Academics
Institute for Media Training and Research
Call for Papers
Arab Popular Culture Conference April 20-23
The Institute for Media Training and Research at the Lebanese American University in Beirut is holding an interdisciplinary conference on “Arab Popular Culture and the Media” on April 20-23, 2010.
Conference organizers welcome contributions from scholars, journalists, musicians, artists, graphic designers, and all those interested in the subject.
In the last 20 years, the expansion of the middle class, the exceptional growth of pan-Arab media and particularly television, and the introduction of Western forms of mass popular culture have all considerably challenged, and changed the Arab World. These developments have not been accompanied by any significant academic interest. Many Arab intellectuals continue to look at popular culture with derision while Western scholars have mostly focused their attention on the political repercussions of the media boom.
This conference aims to focus attention on the significant developments in popular urban culture in such areas – but not exclusively – as music, cinema, sports, and fashion.
We also expect that some of the papers presented will explore the relation of media, in all of its forms, to popular culture, and will examine the limits and significance of the popular in the context of the international.
Those interested in participating should send panel suggestions or an abstract of less than 250 words no later than February 5, 2010. They will be notified within a week from receipt of their abstracts.
Among the suggested possible themes to be explored are:
- The revolution in Arab popular music
- Popular music and identity
- Nation and popular culture
- Histories of popular culture
- The theater and popular culture
- Collectors and collecting
- Universities and popular culture
- Popular culture and elitism
- The business of popular culture
- Film and popular music
- Television and popular culture
- The internet as popular culture
- Tarab, Jazal, and other forms
- Abdel Halim, Umm Kalthum and Abdel Wahab or Ahmad Adawyia
- Haifa Wehbe, Nancy Ajram and Rola Saad
- Racial issues in popular culture
- Popular street art
- Female and/or male narratives in the popular culture
- Students and popular culture
Speakers should note that they will have no more than 20 minutes to present their papers. However, a full version of their paper will be made available to all participants and posted on the LAU conference website.
There will be a registration fee of $100, and $60 for students. It will cover, among other things, three lunches at the university and one diner off campus.
Special arrangements will be available to participants at a number of hotels near the LAU campus. More information will follow soon.
All correspondence regarding the conference should be addressed to
Dr. Ramez Maluf
rzmaluf@lau.edu.lb
+961 3 805 952