Academic Conferences

Academic Conferences: 

Academic Conferences Writing Abstracts and Giving Presentations

Reasons for this Academic Practice: 

Reasons for this Academic Practice Plenary/Keynote Speakers Mutually Beneficial Feedback Meet Other Researchers - Networking New Research - Methodology, Theory, Case Study, Subject Knowledge Introduction to Interdisciplinary Perspectives Defence of Argument Publication

Research Identity: 

Research Identity Nickianne Moody Sociology – Methodology in the Sociology of Knowledge Head of Media and Cultural Studies – Entertainment Media Popular Fiction Representation, Cultural Change, Genre, Media Production, Historical and New Media Forms Disability in Young Adult Media

What is your research identity as an Internet and Mass Communications Scholar?: 

What is your research identity as an Internet and Mass Communications Scholar? What is the subject of your dissertation?

Case Study: 

Case Study

Twenty First Century Teenager: Media Representation, Theory and Policy: 

Twenty First Century Teenager: Media Representation, Theory and Policy A conference hosted by the Association for Research in Popular Fictions  10th-12th July,2008 Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds TV drama, young adult fiction, music, art, citizenship agenda, documentary, photography, journalism, pedagogy, youth culture, social exclusion, child poverty, curriculum and literacy, sub-culture, new media, disability, teen audiences, magazines/comics, juvenile delinquency, beauty and lifestyle, pop and politics, internet cultures, texting and social ritual, teen nights and street culture, ASBOs and Hoodies, comparative studies. Please send an abstract of 200-300 words by December 15th 2007 to Nickianne Moody, Convenor ARPF, MCCA, Liverpool John Moores University, Dean Walters Building, St James Road, Liverpool L1 7BR E-mail N.A.Moody@ljmu.ac.uk Fax 0151 6431980

Where Does Your Research Fit Into This Call for Papers?: 

Where Does Your Research Fit Into This Call for Papers? TV drama, young adult fiction, music, art, citizenship agenda, documentary, photography, journalism, pedagogy, youth culture, social exclusion, child poverty, curriculum and literacy, sub-culture, new media, disability, teen audiences, magazines/comics, juvenile delinquency, beauty and lifestyle, pop and politics, internet cultures, texting and social ritual, teen nights and street culture, ASBOs and Hoodies, comparative studies.

Writing Abstracts?: 

Writing Abstracts? Making Your Paper Fit For Purpose

Context: 

Context A conference hosted by the Association for Research in Popular Fictions Interdisciplinary Contemporary Teenage Experience Relation of Your Paper to the Other Topics in the Call for Papers

Writing Abstracts: 

Writing Abstracts Word Count Name, Department, Institution, E-mail Address Inclusive and Expository Title Keywords in the first sentence Outline of research informing the study and focus of the paper Relevance to the conference Key Discussion Theory Used Examples/Case Study

Examples of Abstracts: 

Examples of Abstracts How Will the Selection Be Made?

What Happens At A Conference: 

What Happens At A Conference Panels – Paper must relate to others to generate a valid discussion Papers usually 20-25 minutes followed by questions from the audience

Generic Criteria for Selecting Papers: 

Generic Criteria for Selecting Papers Is the topic coherent and focussed? Does the Proposal Contribute to the Debate on the Twenty First Century Teenager? Is the Discussion Drawn from a Research Project? Does the Discussion Raise Issues for Interdisciplinary Debate? Does it address a specific Case Study, Medium, Methodology, Theoretical Perspective, Issue or Theme? Is the Work Innovative?

