NRG are delighted to be supporting the following event:
Proposals are invited for papers (of 20 minutes length) considering the contemporary potential of reality television for an academic media conference held by The Media School in Bournemouth University, at Kimmeridge House on Talbot Campus. There will be no registration fees for accepted papers. Confirmed plenary speakers include:
- Professor Stella Bruzzi of the University of Warwick – author of New Documentary (Routledge 2006)
- Dr Deborah Jermyn, Reader at the University of Roehampton – co-editor of Understanding Reality Television (Routledge 2003)
- Professor Helen Wood of DeMontfort University – co-author of Reacting to Reality Television: Performance, Audience and Value (Routledge 2012) and co-editor ofReality Television and Class (Palgrave 2011)
The conference places a particular focus on issues of media convergence and narrative innovation. Proposals for the conference may involve a purely academic focus involving textual investigation, such as considering media narratives, representations, cultures and/or audiences. Also proposals are invited which might consider issues within creative practice or industry. A published edited collection is planned, to include a range of papers that will be presented at the event.
With the rise of reality television formats, which involve media convergent opportunities, such as connecting to mobile technologies, and involving increased distribution through web based downloading, alongside an increased interest and popularity in the use of scripted reality formats, this conference offers an innovative chance to share research interests, intersecting contemporary television, new media and narrative potentials.
General topics could include:
Convergent media technologies
Multiplatform textual innovations
Contemporary narrative forms
Realism and the hyper-real
Issues of identity
The politics of representation
Potentials for minority groups
Theories of intimacy and affect
As a small example, texts that could form possible case studies include:
Community celebrity: The Hills (MTV) – The Only Way is Essex (ITV)
Talent searches: The XFactor (ITV) – The Glee Project (Oxygen)
Relationships & dating: Playing in Straight (Channel 4) – Temptation Island (Fox)
Historical recreation: The 1900 House (Channel 4) – Pioneer Quest (CBC)
Personal makeover: The Swan (Fox) – Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo)
Food & domesticity: Come Dine with Me (Channel 4) – The Chew (ABC)
Education & otherness / addiction: The Undateables (Channel 4) Intervention (A & E)
Domestic audiences: Gogglebox (Channel 4)
Please send abstracts (of 200 words length) and a biography, indicating any technical requirements for the delivery of your paper, by Monday the 13th of May 2013 to Chris (cpullen@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Peri (pbradley@bournemouth.ac.uk )
Decisions will be made by Monday 20th May 2013
Registration and Costs: Details of registration processes will appear shortly at the following URL
http://buybu.bournemouth.ac.uk/Events/EventCatalogInfo.aspx