The Drum Beat 521 - ØRECOMM C4D Research
This issue includes:
- What is ØRECOMM?
- RESEARCH PROJECTS: media and democracy; fiction and social change; social and political AIDS; E-E horizons; art and conflict transformation.
- POLL: Weigh in on SOCIAL NORMS and HIV/AIDS prevention.
- GLOCAL TIMES web-magazine.
- RESEARCH NETWORKS: examining media and C4D; supporting PhDers; exploring the role of media, communication, and popular culture in Africa.
- A growing set of C4D-related PUBLICATIONS.
- Sustainability: Please engage as a CI ASSOCIATE.
- TRAINING: open seminars and Master's courses.
- Partnership on CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY.
This issue of The Drum Beat examines an academically-based research group set up to examine the nature and character of social innovation, communication, and change. Through training, research projects, partnerships, networks, and related publications, this group aims to significantly "contribute to qualifying the strategic communicative response to major development challenges of our time."
For more research-specific and research-focused information on The CI website, please click here.
ØRECOMM
ØRECOMM, the Consortium for Communication and Glocal Change, is an international research group that originated at Malmö University (MAH) and Roskilde University (RUC) for research in the field of Communication for Development and Social Change. ØRECOMM focuses on the relations between media, communication, and social change processes at both global and local levels. ØRECOMM explicitly recognises and seeks to explore and understand the interconnectedness between change processes in the Øresund region - a geographical and economic region comprising Southern Sweden and Eastern Denmark, where MAH and RUC are located - and in the world at large.
For more information, see the ØRECOMM website Or contact Oscar Hemer at oscar.hemer@mah.se or Thomas Tufte at ttufte@ruc.dk
For more information about Malmö University, School of Arts and Communication, click here.
And specifically about the Malmö University Communication for Development Master Course, click here.
For more information about Roskilde University, Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies, click here.
And specifically about the Roskilde University Communication Studies Programme, click here.
ØRECOMM RESEARCH PROJECTS
1. Media, Empowerment and Democracy in East Africa (MEDIeA)
MEDIeA is a 2009-2012 collaborative research programme between Denmark, Kenya, and Tanzania. Its overall objective is to explore the potential role of civil society-driven media and communication technologies in enhancing participatory governance processes in East Africa, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania. The programme is hosted by ØRECOMM at RUC's Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies.
For more information, see the MEDIeA website and the MEDIeA Programme Presentation [PDF] (September 2009): click here.
For more information about MEDIeA, contact Thomas Tufte at ttufte@ruc.dk
2. Fiction's Truth: Fiction as a Means of Exploration and a Vehicle for Social Change
Fiction's Truth is a 3-year project of 'artistic research', supported by the Swedish Research Council, examining and comparing the role of (mainly literary) fiction in the transitional processes of the last decades in South Africa and Argentina. The project discusses fiction and its claim on truth in relation to journalism and academic writing, seeking to identify literary and fictional strategies that consciously transgress the genre boundaries, in a deliberate attempt to achieve and communicate a deeper understanding of reality.
For more information, contact Oscar Hemer at Oscar.Hemer@mah.se
3. The Social and Political Aspects of AIDS Working Group
A grassroots initiated, Ugandan-based network on the Social and Political Aspects of AIDS in Uganda, this working group hosts seminars, workshops, and courses with key actors in the HIV/AIDS field (programme implementers/managers, activists and researchers - both local and international) drawn from a broad spectrum of disciplines: medical, public health, social and political sciences, anthropology, and education. The network is a forum bringing together a range of experts to share their experiences, think of best practices, and explore how best to make research findings policy relevant.
For information on this Working Group, click here.
To join the network and/or for additional information, contact Lisa Richey at richey@ruc.dk
4. New Directions in Entertainment-Education
This is a collaborative research project between researchers at Roskilde University, Denmark, and Ohio University, USA aiming to review and discuss 'the known story' of entertainment-education (E-E), including reviewing both its theory and its practice, identifying recent critique of the field, and providing options for further theoretical developments and an improved practice in the pursuit of tackling contemporary development challenges. This project is embedded in broader institutional collaboration between ØRECOMM and Ohio University’s ComDev programme.
For more information, contact Thomas Tufte at ttufte@ruc.dk or Rafael Obregón at obregon@ohio.edu
5. Art for Social Change: Public Memory and Conflict Transformation
This project explores the conceptual and spatial strategies of a range of memorial projects and sites, focusing on the potential of the various projects and monuments to involve the public in a continuous engagement with the past and the present. Additionally, work addresses issues of memory, dream, and social transformation in selected television fiction drama series.
