Seminar in Media and Political Theory: POPULISM April 13-14, 2017 - EV 11.705 (Concordia University)
We are pleased to announce the 2018 edition of the Seminar in Media and Political Theory. This year the theme is Populism, a topic that we have been exploring and discussing in the Global Emergent Media Lab (GEM Lab) reading group.
We will be hosting a group of media scholars who will be reflecting on contemporary politics, media and culture.
In the framework of the current global political scenario, the media have tried to raise concerns about “populism” by assembling under that label various and distinct movements and parties. In spite of the confusion created by the broad usage of the term, the concept of “populism” proves to be a challenging heuristic tool especially for the study of media. Therefore, the aim of this workshop will be to reconsider the term of populism, in the context of the present-day political climate, and to attempt to think of how different political projects and movements articulate the anxieties, desires, and tastes of the “people” into their discourses.
The Seminar in Media and Political Theory is an annual research workshop hosted by the Global Emergent Media (GEM) Lab at Concordia University. Each seminar brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to discuss key themes at the intersections of media and political theory. Many participants do not identify as either media theorists or political theorists—and indeed, this tension, what gets to constitute these fields, is part of the project of the seminar.
Each presenter is given a one-hour time slot (~25 minutes for presentation and ~35 minutes for group discussion). Readings will be circulated ahead of the event to registered participants.
**Registration required. To register email Giuseppe Fidotta giuseppe.fidotta@gmail.com
The workshop will take place in the Milieux Institute (EV Building, room 11.705 11th floor, at St Catherine and Rue Mackay)
SCHEDULE
Friday April 13th 13.00-13.15 Welcome by Joshua Neves (Concordia University) 13.15-14.00 Giuseppe Fidotta & Joaquin Serpe (Concordia University) – Opening remarks: Media Populism and Populist Media 14.00-15.00 Jason Pine (SUNY Purchase) – Populist Realisms and Counterfeit Aesthetics 15.30-16.30 Maria Corrigan (Concordia University) – New Media, Old Tricks: Russian Rooftops and Online Protest 16.30-17.30 Bhaskar Sarkar (University of California, Santa Barbara) – Futurities at the Border Saturday April 14th 11.00-12.00 Darin Barney (McGill University) – Telling their Stories: The Populist Subject of Prairie Agriculture 12.00-13.00 Bishnupriya Ghosh (University of California, Santa Barbara) – Image Operations in Europe's Migrant Crisis 14.30-15.30 Pat Brodie (Concordia University) – Stuck in the Mud in the Fields of Athenry: Protest, Populism, and Modular Corporate Governance 15.30-16.30 Kay Dickinson (Concordia University) – Manifestos: Popular History, Revolutionary Future 16.45-17.45 Dilip P. Gaonkar (Northwestern University) – Closing Remarks: Crowds and Riots