Enrique Dussel is among the most challenging and inspiring contemporary philosophers. His work addresses concerns across the disciplines of theology, history, anthropology, geography, sociology, political theory and philosophy. The main characteristics of his work include a geopolitical, ethical and existential stance, and a strong political commitment to the excluded. He is intellectually committed to providing knowledge that contributes to radical transformations of society; globally, regionally, nationally and locally. Dussel is one of the founders and developers of Liberation Philosophy and has influenced critical political thought and action in Latin America since the 1960s.

Dussel will be the main speaker at a seminar at Roskilde University (Auditorium in building 17/18), 8 March 2010, with the following programme:

• 10.15-11.00 Keynote:
  Enrique Dussel: Interculturality and Transmodernity
• 11.00-11.30 Questions and debate
• 11.30-13.00 Break
• 13.00-15.00 Panel discussion:
  Eurocentrism and its relationships to epistemologies and academic practice, with:
  • Enrique Dussel
  • Jan Gustafsson
    Center for the Study of the Americas, Copenhagen Business School
  • Thomas Tufte
    Communication Studies, Roskilde University and Ørecomm

This encounter with Enrique Dusell is organised by the Research School on Intercultural Studies at Roskilde University. It is open to all.

At the Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies (CBIT) at Roskilde University a number of assistant or associate professorships in communication are open for applications, with deadline 19 March 2010, with the following preferred subject areas:

• Corporate communication
• Dialogical communication in public and private organisations
• Political communication and public affairs
• Communication in new media
• Intercultural communication

For more information see the full announcement in English or in Danish.

The sixth Performing the World conference will be held in New York City from Thursday 30 September through Sunday 3 October, 2010. The theme this year is: “Can Performance Change the World?”

With this theme, we ask performance activists and scholars to reflect on and address the political aspects of their performance work; at the same time, we invite social change activists to reflect on and address the performance aspects of their political activities. We are looking for proposals —for panels, workshops, performances, demonstrations, installations, etc. — that address this overarching question.

Read more on the conference homepage.

The MEDIeA research programme calls for applications to a PhD scholarship on “Media, Empowerment and Democracy in Tanzania – media ethnographic perspectives”. The full call may be downloaded here (pdf).

Applications are invited from primarily Tanzanian citizens with an MA in Social Sciences or Humanities and with experience in qualitative empirical research, preferably in the field of qualitative reception studies, media ethnography and/or participatory communication studies.

Deadline for applications is 14 March 2010.

Rikke Frank Jørgensen, affiliated with Ørecomm, has published a 56-page paper on “ICT as a tool for empowerment in Uganda”. Abstract:

The paper presents a case study, which investigates the role of ICT for women empowerment in Uganda. The study concludes that ICT has played a role for improved livelihood and participation in public life; however the facilitation of new spaces for conversation and collaboration has been just as important, as the technology itself.

The paper can be downloaded here, from the Centre for Internet Research at Aarhus University.

The GLOBAL FUSION 2010 Media & Communication Conference will be held at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA, October 22-24, 2010. From the announcement:

This year’s conference theme is “Sustenance and Globalization.” We consider the concept of culture in relation to the nature of global communication processes. Those interested in the role of the print, electronic, and digital media might look at their role in sustaining and modifying cultures. For those interested in non-mediated communication, a focus could be brought to bear on the ways in which folklore, traditional cultural practices, and ecology can act to sustain and empower cultures. Researchers exploring the development perspective on international communication might consider addressing community building, sustainability, development, and the roles of communication in changing and sustaining cultures, polities, and societies. Among many other possibilities, this theme also allows for an exploration of the ways in which communication technologies, both as software and hardware, can sustain and/or undermine cultures and environments.

Deadline for submissions: 1 July 2010. For more information, see the conference website.

As the world draws towards the end of the first decade of this millennium, the development community continues to grapple with many of the same long-standing questions on how to tackle complex issues in the development field. The role of communication in advancing efforts toward finding solutions to the challenges of our day has become increasingly central to international development efforts and remains a major issue of concern for scholars and practitioners.

As previously announced on orecomm.net a conference on “New Approaches to Research and Practice in Communication for Development and Social Change” will be held at Ohio University, Athens (USA) on 2-4 April, 2010. Deadline for submissions is 5 February 2010. For further details see the conference website.

The holder of this 3-year scholarship will be enrolled in the PhD program International Development Studies.

The application must be in Danish or English and include a CV, documentation (copies) of examinations passed, and a project description of a maximum of 5 pages. The description should include an outline of the problem area to be studied, the research questions raised, the theoretical approach taken and methodological considerations as well as work and time plan. The project description and other material should be forwarded in three copies.

For further information contact: Lisa Ann Richey, phone +45 4674 2627 or richey@ruc.dk, or Laurids S. Lauridsen, phone: + 45 4674 2017 or lsl@ruc.dk. Deadline for applications is 1 March 2010 at 12.00 noon, at: Department of Society and Globalisation, Att. Janni Villadsen, Building 24.2, Roskilde University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.

World Summit on Media for Children and Youth Karlstad Sweden 2010 will be a summit for 2000 delegates from 100 countries preparing with children and youth for a new media world in the 21st century. It will offer opportunities to network, to be part of debates, to be interactive and to be part of workshops, to share perspective, experience and expertise. World Summit in Karlstad will take place June 14-18, 2010. For more information on the summit’s Research Forum, see the World Summit website.

Several Ørecomm participants will be present, as participants and panelists.

A PhD course on Media Ethnography: Theory and Practice will be held at Pappersbruket, near Osby in south Sweden, 9-11 June 2010. Deadline for registration: Monday 3 May 2010.

Confirmed speakers are:

• Jo Helle-Valle, Nat’l Institute for Consumer Research, Oslo, Norway
• John Postill, C3 Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
• Debra Spitulnik, Emory University, USA
• Jo Tacchi, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
• Thomas Tufte, Roskilde University/Ørecomm, Denmark

This course is designed to introduce PhD students to the theory and practice of media ethnography. We explore how media ethnography applies to both media production and media reception, and how it is fundamentally both a theory and a method for investigating everyday practices and lived experiences as they are shaped by culturally-specific ways of being-in-the world. Media to be considered include: television, film, radio, newspapers, and new media. The course will begin with a brief overview of the history of ethnographic approaches within media studies and cultural studies, which dates back to the mid 1980s. We then engage more recent scholarship within media anthropology, focusing specifically on three dimensions of ethnography:

• as fieldwork method;
• as anthropological lens, and
• as a method of writing and re-presentation.

The course is organised by the Danish National Research School for Media, Communication, and Journalism (FMKJ). Detailed information is available on the FMKJ website.