The Fan Studies Network

The politics and law of Doctor Who

 Symposium Announcement and First Call for Papers

 Friday 5^th September 2014

University of Westminster

Doctor Who is the BBC’s longest-running drama television series and the world’s longest-running science fiction series.  The massive public attention devoted to the show’s 50^th anniversary and to its choice of new lead actor confirms that the programme merits serious academic attention.  Politics, law and constitutional questions often feature prominently in Doctor Who stories, whether in the form of the Time Lords’ guardianship of the universe, the Doctor’s encounters with British Prime Ministers, or the array of governance arrangements in Dalek society.   The show’s politics is also an adventure through time, from the internationalising moralism of the Barry Letts-Terrance Dicks years, the dark satire of Andrew Cartmel’s period as script editor and the egalitarianism of the Russell T. Davies era.  Yet the politics and law of Doctor Who have yet to be the subject of wide-ranging scholarship.  Proposals for 20 minute papers are therefore invited for a symposium on 5^th September 2014, to be held in the University of Westminster’s historic Regent Street building just metres away from BBC headquarters.  Possible subjects for papers might include, but are by no means limited to:

• Doctor Who’s ideology
• The Doctor’s political morality
• Comparison of politics of Doctor Who with politics of other science fiction
• The merits/demerits of Harriet Jones as Prime Minister
• Doctor Who and devolution
• Portrayals of British sovereigns in Doctor Who
• Doctor Who’s politics of class, gender and sexuality
• Fan responses to “political” Doctor Who stories
• International law, intergalactic law and non-interference
• Globalisation and corporate domination
• Satire in Doctor Who
• Politics and law in audio adventures, comic books and novels
• War crimes and genocide
• The politics of UNIT and Torchwood
• The will of villains to secure power
• Political history and political nostalgia in Doctor Who
• Doctor Who’s construction of British national identity

Abstracts should be 250 words in length, and should be accompanied by a 100-word biography of the author.  Abstracts should be sent to nicold@wmin.ac.uk – deadline for receipt of abstracts 17 January 2014.

Call for Papers: Producers and Audiences

International Conference

Media and Communication Research, Lund University, Sweden, March 20th 2014.Organisers Professor Annette Hill, Dr Tina Askanius, Joanna Doona and Carolina Martinez.

Media production and culture are intricately connected. Producers create, produce, distribute and sell content, formats and brands for international audiences.  We engage and disengage with creative content, formats and brands, as publics, viewers, listeners, fans, consumers and participants. And media producers and audiences can switch roles, leading a double life as creators and consumers, producers and users. Yet despite these connections, production and audience studies traditionally remain separate spheres. Recent developments in the business of media and cultural industries highlight shifts in production, distribution, economics and cultural experiences across a range of content from television, film, radio, music, print, digital and mobile media. How can production and audience research allow space for broader questions about culture and our engagement with it? This conference explores challenges for production and audience research, theory and practice. The aim is to examine the complex interplay between production and culture in global, political, industrial and social contexts.

The conference follows three areas of enquiry in media, communication and cultural studies: relations between producers and audiences; theories, methods and practices; and creative content for contemporary mediascapes. Areas of research enquiry include:

1.     Political, social, economic and cultural relations between producers and audiences

2.     Production and audience theories, methods and practices

3.     Empirical research in production and/or culture across diverse genres and content, including television, film, radio, music, print, digital and mobile media

4.     Fans and anti-fans

5.     International formats for global audiences

The schedule includes a combination of keynote addresses, pre-constituted panels, and open panels. Confirmed speakers include Professor John Corner (Leeds University, UK), Professor Peter Dahlgren (Lund University, Sweden), Julie Donovan (International Formats Consultant), Professor Annette Hill (Lund University, Sweden) Professor Vicki Mayer (Tulane University, USA), Jane Roscoe (Head of International Content for SBS Australia), Professor Jeanette Steemers (University of Westminster, UK), Douglas Wood (Head of Research, Shine Group).

Please submit abstracts of 300 words in English by December 9th 2013 topac2014@kom.lu.se. For further information please consult our websitewww.kom.lu.se/pac2014. There is a registration fee of 650 SEK (70 Euros) that covers food and drink for the day and an evening buffet.