[Sigtis-l] Fwd: CATaC'06 submission deadline extended to 27 February

[Jeremy Hunsinger]

>
> International Conference on
> CULTURAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION (CATaC'06)
>
> **Submission deadline extended: 27 February 2006**
>
> 28 June - 1 July 2006
> University of Tartu, Estonia
> http://www.catacconference.org
>
> Conference theme:
> Neither Global Village nor Homogenizing Commodification:
> Diverse Cultural, Ethnic, Gender and Economic Environments
>
> The biennial CATaC conference series continues to provide an  
> international forum for the presentation and discussion of current  
> research on how diverse cultural attitudes shape the implementation  
> and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The  
> conference series brings together scholars from around the globe  
> who provide diverse perspectives, both in terms of the specific  
> culture(s) they highlight in their presentations and discussions,  
> and in terms of the discipline(s) through which they approach the  
> conference theme.
>
> The 1990s' hopes for an "electronic global village" have largely  
> been shunted aside by the Internet's explosive diffusion. This  
> diffusion was well described by Marx - all that is solid melts into  
> air - and was predicted by postmodernists. The diffusion of CMC  
> technologies quickly led to many and diverse internets. A single  
> "Internet", whose identity and characteristics might be examined as  
> a single unity, has not materialised. An initially culturally and  
> gender homogenous Internet came more and more to resemble an urban  
> metropolis. Along the way, in the commercialization of the Internet  
> and the Web, "cultural diversity" gets watered down and exchanges  
> strong diversity for a homogenous interchangeability. Such  
> diversity thereby becomes commodified and serves a global  
> capitalism that tends to foster cultural homogenization.
>
> CATaC'06 continues our focus on the intersections of culture,  
> technology, and communication, beginning with an emphasis on  
> continued critique of the assumptions, categories, methodologies,  
> and theories frequently used to analyse these. At the same time,  
> CATaC'06 takes up our characteristic focus on ethics and justice in  
> the design and deployment of CMC technologies. We particularly  
> focus on developing countries facilitated by "on the ground"  
> approaches in the work of NGOs, governmental agencies, etc., in  
> ways that preserve and foster cultural identity and diversity. By  
> simultaneously critiquing and perhaps complexifying our theories  
> and assumptions, on the one hand, and featuring "best practices"  
> approaches to CMC in development work, on the other hand, CATaC'06  
> aims towards a middle ground between a putative "global village"  
> and homogenizing commodification. Such middle ground fosters  
> cultural diversity, economic and social development, and more  
> successful cross-cultural co!
>  mmunication online.
>
> Original full papers (especially those which connect theoretical  
> frameworks with specific examples of cultural values, practices,  
> etc.: 10-20 pages) and short papers (e.g. describing current  
> research projects and preliminary results: 3-5 pages) are invited.
>
> Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to:
> - Culture isn't 'culture' anymore
> - The Internet isn't the 'Internet' anymore
> - Gender, culture, empowerment and CMC
> - CMC and cultural diversity
> - Ethics and justice
> - Free/Open technology and communication
> - Internet research ethics
> - Cultural diversity and e-learning
>
> SUBMISSIONS
> All submissions will be peer reviewed by an international panel of  
> scholars and researchers and accepted papers will appear in the  
> conference proceedings. Submission of a paper implies that it has  
> not been submitted or published elsewhere. At least one author of  
> each accepted paper is expected to present the paper at the  
> conference.
>
> Full papers (10-20 formatted pages) - 27 February 2006
> Short papers (3-5 formatted pages) - 27 February 2006
> Notification of acceptance  - mid March 2006
> Final formatted papers  - 29 March 2006
>
> There will be the opportunity for selected papers from this 2006  
> conference to appear in special issues of journals. Papers in  
> previous conferences have appeared in journals (Journal of Computer  
> Mediated Communication, Electronic Journal of Communication/La  
> Revue Electronique de Communication, AI and Society, Javnost- The  
> Public, and New Media and Society) and a book (Culture, Technology,  
> Communication: towards an Intercultural Global Village, 2001,  
> edited by Charles Ess with Fay Sudweeks, SUNY Press, New York). You  
> may purchase the conference proceedings from the 2002 and 2004  
> conference from www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac.
>
> CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
>   Charles Ess, Drury University, USA, catac at it.murdoch.edu.au
>   Fay Sudweeks, Murdoch University, Australia, catac at it.murdoch.edu.au
> PROGRAM CHAIR
>   Herbert Hrachovec, University of Vienna, Austria,  
> catac_submit at it.murdoch.edu.au
> CONFERENCE CO-VICE-CHAIRS
>   Pille Runnel, Tartu University, Estonia

jeremy hunsinger
jhuns at vt.edu
www.cddc.vt.edu
jeremy.tmttlt.com
www.tmttlt.com

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