Fifth International Conference On Media, Religion & Culture: Mediating Religion In The Context Of Multicultural Tension
The Sigtuna Foundation, Stockholm/Sigtuna/Uppsala, Sweden, 6-9 July 2006
Preliminary Program (Updated June 12)
Thursday, July 6
12:00-14:00 Registration and lunch
14:00-14:30 Welcome and Conference information, Alf Linderman, Conference director, Mia Lövheim, Assistant conference director
14:30-15:45 Plenary I: Sacred Symbols and Sacred Freedom – in the context of multicultural tension
Perspectives on the publication of the Mohammed caricatures:
Ahmed Abu Laban, Imam, Islamska trossamfundet, Copenhagen
Tim Jensen, Lecturer, University of Southern Denmark
Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, Journalist Expressen and DN, Sweden
Knut Lundby, Professor, Media and Communication, University of Oslo
Moderator: Alf Linderman, Uppsala University/The Sigtuna Foundation, Sweden.
15:45-16:15 Coffee and Tea
16:15-17:30 Parallel session A
(1)Panel: Implications of the Sacred in Nordic Media and Religion Studies
Moderator: Johanna Sumiala-Seppänen, Helsinki University, Finland
Panelists: Stig Hjarvard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Titus Hjelm Helsinki University, Finland
Jeanette Sky University of Trondheim, Norway
Knut Lundby University of Oslo, Norway
Mia Lövheim Uppsala University, Sweden
(2) Paper Session: Media and Society
European Public Broadcasting, Religion and Diversity. Jim McDonnell, SIGNIS, World Catholic Association for Communication, UK.
Mass Media and Religion and Cultural Universalia. Dobrinka Peicheva, SWU, Neofit Rilsky, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
The Use and Misuse of Media in Building Religious Affiliations in India. Jacob Srampickal, Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Communications, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy.
Communication Patterns of Behaviors and Religious Affiliations as Predictors of the Romanians’ Attitudes Towards the Country’s Integration in the European Union. Valentina Marinescu, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest, Romania.
Chair: Ester Pollack, Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, Stockholm University.
(3) Paper Session: Religious Media/Religion in Media
Israeli Rabbis & the Media, Yoel Cohen, School of Communications, Netanya Academic College, Department of Communication, Lifshitz Religious Education College, Jerusalem, Holon Academic Institute of Technology, Israel.
Religious Media in Romania: Pluralism or Monopoly? Oana Romocea, International Institute for Communications Excellence, Oxford, UK.
Religion in the Process of Democracy Building in Poland, Maria Marczewska-Rytko, Faculty of Political Science, Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Lulin, Poland.
Impact of Islamic Resurgence on the Management of Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM), Zulkiple Abd Ghani, Department of Dakwah and Leadership Studies, National University of Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
The Construction of Religious Group Image Through the Media. The Role of Advertising, Satellite Broadcasting and Videos in the Image Strategy of Agonshu.
Erica Baffelli, Hosei University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Chair: Adan Merano, JM Communication, Houston, USA.
18:00-19:00 Welcome reception
19:00 Dinner
21:00 Film
Så som i himmelen (2004) 127 minutes, aka “As in Heaven”
Introduction: Tomas Axelson, Dalarna University, Uppsala University
Friday, July 7
07:30-08:45 Breakfast
09:00-10:15 Plenary II: Media and Ritual
Nick Couldry, Reader in Media, Communications and Culture, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics
Daniel Dayan, Fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, Professor of Media Sociology at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
Moderator: Johanna Sumiala Seppänen, Helsinki University, Finland
10:15-10:45 Coffee and Tea
10:45-12: 00 Parallel Session B
(4) Paper Session: New Media I
Mediatizing faith, Knut Lundby & Birgit Hertzberg Kaare, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, Norway.
Texting God: SMS and Religion in the Philippines, Anthony G Roman, FABC office of Social Communication, University of Santo Tomas, Manilla, Philippines.
Who is a Sikh? Colonial and Contemporary Media Constructions of Sikh Identity, Doris R. Jakobsh, Department of Religious Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Chair: Anders Sjöborg, Sociology of Religion, Faculty of Theology, Uppsala University
Religious Quality of Popular Music. Thomas Feist, Landesjugendpfarramt Sachsen & Musicology, University of Leipzig, Germany.
Mediating the Religious Divide in Nigeria through Gospel Music. Walter C. Ihejirika, Centre for the Study of African Culture and Communication, Catholic Institute of West Africa.
The Role of the Internet in the Construction of a Trans-national Christian Metal Music Scene. Marcus Moberg, Comparative Religion, Åbo Akademi University, Finland.
Allah as Entertainment. Spreading Black American Islamic Faith through Hip-hop. Marius Lien, University of Oslo, Norway.
Chair: Andreas Häger, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
(6) Paper Session: Film and Religion
Female Messiahs and the Question of Religious Power, Sofia Sjö, Comparative Religion, Åbo Akademi University.
Movies, Mind and Meaning - Studying Audience and Favorite Films, Tomas Axelson, Media and Communication Studies Dalarna University/Sociology of Religion, Uppsala University.
Negotiating a Place to Stand: Biculturalism, Religiosity and Maori Film in Aoteroa/New Zeeland, Ann Hardy, Department of Screen and Media Studies, University of Waikato, Hamilton New Zeeland.
Relations Between Jews and Non-Jews in Contemporary European Films and Societies, Stephanie Knauss, Institut für Fundamentaltheologie, University of Graz.
Chair: Arni Svanur Danielson, Systematic Theology, University of Iceland.
(7) Panel: Religion and Media at National Borders and Boundaries
Islam in British Media: the Case of Documentaries, Hossein Godazgar, Department of Social Sciences, University of Tabriz, Iran.
Breaking Through the Border: Viewing Current U.S. Border Policy through an Analysis and History of the U.S. / Mexico Border Wall. Cari Skogberg Eastman, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Colorado.
Being A Non-Muslim in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Media Consumption, Meaning, and Religion among Young Iranians - Morehshin Allahyari, Teheran University.
The consumption of Iranian and Armenian satellite TVs by Iranian-Armenians, Loosineh Markarian, Teheran University, Iran.
Chair: Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Colorado at Boulder.