*The following journalism and writing conferences in New York City (August 31 - September 3, 2017) might be of interest to German-CFP members exploring broadcast and print media in European contexts. Group registration will be available to delegates presenting at both conferences. Please feel free to share with faculty, students, and non-academic writers. * *Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) 5th International Conference* *Bridging Gaps: Where is the Critic in Television Journalism?* *CUNY Graduate School of Journalism New York City, USAAugust 31-September 1, 2017* *Conference Keynote Speaker*: *Andrew Mendelson* Associate Dean & Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism *Conference Key Media Speaker*: *Tim Harper* Journalist & Visiting Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism In broadcast journalism, the notion of the ‘TV academic’ is rare but important with the origins related to the Fourth Estate’s veritable position as critical government watchdogs. Similar in nature to questions on conflating the journalist with celebrity in popular discourse are those surrounding the academic and celebrity. In his case, Birmingham City University professor and broadcaster David Wilson discovered, “The greatest tension is the growing perception by some members of the public that I am a celebrity, rather than an academic.” At the same time, he notes that the benefits of being a public scholar greatly outweigh the downsides. Mainstream TV uses social media to augment its reach, facilitating dialogues between actors and viewers. These dominant tactics further engage by mitigating the role of perceived mediators between celebrities and their on-screen personas. In an analogous way, more conversations that include academics are crucial in mainstream TV. Without them, redefining or redesigning efforts that stimulate critical faculties in the collective mind and make for good citizenry become lost amidst the noise of what postmodern French philosopher Jean Baudrillard once characterized as an era of “more and more information, and less and less meaning”. So how can an academic produce a TV show or offer television appearances while disregarding stereotypical trappings associated with the ‘celebrity academic’? How can these efforts be accomplished in ways that preserve the integrity of the academe yet also cater to mass audience within one’s area of scholarship? What are some ethical tactics and key platforms in which these voices are best and most widely heard? The Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) *Bridging Gaps* conference, in association with sponsors Centre for Ecological, Social, and Informatics Cognitive Research (ESI.CORE) and WaterHill Publishing, invites academics, journalists, publicists, producers and guests to attend, speak and collaborate at the international conference *Bridging Gaps: Where is the Critic in Television Journalism*? Join us in NYC where the conference will uniquely combine vibrant roundtable and workshop panels with a CMCS TV proposal in a collaborative network. The format of the conference aims at being open and inclusive ranging from interdisciplinary academic scholars to practitioners involved in all areas of television journalism, including tactics related to engagement capitalizing on existing public and private television channels and evolving forms of social media—from YouTube to Vimeo, Zoom to Jing, Periscope to Google Hangout. Working papers and media productions will be considered for the conference. Extended versions of selected best papers will be published in an edited book. *Registration includes*: Your printed package for the complete conference, professional development workshops, coffee / tea breaks, access to evening receptions, complimentary evening drinks, consideration for publication, and the CMCS $100 best paper and $100 best screen awards. *Submission guidelines:* - 250-word abstract or workshop / roundtable proposal - Include a title, your name, e-mail address, and affiliation if applicable - Submit to conference Chairs William Huddy, Josh Nathan, and Andrea Marshall at email address: *[log in to unmask]* <[log in to unmask]> - Deadline for abstract submission: *April 15, 2017* - Notification of acceptance:* May 15, 2017* - Early bird registration deadline: *June 30, 2017* - Full text due:* July 30, 2017* - Conference reception and presentations:* August 31 – September 1, 2017* *Celebrity Chat** Video Submissions:* - Video length should be 10-20 minutes - Include a title, your name, e-mail address, and affiliation if applicable - Submit to *Celebrity Chat *producer Dr. Jackie Raphael at email address: *[log in to unmask]* <http:[log in to unmask]> - Deadline for abstract submission: *April 15, 2017* - Notification of acceptance:* May 15, 2017* - Early bird registration deadline: *June 30, 2017* - Full text due:* July 30, 2017* - Conference reception and presentations: *August 31 – September 1, 2017* *Topics include but are not limited to:* - Television Studies - TV Celebrity - Celebrity Academic - Onscreen Persona - Fandom - Audience - Publicity - News - Interviews - Social Media - Online Video - Fiction - Genre - Biography - Literature - Fashion - Photography - Performance - Life Writings - Theory and Methods - Research Agenda - Business Models - Ethics and Morality - Media Literacy - Education and Advocacy - International Relations - Community Building - Business and Community Partnerships *Conference Keynote: *Andrew Mendelson *Conference Key Media Speaker: *Tim Harper *Conference Chairs*: Josh Nathan and Andrea Marshall *Committee Members*: Nicole Bojko, Jackie Raphael and Celia Lam *Conference URL*: www.cmc-centre.com/nyc2017 *Twitter * @celeb_studies <http://www.twitter.com/celeb_studies> #BGCS17 --- - *NYC2017 WaterHill Publishing Inaugural Writers Conference: Call for Writers Terrace Club New York City, USA September 2-3, 2017* Writers often have a unique story to tell and they give voice to a cause. When faced with fierce competition in the publishing industry, the unique voice may get lost in demands to create a standardized publication that may or may not turn out to be popular to many readers. The role of a literary agent is often vital to publish books and adapt the books for film and television productions. Yet, pitching to a literary agent can remain a challenge for many writers. Whether you work with an agent or