Abstract “The Big Picture” - The Impact of Still Images: Exploring Adolescents’ Emotional Responses to Still Images in media representations – a semiotic and lexical analysis.: 

Abstract “The Big Picture” - The Impact of Still Images: Exploring Adolescents’ Emotional Responses to Still Images in media representations – a semiotic and lexical analysis. This research has explored the emotional responses of adolescents to still images in media representations, testing the hypothesis that the ubiquitous imagery available globally is diluting and desensitising media messages, meanings and their subsequent impact. The methodology was designed to allow adolescents to have free access to the images and to record their reactions without active researcher interaction, by way of exhibitions held in schools with emoticon questionnaires. The data gathered was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively with empirical data and statistics, lexical analysis of narratives together with a semiotic analysis of the Images. The depth of feelings evoked and the quality of the teenagers’ narratives were both inspiring and humbling. The findings suggest that although adolescents are very affected by world events, graphic or sensational imagery designed for “shock impact”

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such as depictions of dead bodies, body parts, injuries, blood and violence do not have much impact. Whilst the teenagers often registered the obvious responses of sadness or anger, it was just as likely the pictures provoked boredom and lack of interest. The “expression in the eye” had far more effect in evoking reactions and emotion, such as one picture of a smiling child holding a gun, which created the most significant impact, being described as “scary, frightening and horrific”. Interestingly, images of cruelty to animals had more effect than the torture and abuse of people. Variables such as age, gender, ability or ethnicity had little effect but the positive or negative language of the teacher accompanying the teenagers to the exhibition appeared to have a significant impact on the data.

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This research considers how still images could be used effectively to promote positive interactions between institutions (media producers, educators and policy makers) and adolescents to develop strategies which foster enhanced media communication, education, social and cultural awareness. PhD Research (being completed early 2008)

Selling Wealth to the Poor?: Hindi film adolescents and young audiences: 

Selling Wealth to the Poor?: Hindi film adolescents and young audiences The romantic genre within Hindi cinema – now frequently termed ‘Bollywood’ – has traditionally focused on young people within family settings, their choices, loves, trials and aspirations. The issue of class has historically been of key significance in understanding these representations. In the 1970s, young heroes and heroines tended to be poor, or from poor families. Those who were represented as hailing from upper-middle-class homes were usually depicted as lacking in parental love, neglected and angry or as spoilt brats who did not respect anyone and had to be taught harsh lessons. The 1990s saw a sharp and superficially comical shift in these representations, with Maine Pyar Kiya’s lovable but inimitably affluent teenage hero. Subsequent romantic and family films have embroidered further on this theme. Nowadays it is not unusual for a heroic teenager to be seen driving convertibles, wearing branded clothing and jetting off in private helicopters to a million-dollar apartment. Additional features thicken the plot. Although sporting similar wardrobes, contemporary heroines are far less likely to be depicted as controlling wealth in the same way. Similarly, super-rich heroes are often represented as being the children of billionaire diasporic migrants.

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Directors boast about ‘giving the audience what it wants’, and some journalists write eulogies about India’s economic liberalisation and its growing techno-wealth. Others deplore all such films as being despicable, depoliticising, materialist fantasies. But rhetoric aside, are such remarkably lavish portrayals of adolescent life reflecting actual changes in Indian society? And what meanings do such representations hold for the children and adolescents who view these films? Via textual analysis and original audience research into identities and contexts, this paper offers a dual exploration of the 'new' conceptualisation of adolescence in Hindi films and the ways in which young urban Indian and diasporic South-Asian viewers react to and reflect on these representations.

I’m Not a Girl, I’m Not a Woman: I’m a Chick.The Chick Lit Novel as a Rite of Passage Life Story.: 

I’m Not a Girl, I’m Not a Woman: I’m a Chick. The Chick Lit Novel as a Rite of Passage Life Story. The objective of this project is to analyse the ways in which the young, contemporary woman is portrayed in Marian Keyes’ novels. Keyes is one of the numerous authors that have been included within the genre of “Chick Lit”, or “post-feminist fiction”. This type of literature, which started in the mid-nineties, mainly deals with the process of coming into adulthood of the female protagonists, who not only suffer a pressure to grow up that is related to common social demands about marriage and motherhood, but who are also – in the case of the protagonists of Marian Keyes’ novels – put through a painful experience which serves them as a rite of passage and which triggers their change as fully developed individuals.

