Andrew Salvati
2014-10-21 15:53:22 UTC
Colleagues,
I am seeking participants for the following ICA 2015 panel on the subject
of historical representation on television:
This panel seeks to examine how the past (broadly speaking) is packaged as
informational and educational content on international television, and to
assess the interrelated economic, social, and cultural contexts situating
the production of history television programming.
Commenting upon what he called a âboom in history in the media,â the
historian Richard J. Evans (2004) suggested that the apparent surge of
interest in the past at the turn of the twenty-first century can be traced
to factors including public alienation from increasingly specialized
academic history, to a hunger for personal pasts in the quest for
individual/collective identities, and to media companiesâ mining of
historical events in their drive for compelling narrative content. With
entire networks devoted to exploring the stories and dramas of the past â
not to mention its steady diet of documentaries, dramatic series,
retrospectives, commemoration specials, and re-runs â television has become
one of the most prominent mediums in which we view and interact with the
past.
Various historians, scholars, and practitioners (Cannadine, 2004; Taylor &
Downing, 2004; Edgerton, 2001) have debated the challenges and
possibilities presented by history television internationally. While most
of this work was published at least a decade ago, production of
historically themed content for television remains big business. With the
continued prominence in the field of the History Channel and the emergence
of its international subsidiaries, the success of period dramas like AMCâs *Mad
Men*, BBCâs *Downton Abbey*, genealogy shows like *Who do You Think you
Are?*, and ironic perspectives like *Drunk History*, or *The Great Martian
War*, the scholarly examination of this rich area of media culture sorely
needs updating.
This panel seeks to open an interdisciplinary conversation about history
television among a group of international scholars working at the
intersection of media and cultural studies, history, historiography, and
related fields. We shall discuss the ways in which history is made relevant
within a medium whose very âlivenessâ is typically oriented toward the
present, and how the past has become a setting in which to address
contemporary concerns and to negotiate identity. Moving beyond critiques of
factual accuracy, panelists will combine a concern for variously
authoritative or personalized modes of historical explanation with a
critical analysis of the ways in which the past on television is
interpreted within entertainment, public affairs, journalistic, or
commemorative formats. Special attention therefore, will be given to the
particularities of television as a medium for representing the past.
Papers that engage the 2015 conference theme âcommunication across the
lifespanâ in terms of history on television are particularly welcome.
Individual presentations might include, but are certainly not limited to:
*History Channel International and the Americanization of History*
*Historical Representations of Race, Gender, Sexuality on Television*
*Genealogy Programs*
*History of Diaspora on Television*
*Popular History and Academic Historiography*
*Retrospective/Anniversary Programming*
*History and Interactivity*
*Using History TV in the Classroom*
*History and Quality TV*
*History and Comedy*
*Prosthetic/Cultural/Public Memory Studies*
*Epistemologies of Television Documentaries*
*History as Escapism*
*Transmedia Histories*
*Personal History and Affect*
*History of the Body on Television*
*Historical Podcasting*
*Selling the Past*
*Aesthetics of Popular History*
*Broadcast Journalism and Historical Context*
If interested, please submit a 200-350 word abstract of your work to Andrew
J. Salvati at ***@gmail.com on or before 27 October 2014.
--
Andrew J. Salvati
Media Studies PhD Candidate
School of Communication and Information
Rutgers University
908.347.2290
=====
General list info and FAQ: http://comm.umn.edu/~grodman/cultstud.html
I am seeking participants for the following ICA 2015 panel on the subject
of historical representation on television:
This panel seeks to examine how the past (broadly speaking) is packaged as
informational and educational content on international television, and to
assess the interrelated economic, social, and cultural contexts situating
the production of history television programming.
Commenting upon what he called a âboom in history in the media,â the
historian Richard J. Evans (2004) suggested that the apparent surge of
interest in the past at the turn of the twenty-first century can be traced
to factors including public alienation from increasingly specialized
academic history, to a hunger for personal pasts in the quest for
individual/collective identities, and to media companiesâ mining of
historical events in their drive for compelling narrative content. With
entire networks devoted to exploring the stories and dramas of the past â
not to mention its steady diet of documentaries, dramatic series,
retrospectives, commemoration specials, and re-runs â television has become
one of the most prominent mediums in which we view and interact with the
past.
Various historians, scholars, and practitioners (Cannadine, 2004; Taylor &
Downing, 2004; Edgerton, 2001) have debated the challenges and
possibilities presented by history television internationally. While most
of this work was published at least a decade ago, production of
historically themed content for television remains big business. With the
continued prominence in the field of the History Channel and the emergence
of its international subsidiaries, the success of period dramas like AMCâs *Mad
Men*, BBCâs *Downton Abbey*, genealogy shows like *Who do You Think you
Are?*, and ironic perspectives like *Drunk History*, or *The Great Martian
War*, the scholarly examination of this rich area of media culture sorely
needs updating.
This panel seeks to open an interdisciplinary conversation about history
television among a group of international scholars working at the
intersection of media and cultural studies, history, historiography, and
related fields. We shall discuss the ways in which history is made relevant
within a medium whose very âlivenessâ is typically oriented toward the
present, and how the past has become a setting in which to address
contemporary concerns and to negotiate identity. Moving beyond critiques of
factual accuracy, panelists will combine a concern for variously
authoritative or personalized modes of historical explanation with a
critical analysis of the ways in which the past on television is
interpreted within entertainment, public affairs, journalistic, or
commemorative formats. Special attention therefore, will be given to the
particularities of television as a medium for representing the past.
Papers that engage the 2015 conference theme âcommunication across the
lifespanâ in terms of history on television are particularly welcome.
Individual presentations might include, but are certainly not limited to:
*History Channel International and the Americanization of History*
*Historical Representations of Race, Gender, Sexuality on Television*
*Genealogy Programs*
*History of Diaspora on Television*
*Popular History and Academic Historiography*
*Retrospective/Anniversary Programming*
*History and Interactivity*
*Using History TV in the Classroom*
*History and Quality TV*
*History and Comedy*
*Prosthetic/Cultural/Public Memory Studies*
*Epistemologies of Television Documentaries*
*History as Escapism*
*Transmedia Histories*
*Personal History and Affect*
*History of the Body on Television*
*Historical Podcasting*
*Selling the Past*
*Aesthetics of Popular History*
*Broadcast Journalism and Historical Context*
If interested, please submit a 200-350 word abstract of your work to Andrew
J. Salvati at ***@gmail.com on or before 27 October 2014.
--
Andrew J. Salvati
Media Studies PhD Candidate
School of Communication and Information
Rutgers University
908.347.2290
=====
General list info and FAQ: http://comm.umn.edu/~grodman/cultstud.html