Three-D Issue 31: MeCCSA 2020: Media Interactions and Environments
Ewan Kirkland & Julie Doyle
The University of Brighton’s School of Media is delighted to have been chosen to host the MeCCSA annual conference from 8-10th January 2020. The School comprises a broad spectrum of media and communication subjects, from photography and film studies, to television production and sound arts, to digital games and virtual reality. As well as hosting three interdisciplinary research centres on digital culture, spatial and environmental politics, and gender and sexuality, the School enjoys many productive connections with local creative, educational and cultural partners across the city of Brighton & Hove.
Under the theme of ‘Media Interactions and Environments’ the organisers aim to draw together scholars and practitioners from a range of disciplines and practices. This conference will approach the theme of media interactions and environments in an expansive sense. Interactions might be digital, cultural, emotional, ethical and imaginative. Environments can be spatial, political, urban, rural, local and ecological. This conference theme will enable the MeCCSA community to question how we live ethically and responsibly in a climatically and politically changing world, through an exploration of the central role of media cultures and creative practices in addressing socio-ecological challenges. Our aim is to stimulate discussion and debate about the profound recent shifts which have occurred in the way in which we live with, describe and analyse media practices, technologies and subjects.
Led by Dr Ewan Kirkland, the conference team from the School of Media have been busy collaborating on possible roundtable discussions and workshops. Current suggestions include events on critical and creative responses to the Anthropocene, climate communication, young people and online cultures, the future of photography, media ecologies, and transformations in media exhibition and delivery. The conference team intend to release the conference call-for-papers in early spring 2019.
The School of Media campus is within easy distance of many iconic Brighton landmarks, including the Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton Lanes, the Palace Pier and the beach. The team is hoping to incorporate walking tours, archive visits, as well as the standard pub quiz, into the event, so delegates get to enjoy everything the city has to offer.
We look forward to welcoming you in Brighton for MeCCSA 2020!