For more information, contact Anders Hög Hansen at anders.hog-hansen@mah.se
Please VOTE in The CI's HIV/AIDS poll:
From your regional context and perspective, which should be the priority focus for social norm change related to HIV/AIDS prevention?
A focus on...:
- Male Circumcision
- One Sexual Partner
- Condom Use
- Knowledge of One's HIV Status
- Stigma
- Rights
VOTE and COMMENT click here.
~
RESULTS as of December 4:
A focus on...
29%: Condom Use
22%: One Sexual Partner
20%: Knowledge of One's HIV Status
16%: Stigma
9%: Rights
4%: Male Circumcision
WEB MAGAZINE
6. Glocal Times
Originally entitled "Globala Tider" when launched by Malmö University's Master in Communication for Development in May 2005, this web magazine focused on communication for development was renamed "Glocal Times" in June 2006. The web magazine publishes papers from academics and researchers, articles from experienced practitioners, and the work of graduates from Malmö University's Master in Communication for Development. The 13 issues published between May 2005 and November 2009 are freely available online and include 100 contributions by 89 contributors. "Glocal Times" is included in the list of open access journals hosted by the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). Currently, the web magazine is being published biannually.
For the current issue, please click here.
For an archive of past issues, click here.
ØRECOMM-RELATED NETWORKS
7. Glocal NOMAD
Hosted by ØRECOMM, the Glocal Network on Media and Development (NOMAD) aims to establish an organised setting for research-based knowledge production and dissemination in the field of media and communication for development. Its purposes are to:
- encourage research in the field of communication for development by formulating joint cross-institutional research proposals in collaboration with international partners at a Nordic, European, and transnational level.
- internationalise research study results.
- engage with both national and international organisations in the field to influence policies and practices in media and communication for development.
The network has been granted support by Denmark's Research Council for Culture and Communication to strengthen the Danish component of ØRECOMM between 2009 and 2011. Malmö University in Sweden is already a part of the network, and a further expansion within Sweden is expected to follow shortly, to include Karlstad University and Örebro University.
For more information, see "Glocal NOMAD Proposal for Research Network/Internationalisation" [PDF]: click here.
8. PhD Net
Hosted by ØRECOMM, PhD Net is global and open to PhD students worldwide researching within the field of communication for development and social change and/or connecting fields. To date, the network has 40 members representing a wide range of countries, universities, and research interests. Envisioned as a knowledge-sharing platform, the network serves as a site for academic debate and collaboration among PhD students worldwide, and a point of connection with the wider constituency of ØRECOMM members. In August 2009, PhD Net organised a panel on Health Communication for the "Media, Globalisation and Social Change" Division of the NordMedia09 Conference, held in Karlstad, Sweden. In September 2009, members of the network participated in the PhD course "Participatory governance, civic inclusion and community empowerment: the role of mediated communication initiatives" organised by the Danish National Research School for Media, Communication, and Journalism (FMKJ).
For more information about PhD Net on the ØRECOMM website, click here.
To join the network contact Johanna Stenersen at johanna.stenersen@oru.se
9. The Nordic Research Network for Media, Communication and Popular Culture in Africa
Hosted by The Nordic Africa Institute based in Uppsala, Sweden, this network focuses on the role of media, mediated communication, and mediated popular culture in African societies. Such role has grown significantly in the past years as a result of political, economic, and social development leading to deregulation of the media, market liberalisation, and both commercialisation and democratisation of the airwaves. The network has a particular focus on youth, and the role of media, communication, and popular culture as a strategic site for interventions, with the objective of influencing both behaviour change and social change.
For more information about this network, click here.
PUBLICATIONS AUTHORED/EDITED BY ØRECOMM MEMBERS
10. Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development
This anthology, co-edited by Thomas Tufte, Professor at Roskilde University, Denmark, and Oscar Hemer, Professor at Malmö University, Sweden, both co-founders and co-directors of ØRECOMM, explores the potential of communication both as a tool and as a strategy to articulate processes of development and social change, empowering people to improve their own lives and those of their communities. The aim of "Media & Glocal Change" is to contribute to the critical reflection about how communication works in processes of change within the context of globalization.
For more information, click here.
11. Youth Engaging With the World: Media, Communication and Social Change
The eleventh yearbook of The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media, co-edited by Thomas Tufte, Professor at Roskilde University, Denmark, and co-founder/co-director of ØRECOMM and Florencia Enghel, Ph.D. candidate at Karlstad University, Sweden, and editor of Glocal Times, explores theoretical assumptions as well as empirical evidence of media and information literacy in action, and gathers examples of how youth in developing countries are using their skills to bring about change. Through its contributors, the yearbook opens the agenda to non-Western thought and intercultural approaches influencing media culture.
