a European arena of communication.

Panel head: Alina Bârgăoanu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania.

Keynote Speakers confirmed:

Paul Cobley, President of IASS-AIS, International Association for Semiotic Studies, Middlesex University, U.K.;
Göran Sonesson, Professor of Semiotics & Director of Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, Division of Cognitive Semiotics, Centre for Language and Literature, Lund University, Sweden;
Dario Martinelli, Director of ISI, International Semiotics Institute; Scientific director of IASS-AIS World Congress Kaunas 2017, University of Technology, Lithuania;
Luis Emilio Bruni, From 2011 to 2017 was president of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) and currently seats in its Board, as well as in the  board of directors of the International Society for Information Studies (ISIS), Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark;
Massimo Leone, IFK Senior Fellow – International Research Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Art and Design Linz, Wien; Professor of Semiotics, Cultural Semiotics, and Visual Semiotics at the Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy and
Kristian Bankov, Professor of Semiotics at New Bulgarian University and Department Chair of the Southeast European Center for Semiotic Studies; Secretary General of IASS-AIS, International Association for Semiotic Studies.

Honorary Guests:
Susan Petrilli, Professor of Philosophy and Theory of Language in the Department of Linguistic Practices and Text Analysis at the University of Bari, Italy; Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, South Australia and
Augusto Ponzio, Head of the Department of Linguistic Practices and Text Analysis at Bari University, Italy;

Important deadlines

Deadline for submission of Abstracts: 28th of January 2018 (you will receive an acknowledgment by email)
Notification of Acceptance: 18th of February 2018
Deadline for participation fee: 16th of March 2018
Conference: 14-16 June, 2018

Paper submission

Applications for presentations consist in only one document:
– Title and abstract (max. 300 words
followed by 3-5 keywords) with short and relevant bionote (do not exceed 150 words, please) in MS Word format (.doc, .docx). We highly appreciate short, schematic texts.
– Please use the abstract template available on the conference website at
http://centrucomunicare.ro/semiosis/cfp.html.You can download the template of abstract directly from the conference website (Abstract_Template.doc)

Co-authored papers are welcome.

Papers are delivered in 30 minutes presentations (20 minutes talk followed by 10 minutes of debate).

Please, submit your proposal to dragan.nicolaesorin@gmail.com or sorin.dragan@comunicare.ro within January 28th, 2018. Only one paper for each participant (as a first author) will be accepted.

The official language of the conference is English.

The authors will receive confirmation via e-mail.

Registration & Conference fee

Delegates should pay the conference fee (100 Euro/participant) after the notification of abstract acceptance. Members of the IASS-AIS benefit of a 50% discount (50 Euro/participant). For delegates only attending the conference (without presenting), the fee is 25 Euro/participant. Students will have free access to all the presentations.

The fee includes conference attendance, lunch, refreshments during coffee breaks, conference bag, publication in conference proceedings and in the Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations (selected papers only), refreshments during coffee breaks and lunch.

After the payment delegates are required to send the payment confirmation to: dragan.nicolaesorin@gmail.com in order to register for the conference.

Publication

For conference delegates, we offer more publishing possibilities. In all instances your papers are subject to a double-blind peer review. Each journal has its own peer review process that will be followed. If you have committed your paper for other venues, you may just present your paper at the conference. Please note that only the papers that have been presented at the conference will be published.

Selected papers that will undergo the journal’s peer-review process will be published in:
– The Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations (
http://www.journalofcommunication.ro/), an academic journal indexed in the following research data-bases: Scopus, EBSCO, ProQuest, DOAJ, CEEOL, Index Copernicus, Cabell’s, and Genamics Journal Seek.
– Journal of Media Research (
http://mrjournal.ro/). The Journal of Media Research is a scientific research journal focusing on the field of media and communication. It is a peer reviewed academic publication for interdisciplinary quantitative and qualitative research in the social sciences. Carefully read the guidelines for authors.The journal is indexed in the following international databases: EBSCO, ProQuest, and CEEOL.

Conference venue

National University of Political and Administrative Studies, College of Communication and Public Relations, 30A Expozitiei Boulevard, Bucharest, Romania.

Partners

National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (NUPSPA), Bucharest, Romania

International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS-AIS)

Southeast European Center for Semiotic Studies (SEECSS) at New Bulgarian University (NBU), Sofia, Bulgaria

Honorary President of Conference

Solomon Marcus, member of the Mathematical Section of the Romanian Academy and Emeritus Professor of the University of Bucharest’s Faculty of Mathematics.

Scientific committee

Kristian Bankov, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria;

Alina Bârgăoanu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Priscila Borges, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Brazil;

Dumitru Borțun, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Luis Emilio Bruni, Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark;

Corina Buzoianu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Nicoleta Corbu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Loredana Ivan, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Massimo Leone, Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy;

Constantin Popescu, Department of Communication Sciences, Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Romania.

Organizing committee

Dumitru Borțun, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Oana Chirică, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Ioana Corduneanu, “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania;

Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania.

Paula Drăgan, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania;

Liliana Voicu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania.

For questions and details concerning the conference Semiosis in Communication: Differences and Similarities, please write to Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan at: dragan.nicolaesorin@gmail.com.

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