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Marian Keyes’ works focus on the biographical account of the interpersonal relationships established by the characters and how the protagonists become aware of the need to be in control of their own lives and choices. Initially, the female thirty-year-old characters lead carefree, teenage-like existences and are apparently satisfied with the different aspects of their lives. However, in spite of this contentment they feel incomplete, and this notion will only be overcome after their lives are turned upside down and rearranged afterwards. This paper will analyse the ways in which the different life stages of the main characters are articulated in Marian Keyes’ novels, and how the rite of passage conditions the changes from teenager to adult in the female protagonist.

Devil You Know: youth work, teenage sexuality, God and media/culture.: 

Devil You Know: youth work, teenage sexuality, God and media/culture. In contemporary media/culture young people and adults working with young people are frequently demonised. Some even claim that Christian youth work manuals function as ‘how to’ manuals for potential paedophiles and ‘cult’ leaders. Meanwhile Hazel Blears, despairing at gun culture ‘promoted’ by rap stars, plans to encourage black youths to revere role models. Mariella Frostrup, following the Omaha shopping mall shooting in December 2007, calls for such a scheme for all young people. Blaming celebrity culture, as does Frostrup, is way too simplistic. Not every young person just wants to appear on Big Brother, or will kill for their fifteen minutes. Through an analysis of Internet discussion groups, and other material, this paper examines the problems encountered by

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teenagers and youth workers today, particularly in a religious context. I shall explore the paradoxes of youth culture with an upsurge in fundamentalism existing simultaneously within a predominantly secular, and, frequently, nihilistic culture. I also analyse problems concerning youth sexuality in relation to adult sexuality, in an increasingly globalised world where ages of consent vary and pressures to explore sexually and resist exploration exist concurrently. I refer to a number of films where these issues are tackled, such as Kids (1995, Larry Clark), which I have already published on, and more recent examples.

Bebo, MySpace and Facebook: Analysing the ‘social’ in social networking sites : 

Bebo, MySpace and Facebook: Analysing the ‘social’ in social networking sites This paper analyses the social construction of on-line social networking sites, how these sites mediate social networking processes for young people, and how young people negotiate various identity issues related to their use of these sites. Although such sites have many attractions and benefits for young people, there are also concerns about the various risks such sites, and the ‘electronic footprints’ they leave, present to users. For example, recent reports suggest that the information young people post online is being data mined by marketing firms and by fraudsters, and is sometimes used when they apply for jobs, internships, clubs or schools, as well as by organisations such as

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university police looking for ‘misbehaviour’ (Davies, 2007). In this paper we discuss emerging data from a study in two schools exploring young people’s (aged 12-15) use and understandings of social networking sites. Although young people are aware of the risk of sharing personal information, they see social networking sites as private or peer-defined spaces (Acquisti and Gross, 2006; Barnes, 2006; and Stutzman, 2006). This suggests that online social networking can be seen as part of youth culture: the point of having a page is to be part of a peer network, to define

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one’s identity for a wider social group, to negotiate and manage public identity and to build a community of ‘friends’. However, there are high profile risks associated with unwanted contact (bullying and paedophilia), and social networking sites are also challenging young people to negotiate issues such as privacy, trust and credibility on a daily basis. We explore these issues, considering how young people online are managing their identities and issues of self-representation within the formerly private time and space of the home. Continuities are identified, as well as ways young people are handling new and emerging intensifications surrounding familiar issues such as popularity, social and academic success and competition. We also consider possibilities for developing media literacy around these complex issues with young people and their teachers in schools.

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References Acquisti, A., & Gross, R. (2006). Imagined communities: Awareness, information sharing, and privacy on the Facebook. In P. Golle & G. Danezis (Eds.), Proceedings of 6th Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (pp. 36-58). Cambridge, UK: Robinson College. Barnes, S. (2006). A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States. First Monday, 11 (9). http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/index.html Davies, G. (2007) Data Protection Topline Report. ICO. http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/detailed_specialist_guides/research_results_topline_report.pdf Stutzman, F. (2006). An evaluation of identity-sharing behavior in social network communities. Journal of the International Digital Media and Arts Association, 3 (1), 10-18.