Athens, Ga. – An upcoming symposium at the University of Georgia aims to make sense of what television has become in the era of mobile, digital communications, and what it should aspire to be.
Titled “Generation(s) of Television Studies,” the day-long symposium takes place April 12 at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.
Featured symposium presenters include Thomas Schatz, University of Texas at Austin, David Thorburn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; James Hay, University of Illinois; Amanda Lotz, University of Michigan; Jeffrey P. Jones, Old Dominion University; and Alisa Perren, Georgia State University. These paper presentations will be held from 2:30-5 p.m. in Room 271 of Russell Special Collections Building with a reception afterwards.
Morning research workshops at the Grady College are for graduate students to talk about their work. To participate, graduate students can submit an abstract of their current research by March 1 at http://www.tvstudiesgenerations.wordpress.com.
“Today television shows are not only recordable, but downloadable, mobile and able to be viewed on tablets and phones,” said Jay Hamilton, symposium organizer and an associate professor of advertising at the Grady College. “The whole idea first formulated in the 1960s of what television is and how it should be studied is undergoing perhaps its greatest period of change ever, and the symposium starts to rethink television and its study.”
The symposium will also recognize Horace Newcomb for his contributions to the field of television studies. Newcomb, who will retire after the 2012-2013 school year, is director of the George Foster Peabody Awards, which have been administered by the Grady College since their inception in 1941. Newcomb helped in establishing the field of television studies in the early 1970s.
“The Grady College and the Peabodys have benefited in so many ways from
Dr. Newcomb’s extensive knowledge and experience,” Hamilton said. “For close to five decades, Dr. Newcomb has been regarded as the ‘dean’ of television studies by scholars throughout the world. The symposium presenters all are either long-standing colleagues or have been mentored by Dr. Newcomb, and thus are in a perfect position to also reflect upon his contributions.”
Attendance for the symposium is free, but pre-registration is required by April 5. For more information on the symposium and to register, see www.grady.uga.edu/tvsymposium.
Symposium sponsors include UGA’s Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Grady College, Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, departments of Theatre and Film Studies and Communication Studies, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Collection; Sage Publications; and the journal Television and New Media.
UGA Grady College
Established in 1915, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers undergraduate majors in advertising, public relations, journalism, digital and broadcast journalism and mass media arts. The college offers two graduate degrees and is home to the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, see www.grady.uga.edu or follow the Grady College on Facebook and @UGAGrady on Twitter.
