Upcoming Conferences & Study Opportunities
Communicating for Social Impact: The 58th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association
Le Centre Sheraton Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 22-26
Media and Global Divides: The IAMCR Scientific Congress of Media Research
Stockholm University, Sweden, July 20-25
Pop Culture Field Study at San Diego's Comic-Con International
If you have students interested in popular culture, marketing, or the media industries, please encourage them to visit www.powerofcomics.com for information about a field study program at this summer's Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA.
The one-week program (July 23-27, 2008) engages students as participant-observers of Comic-Con International, studying the intersection between mass marketing and fan cultural practices through ethnographic research. Comic-Con is the perfect backdrop to delve into this crossroad as hundreds of vendors and over 100,000 fans gather there to exchange symbolic meaning—and currency! And while Comic-Con features comic books, manga, and graphic novels, students interested in all manner of popular culture can find something of interest to study at the Con, including anime, sci-fi, gaming, film, television, and much, much more. You can see more information about the Con itself at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/.
Students will also have the rather unique opportunity to make a public presentation of their observations and tentative conclusions at the end of the week as a part of the Comic Arts Conference (http://fac.hsu.edu/duncanr/cac_page.htm) held in conjunction with Comic-Con. The field study is sponsored by Wittenberg University and taught by Matthew J. Smith, Associate Professor of Communication, who can be reached at msmith@wittenberg.edu
AEJMC 2008 Convention
Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, Chicago, Illinois, August 6-9