Ewan Kirkland & Julie Doyle
University of Brighton
The MeCCSA 2020 Brighton conference planning team have been hard at work with the plans for the conference in January and are pleased to share some updates with everyone. The registration site launched back at the end of September and we’ve had a fantastic response, with around 160 delegates signed up to date.
As well as the launch of the registration, the Brighton team have been busy reviewing the paper submissions to ensure that the 2020 programme best accommodates the diverse and stimulating array of abstracts that we have received. In total over 300 paper submissions were processed for peer review, and the team have been collating the accepted papers and panels to build what promises to be a cohesive and engaging final programme, with panel sessions devoted to a wide range of themes, from Game of Thrones to VR and ER, and from Climate Change to Social Media.
In addition to Professor Sarah Kember and Professor Trine Syvertsen, we are delighted to welcome two more keynote speakers to the conference. Dr Deborah Gabriel is a pioneering scholar of racialized identities, counterhegemonic practice, and race and representation in media education, practice and popular culture. Based at Bournemouth University, she is the founder and director of Black British Academics, a network of scholar activists committed to tackling racial inequality in Higher Education and wider society. We also welcome Professor Jussi Parikka from the Winchester School of Art, an award-winning scholar whose research interests embrace the materiality of media culture, archaeologies of science, technology and art, and questions of cultural theory and environmental humanities.
We are pleased to announce that several new publishers have signed up for exhibitor opportunities. The University of Westminster Press, Palgrave MacMillan, Polity Press and Emerald Publishing will all have exhibitor tables at the conference, while several others, including Liverpool University Press and Edinburgh University Press, have partnered with the conference. The tea and coffee breaks will provide opportunities for delegates to interact with the publishers.
In line with the principles and ethos of MeCCSA, we have embedded sustainability within everything that we do. In addition to a range of panels and presentations addressing sustainability and climate issues, the conference organising team has committed to sustainability as a core value. There will be a drive to eliminate single-use materials, from hospitality to paperwork. Delegates will be provided with bamboo ecoffee cups and eco-friendly water bottles, and water fountains will be accessible throughout the campus. Conference ephemera will be kept to a minimum, and we will give delegates the choice to opt for an online programme over a paper one. We are striving to make this year’s MeCCSA the most sustainable yet.
Our social programme takes delegates on a journey through some of the city’s most popular landmarks, and is designed to give a flavour of Brighton’s unique culture and architectural heritage. We have organised something for every taste, from the laid-back comfort of the pub quiz to the splendour of the drinks reception in the Brighton Museum and Pavilion Gardens. Delegates will be guided through the historic Laines, famous for independent shops and eateries, while those attending the Gala dinner will enjoy the unique experience of dining 500 metres out to sea!
We greatly look forward to welcoming everybody to what promises to be a wonderful event here in Brighton. If anyone has any questions, please contact us through the conference email address at: meccsa2020@brighton.ac.uk