CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS
FIRST ANNUAL DIGITAL MEDIA AND LEARNING CONFERENCE
CONFERENCE THEME: "DIVERSIFYING PARTICIPATION"
February 18 – 20, 2010
Cal IT2
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California
We are pleased to announce the first Digital Media and Learning
Conference, an annual event supported by the MacArthur Foundation. The
conference is meant to be an inclusive, international and annual gathering of
scholars and practitioners in the field, focused on fostering interdisciplinary
and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and
practice.
For this inaugural year, the theme will be "Diversifying
Participation". Henry Jenkins is the Chair of the Digital Media and
Learning Conference and our Keynote Speakers will be Sonia Livingstone and S. Craig Watkins.
We invite submissions for session proposals that speak to the
conference theme as well as to the field of digital media and learning more
broadly. Those wishing to present work should look to propose or participate in
a panel topic (see submission process outlined below).
DIVERSIFYING PARTICIPATION
A growing body of research has identified how young people's digital
media use is tied to basic social and cultural competencies needed for full
participation in contemporary society. We continue to develop an understanding of
the impact of these experiences on learning, civic engagement, professional
development, and ethical comprehension of the digital world.
Yet research has also suggested that young people's forms of
participation with new media are incredibly diverse, and that risks,
opportunities, and competencies are spread unevenly across the social and
cultural landscape. Young people have differential access to online
experiences, practices, and tools and this has a consequence in their
developing sense of their own identities and their place in the world. In some
cases, different forms of participation and access correspond with familiar
cultural and social divides. In other cases, however, new media have introduced
novel and unexpected kinds of social differences, subcultures, and identities.
It is far too simple to talk about this in terms of binaries such as
"information haves and have nots" or "digital divides". There are many
different kinds of obstacles to full participation, many different degrees of
access to information, technologies, and online communities, and many different
ways of processing those experiences. Participatory cultures surrounding
digital media are characterized by a diversity that does not track
automatically to high and low access or more or less sophisticated use. Rather,
multiple forms of expertise, connoisseurship, identity, and practice are
proliferating in online worlds, with complicated relationships to pre-existing
categories such as socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, race, or ethnicity.
We encourage sessions that describe, document, and critically
analyze different forms of participation and how they relate to various forms
of social and cultural capital. We are interested in accounts of the challenges
and obstacles which block or inhibit engagement to different forms of online
participation. We also encourage session proposals that engage with successful
intervention strategies and pedagogical processes enabling once marginalized
groups to more fully exploit the opportunities for learning with digital media.
Conversely, we are interested in hearing more about how marginal and
subcultural communities find diverse uses of new and emerging technologies,
pushing them in new directions and navigating a complicated relationship with
"mainstream" forms of participation. Specifically, we seek to
understand the following:
- What
can research on more diverse communities contribute to our understanding of the
learning ecologies surrounding new media? -
What are the technologies, practices, economic, and cultural divides that lead to
segregation, "gated" information communities, and differential
access? -
When and how do diversity and differentiation in participation promote social and
cultural benefits and opportunities, and when do they create schisms that are
less equitable or productive? -
What strategies have proven successful at broadening opportunities for
participation, overcoming the many different kinds of segregation or exclusion
which impact the online world, and empowering more diverse presences throughout
cyberspace? -
Are there things occurring on the margins of the existing digital culture that
might valuably be incorporated into more mainstream practices?
In addition to these questions directly addressing the conference
theme, we welcome submissions that address innovative new directions in
research and practice relating to digital media and participatory learning.
SUBMISSION DETAILS
Submissions should be in the form of full session proposals. Proposed
sessions may range from 1 to 2 hours in length and may include traditional
paper presentations, hands-on workshops, design critiques, demos, pecha kucha,
or roundtable discussions. We welcome and encourage submissions of innovative
formats, but request that the proposals come in the form of session proposals
rather than individual papers or presentations.
The goal of the event is to foster dialog and build connections. To
that end, sessions should have at least three to four presenters and/or discussants.
Session organizers should reserve substantial amounts of time for open
discussion and exchange.
We have established an open wiki for potential participants to engage in session
organizing. The wiki can be used to call for contributions to a briefly outlined session topic, to seek out
partners to develop a topic together, to brainstorm about co-presenters, and
any other functions potential participants find valuable. The wiki can be
accessed at: http://dmlconference2010.wikidot.com/forum:start
Session organizers should submit proposals that consist of a title
and a 200-word abstract (including proposed presentation topics and formats and
the speakers and/or discussants). In addition, names and contact details for
the session organizers and participants will be required. The submission system is available
here
Each individual will be limited to participation on no more than two
panels at the conference. Participants will be expected to fund their own
travel and accommodation. Registration for the conference will be free.
Conference Website: http://dmlcentral.net/conference
Conference Wiki: http://dmlconference2010.wikidot.com/forum:start
Conference Submission System: http://www.dmlcentral.com/applicants/
Conference Committee: Henry Jenkins, David Theo Goldberg, Heather Horst, Mimi Ito, Jabari Mahiri and Holly Willis
KEY DATES AND DEADLINES
Submission System Available: September 30, 2009
Deadline for Submissions: October 30, 2009
Notification of Acceptance: November 30, 2009
Registration System Opens: December 15, 2009
Conference Program Announced: December 15, 2009
Registration Deadline: February 1, 2010
Evening Reception: February 18, 2010
CONTACT INFORMATION
Digital Media and Learning Research Hub
UC Humanities Research Institute
University of California, Irvine
Email: dmlhub@hri.uci.edu