not, it is critically important to find your voice, tell your story, publish in the form of books, essays, and op-eds, and reach out through the media. WaterHill Publishing, in association with Centre for Ecological, Social, and Informatics Cognitive Research (ESI.CORE) and Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS), invites established and emerging writers to present writings at our inaugural writers’ conference series in New York City. We particularly aim to establish safe spaces of writing and will work with writers to address the following themes: - Find your voice and tell your story - Who gets to be a writer? How can we support each other and overcome obstacles to publication, especially for those under-represented in the publishing industry? - Bridge gaps between creative imagination and critical thinking - Review written drafts and receive feedback in groups - Establish your area of expertise and learn how to pitch to op-eds and essays - Build a media platform and use public relations to reach out to a wide range of readers The best writings will be reviewed, selected, and offered publication in an edited book. *Registration includes*: Your printed package for the complete conference, professional development workshops, coffee / tea breaks, access to evening receptions, complimentary evening drinks, consideration for publication, and the WaterHill Publishing $100 best writing award. *Submission guidelines**:* - 250-word writing proposal - Include your name, bio, e-mail address, and affiliation if applicable - Send submission to email address: *[log in to unmask]* <[log in to unmask]> - Deadline for submission: *April 30, 2017* - Notification of acceptance: *May 30, 2017* - Early bird registration deadline: *June 31, 2017* - Regular registration deadline: *July 30, 2017* - Conference dates: September *2-3, 2017* *Featured Writers’ Workshops* Our unique workshops aim at developing the writer's sense of self and learning how to use media effectively. *Workshop #1 Pathways for the Writer’s Success* *with Kofi Forson* The creative process of writing starts when the writer recognizes his / her personal and cultural history. Everything begins when the writer identifies a literary voice through which the writing is expressed in detail. That is when the writer is able to tell the story. We will achieve the power of storytelling with review of written drafts and feedback from groups, and evaluate the writing process whether writing an op-ed, press release or creative story. In doing so, we bridge a gap between the creative process and career development of a writer. The objective then is to map out an audience for marketing the writing and seek publishing with help of research and dialogue. *What will you learn from this workshop?* - Develop a unique creative process for writing any genre of writing - Identify writing skills and career opportunities in publishing - Resist bias and build a successful literary career with diverse writing practices - Use basic public relations and become critics and experts in media *Bio*: Kofi Forson is a writer, poet and playwright living in New York City. His blog, *Black Cocteau*, presents a mixture of philosophy and art on modern culture. Kofi Forson also writes for *Whitehot* *Magazine*. In his writings, he aims at sharing his inspirations and advice for artistic and literary treatments of cultural figures and artifacts in popular culture. *Workshop #2* *Creativity as a Cognitive Tool: Writing as a Reflexive Process* *with Andrea Marshall* This workshop will demonstrate interventions designed to assist writers throughout the process of prewriting, drafting, and editing various types of projects. Creativity can be harnessed and refined into a cognitive and critical tool that allow us to find our unique voices as writers, through scientific methods that produce tangible and viable results as we proceed with writing projects. Reflexivity is an approach to writing that promotes the finding of our individual voices as writers, through the application of innovative problem solving techniques including peer review. Creativity promotes sensitivity to others’ perspectives, and collaboration supports innovation during the writing process. This workshop will feature hands on exercises created to bring the writing process out of isolation and into contemporary multimodal approaches that construct new ways of understanding writing as procedural knowledge that includes the transparency of process. *This workshop will feature activities that will:* - Allow writers to become more comfortable unpacking large writing projects into manageable and - discrete tasks. - Assist writers to use tools such as the Pomodoro Technique and Peer Review to workshop existing - drafts. - Instruct writers on how to use prewriting exercises to apply strategic planning to writing projects. - Discuss open source and free resources for writers that exist on the Internet. - Support the approach of writing as connecting, through multimodal media tools that allow writers - to communicate, collaborate, and create new projects with a sense of community. *Bio*: Andrea Marshall’s interdisciplinary work seeks to understand how informal learning environments support the construction of gendered expertise in sociotechnical contexts. She aims at creating value sensitive educational practices that synthesize new approaches to skill building and nonlinear learning processes, in order to better comprehend how we can create innovative pedagogical approaches that support diversity in terms of both varied gender expressions and multivalent learning styles. WaterHill Publishing aims at publishing books and periodicals that: - raise provocative questions and propose innovative solutions - bridge gaps between theories and practice - lead to personal and social change Our authors are both emergent and established inspirational thought leaders who bring forth provocative and actionable ideas. *Conference Chair*: Saul Courrier *Conference Committee*: Ashley Barthes, Kofi Forson and Andrea Marshall *Conference URL*: http://www.waterhillpublishing.com/events/nycconf2017.html *Twitter:* @whpublishing <http://www.twitter.com/whpublishing> #WH2017 ******************* The German Studies Call for Papers List Editor: Sean Franzel Assistant Editor: Olaf Schmidt Sponsored by the University of Missouri Info available at: https://grs.missouri.edu/german/resources