For more information, click here.
12. Brand Aid: Celebrities, Consumption and Development
Co-authored by Lisa Richey, Professor at the Department of International Development Studies at Roskilde University and a member of ØRECOMM, and Stefano Ponte, Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies (DIIS), this book is a political economy of culture study examining Product (RED), branding, aid, consumption, and celebrity. The book will be published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2010.
For previously published background articles, please see:
- "Better (RED)™ than dead? Celebrities, consumption and international aid"
- "Bono's Product (RED) initiative: Wedding hard commerce and corporate social responsibility"
13. Participatory Communication: A Practical Guide
Written by Thomas Tufte, Professor at Roskilde University and co-founder/co-director of ØRECOMM, and Paolo Mefalopulos, and published by the World Bank, this guide seeks to provide perspectives, tools, and experiences on participatory communication as a strategy of relevance and utility for development workers. Designed for government officials, World Bank staff, and civil society, the guide places the practitioner debate about participatory communication within a conceptual framework and provides an introduction to the use of a participatory communication approach to specific development projects.
For more information, click here.
14. Directory of Communication for Development and Social Change Master Theses
On the ØRECOMM website there is a comprehensive online listing of Master Theses by graduates from Roskilde University and Malmö University from 1997 to 2008, including titles, authors, and abstracts - and allowing download, when available.
To access this listing, click here.
The CI Partners seek the engagement of your office as a CI Associate in order to preserve, sustain, and advance this growing knowledge sharing and strategic development process. Please consider within your organisation the possibility of supporting The CI's work through the CI Associates process.
For details and to sign up, please click here. Also, please see Warren Feek's note in The Drum Beat 501. Thank you.
ØRECOMM-RELATED TEACHING
15. Master in Communication for Development
Taught by Malmö University, Sweden, this web-based Master-level course (60 ECTS) is aimed at enhancing the professional training of media, communication, and development practitioners worldwide. Participants, teachers, and technical staff interact in the learning environment offered by the Master's curricula and webzone. The potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for teaching and learning is at the centre of the curricula, and new web-based functions are constantly developed in order to minimise the gap between In Real Life (IRL) and online participation of students.
For more information, click here.
16. ØRECOMM Open Seminar Series
Since October 2008, ØRECOMM has hosted a series of open seminars presenting the work and views of relevant figures in the field of Communication for Development and Social Change. Paolo Mefalopulos (former Senior Communication Officer of the World Bank's Development Communication Division), Alfonso Gumucio Dagron (former Director of Programs of the Communication for Social Change Consortium), and Karin Wilkins (Professor and Researcher, University of Texas at Austin) have been some of the guest lecturers to date.
For more information on these and other open seminars, click here.
17. Master Course: Audience Studies in Communication/Epistemologies, Theories and Methodologies
What is audience studies about? How do we conceive of audiences in times of media convergence, interactivity, and 'prosumer'-oriented discourse in recent scholarship? Why is it important to carve out audience studies as a particular field? What purposes do audience studies serve today, and how do we conduct audience studies? This course, taught by Professor Thomas Tufte at Roskilde University, introduces the different epistemological interests that drive different types of audience studies, and explores two lines of audience studies in depth, providing case-based insight into the multiplicity of methods available: reception studies and media ethnography.
For a syllabus of this course, click here.
ØRECOMM, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND FOOD SECURITY
18. The ComDev Capacity Building Partnership
This is a collaborative project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)'s Communication for Sustainable Development Initiative (CSDI) and ØRECOMM. The Partnership aims at developing a capacity building project focused on providing training and on facilitating learning, sharing, and the exchange of technical, academic, and practical knowledge and skills. It aims to improve and enhance development in the context of the challenges brought on by climate change and threats against food security. The project is currently being developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders - universities, research centers, and communication networks based in developing countries, Europe, and the United States. Networking among institutions in the North and partners in the South is a key component of the initiative.
For more information, click here or contact Mario Acunzo at Mario.Acunzo@fao.org or Thomas Tufte at ttufte@ruc.dk
For more information on ØRECOMM, see the ØRECOMM website or contact Oscar Hemer at oscar.hemer@mah.se or Thomas Tufte at ttufte@ruc.dk
This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Florencia Enghel, Ph.D. candidate at Karlstad University and Editor of Glocal Times.
The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to The CI's Editorial Director - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
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