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intercom 2009 : Intercultural Communication in the European Context | |||||||||||||||
Link: http://icec2009.wssm.edu.pl | |||||||||||||||
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Call For Papers | |||||||||||||||
Today to an even larger extent than in the past centuries, communication frequently takes place between individuals and institutions representing different national and cultural backgrounds. This has resulted in a vast body of theoretical discussions on the relation between language, culture and discourse as well as in the emergence of empirical research on intercultural encounters.
Lodz is a city in Poland known for its multinational character and history. The conference “International Communication in the European Context” aims at presenting and discussing multiple approaches to cross-cultural communication within Europe, or involving European cultures and perspectives. The organizers welcome contributions on a wide range of subjects, such as e.g. sociolinguistic studies on biculturalism and migration, the effects of linguistic and cultural differences upon the process European integration, business communication, new media, and the communication aspect of political relations and cultural exchange between the European Union and the United States of America as well as perspectives of other cultures on Europe. We welcome studies, of theoretical and empirical character, on the role of pragmalinguistic differences and different conventions of speech and text genres in cross-cultural contexts, as well as on the effects of power relations upon the forms of intercultural discourse. Social change, international political campaigning, linguistic minorities, advertising, management, corporate internal communication, tourism, youth culture, international diplomacy, internal communication in the institutions of the EU, and public media discourse are all within the range of subjects which we expect to be dealt with at the conference. The organizers invite contributions from linguistics, international relations, political and economic disciplines, business studies, social psychology, culture and media studies, literature and religion studies, and foreign language education. Proposed subtopics (the list is not exhaustive): 1. Minority discourses 2. European diversity and European integration 3. Europe and the United States of America: communication and interpretation 4. Europe and other cultures and languages 5. Acquisition and teaching of cross-cultural competence Ad 1) This section focuses upon the discourses involving cultural and linguistic minorities, their positioning in the mainstream discourse and the evolution of national cultures and styles of communication under the influence of cultural diversity within national borders. Ad 2) As the process of European integration proceeds towards its declared goal of coordinated standards of social, judicial and ethic policies, differences of cultural backgrounds as well as institutional and linguistic practices come into view. The questions to be addressed are among other things problems caused by the diversity and homogenization of Europe’s cultures, international business relations and border-crossing developments in arts and mass media, as well as communication in foreign languages and the enrichment of individual and social repertoires of interaction practices brought about by intercultural encounters. Ad 3) The impact of American culture, economy and politics forms a clearly visible aspect of globalization. On the other hand, the differences between Europe and the USA in historical development, social and institutional backgrounds and cultural assumptions lead to different discursive practices and may result in diverging approaches to a number of issues, including among other things global safety, ecology, medical ethics and institutional interventionism in economy and business. The issues to be addressed are mutual discoursive interpretations and intercultural discourses in any area illustrating successful communication, mutual or one-sided influences on discursive practices as well as obstacles to the achievement of mutual understanding. Ad 4) This subtopic addresses interests of scholars writing on encounters with Europe from other non-European perspectives. Ad 5) Contributions discussing the acquisition and teaching of cross-cultural competence will provide a link between the results of research in any of the above listed areas and their emergent and future practical implementations. Conference languages Contributions will be accepted in English and German. Submission of abstracts Deadline for submitting abstracts is 15th April 2009. Please send your abstract in max. 300 words edited in MS Word to hanna.pulaczewska@sprachlit.uni-regensburg.de. The academic committee will notify you whether your proposal has been accepted within 21 days after receiving the abstract, at latest on April 23th. Proceedings Proceedings will be digitally published on the conference website. Selected papers will be published in book form with an international publisher. Conference homepage Further details are to be found at icec2009.wssm.edu.pl. The Academic Committee prof. dr. hab. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Academy for International Studies (WSSM) Łódź and University of Łódź prof. dr. hab. Hanna Pułaczewska, Academy for International Studies (WSSM) Łódź dr. Iwona Witczak-Plisiecka, Academy for International Studies (WSSM) Łódź and University of Łódź dr. Adam Bednarek, Academy for International Studies (WSSM) Łódź and University of Łódź Keynote speakers: Jens Allwood, Helga Kotthoff |
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