ACMC is to host annual Conference pm November 23 and 24

Asian Congress for Media & Communication (ACMC India Chapter) is organizing its second annual conference in Kolkata on   23^rd & 24^th November, 2015

Following are the details sent by Prof.(Dr.) Biplab Loho Choudhury

Center For Journalism & Mass Communication
Visva - Bharati, Santiniketan
West Bengal, India
&
Country Director (India),
Asian Congress for Media & Communication (ACMC),
+918670681901,+913463264332(Residence)

Concept Note

The study of communication in modern times as an academic discipline has its origins in the West. Communication scholars in the West sought to study communication primarily from two aspects: i) the functional aspect in which communication was viewed as an instrument for attaining specific objectives in business and polity, ii) the socio-politico-cultural aspect in which communication was viewed in relation to the art of language and rhetoric. Consequently, two broad school of communication thought emerged in the West: the ‘process’ school and the ‘semiotics’ school.

The followers of the ‘process’ school viewed communication as the process of message transmission between individuals and applied the same principle at all levels of communication, be it inter-personal, group or ‘mass’. The success or failure of any communication exercise was determined by taking into account the variation in the end effect compared to the intended effect as aspired by the communicator/s.

The followers of the ‘semiotics’ school, on the other hand, laid greater emphasis on the interpretation of communication messages in light of socio-politico-cultural contexts in which the individuals find themselves rather than any other communication factor involved. In this regard, John Fiske in his seminal work, Introduction To Communication Studies, wrote, “The process school tends to draw upon the social sciences, psychology and sociology in particular, and tends to address itself to acts of communication. The semiotic school tends to draw upon linguistics and the arts subjects, and tends to address itself to works of communication.”

Both the ‘communication schools’ have done a commendable work in so far as viewing, interpreting and understanding communication as a functionalist and positivist human exercise. However, it must also be borne in mind that communication entails a sense of desirability to it. Perhaps then, the time is ripe to add another school to the two schools given by John Fiske.

This school may be called the 'philosophical' school of communication. The 'philosophical' school of communication tends to draw broadly upon various philosophical and religious traditions across the world and tends to provide socio-ethical and cultural interpretations of communication exercises in everyday human life.

In doing so, Indian and other Asian philosophical, religious, ritualistic and folkloristic traditions have much to offer us. The interpretation of classical Indian texts towards communication theorizing and practice is also likely to contribute to the building of the 'philosophical' school. As Maurice Winternitz observed, “The history of Indian literature is the history of the mental activity of at least three millennia expressed in speech and writing… In content Indian literature comprises everything which is included in the word ‘literature’ in the broadest sense of the term: religious and mundane, epic and lyric, dramatic and didactic poetry as well as narrative and scientific prose… It is one of the peculiar features of the Indian mind, that it has never drawn a clear line of demarcation between purely artistic creation and scientific activity, so that a distinction between ‘Belles Letters’ and ‘Scientific Literature’ is indeed impossible in India. What appears to us as a collection of fairy tales and fables, is considered by Indians as a text book of politics and moral.”

Unfortunately, the contemporary field of communication scholarship still seems rather reluctant to give due regard to the 'philosophical' school of communication. Instead, there appears to be a distinctly growing division between two academic groups, one that feels the field of communication scholarship needs to be de-westernized as early as possible and the other that feels that de-westernization is nothing but a spin-off of the pangs of post-colonialism. Amidst all this chaos, communication scholarship as a whole has been the greatest loser.

We find ourselves in a strange position where the existing communication approaches need to be revisited as communication is now extended further to include mass-line and mass-self communication which challenge existing notions of communication. The limit of natural human communication is also getting extended. Yet we are unable to make much headway owing to a number of reasons. First, there is the constant apprehension of ideological resistance being offered by one or the other groups in accepting the other’s views. Secondly, little effort has been actually made by scholars to understand the Asian philosophical traditions in the communication perspective. Thirdly, little regard is given to an understanding of the Asian perspectives of communication by communication institutions even in Asia. The situation remains almost no different in the Indian context with the possible exception of a few institutions. The last and the most important aspect is to get expanding functionality of communication reflected, interpreted and theorized in scholarly works.

It is in this backdrop that the present convention provides a platform to scholars to contribute towards building the scholarly field of communication with insights from India, other countries of Asia and the West. It is hoped that the contributions shall help in narrowing the chasm between the oriental and occidental approaches to communication scholarship rather than widening it any further.

