Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences - Section for Mediality and Intermediality in Asian and African Societies

Until now, medialisation and transcultural communication have not really been regarded as important phenomena or analytical key concepts within Area or Islamic Studies. However, not only in so-called Western societies, but also in Asia, Africa and in the Arabspeaking region are mediated forms of communication becoming increasingly pervasive. The global diffusion of satellite television, the convergence of “old” and “new” media, various new forms of communication and interaction in the Web 2.0 era can be seen as exemplary for this development. Against this background, a committed and systematic involvement in these new areas of research seems mandatory for contemporary studies in Muslim societies and non-European regions.

The conference has a twofold aim: firstly, we would like to bring together researchers who work on media-related issues in contemporary Muslim societies and/or non-European contexts and discuss the state of research as well as theoretical and methodological questions. Secondly, and in addition to this interdisciplinary exchange, we would also like to create a new perspective for a transdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation between the aforementioned as well as other media researchers who are interested in global or non-European issues of media communication.

We think that there are a number of highly relevant approaches and categories that could be borrowed from Media and Communication Studies and applied most productively to our areas of research, such as transcultural communication, (transnational) public spheres, (transnational) media events, media systems and global media capitalism, medialised religious authority and de-territorialization, qualitative audience research, history of media and medialisation, intermediality and media convergence. The conference will be held in German and English (without translation).