Purpose of the Conference

The conference will provide a platform to the participants for deliberating on the various aspects mentioned in preceding paragraphs and presenting innovative thoughts and factual insights befitting the purpose. It shall, thereby, seek to prepare the ground of emerging communication understanding in the new millennium by tapping into the indigenous knowledge pool of India, Asia and the West.

Key Areas of Deliberation

Keeping in consonance with the broad theme, the conference would focus on deliberations related to any one or more of the following sub-themes:

a)      Exploring paradigm shift in understanding communication reality of the new millennium

b)      Addressing the westernization versus de-westernization debate

c)      Exploring contradictions between Indian and Judeo-Christian ethics and morality in media production and profession

d)      Exploring classical Asian/ Indian texts towards communication theorizing and practice

e)      Exploring the Asian/ Indian philosophical,  religious, ritualistic and  folkloristic traditions for  communication perspective building

f)       Deliberating on the need for revisiting ‘Communication Studies’ in the Asian/ Indian perspective

Call for Papers

Research papers are invited on any one or more of the following premises:

Ø  Perspective Building: Exploring possibilities of communication theorizing in different perspectives.

Ø  Historical Studies: From ancient, medieval and modern Asia/ India bearing relation to any one or more of the six sub-themes

Ø  Grass-root Studies: Perception and action studies on any one or more of the six sub-themes

Ø  Case Studies: In depth case studies or meta-analysis of earlier works

Who can participate?

a)      Communication academicians and researchers from universities, research organizations and other institutions

b)      Communication professionals-strategists,  implementers

c)      Communication students willing to share their experience and learn from the exercise

Mode of Participation:

Participation is of two types: those who would present papers and those who would participate in the deliberation without paper presentation. Both types of participants, upon registering and participating, will be awarded certificate during valedictory session.

Aspiring contributors may send abstracts of their proposed papers within 300 words on any of the mentioned sub-themes within October 05, 2015 specifically mentioning the sub-theme in the Subject Line to acmcindia.annualconference2015@gmail.com. Selection of the abstract will be notified latest by October 10, 2015.

Abstract should clearly state in separate paragraphs the aim of the research paper, research question/s considered, method used, and brief of findings (it is expected that the abstract should be send only after working on the paper to a great extent to increase the chance of acceptance). All submissions (abstract/ full paper) will undergo a blind peer review.

Please mention Abstract Submission: ‘Sub-theme’ in the subject line of your email in order to facilitate speedy blind peer review. Send all attachments in word file (preferably in Word 2007).

Upon acceptance of abstracts, full papers preferably within 4000 words are to be submitted within October 25, 2015. Please note that all abstracts and papers are to be submitted electronically only at acmcindia.annualconference2015@gmail.com. Abstracts/ full papers emailed to personal email ids of the conference organizers will not be considered for consideration through blind peer review.

Format for Abstract/ Paper Submission

Abstracts/ Papers must be sent in two separate attachments. The first attachment should mention details such as paper title & author name, position, institution, conference premise to which it belongs, type of research paper, short biography of author (100 ‐ 150 words). The second attachment should contain only the abstract/ full paper with title. No information revealing the identity of the author should be given in the second attachment.

First Attachment:

a.      Paper title & author name, position, institution

b.      Conference premise to which it belongs

c.       Type of research paper

d.      Short biography of Author (100 ‐ 150 words)

Second Attachment:

a.      Abstract/ Full Paper with title

Important Dates

1.      Last date of abstract submission: October  05, 2015

2.      Last date of intimation of acceptance of abstract: October 10, 2015

3.      Last date of full paper submission following abstract acceptance: October 25, 2015

4.      Conference dates: 23^rd & 24^th November, 2015

Registration Fees

A.      Academicians and Professionals: Rs.1000.00

B.      Research Scholars:  Rs.800.00

C.      Post-graduate Students: Rs.200.00

D.     Under-graduate Students: Rs.100.00

Registration fee payment allows the right to participate in the session, getting conference kit, tea and lunch during the conference.

Payment

Payment procedure and concerned dates will be informed after selection is confirmed from conference secretariat.

Publication

Top ten papers selected through blind article peer-review along with invited papers will be published in a compendium. Registered participants of A & B categories will get a copy of the book by post/ by hand after publication of the book. The next top ten papers will be published in Mass Media (ISSN 2277-7369). Participants whose papers do not get selected for the compendium volume or the journal may publish their papers in any other book/ journal with proper acknowledgement to ACMC India Annual Conference 2015.