Tracing New/Media/Feminisms

Media-N, Journal of the New Media Caucus, is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the 2013 Spring Edition, guest edited by Juliet Davis and Stephanie Tripp and entitled “Tracing New/Media/Feminisms.”

TIMELINE
- November 26, 2012: Deadline for reception of abstracts/proposals.
- December 13, 2012: Notification of acceptance.
- February 3, 2013: Deadline for reception of final papers/artworks.

GUEST EDITORS
Juliet Davis and Stephanie Tripp

Media-N Editor-in-Chief
Pat Badani

TITLE OF THE EDITION

Tracing New/Media/Feminisms

THEME SUMMARY
This issue of Media-N attempts to trace ways new media continues to transform and extend feminist practice and thought.

DESCRIPTION:
As the Internet entered the popular imagination in the early 1990s, many strands of feminism engaged with new media to produce exciting critical and creative work described as cyberfeminism, techno-feminism, e-feminism, digital feminism, or a variety of other terms. Some feminists critiqued technological development as an extension of existing patriarchal systems, while others eschewed critique and instead playfully or defiantly utilized technology to author their own visions. With the World Wide Web now beginning its third decade, it’s time to reassess the work of these digital feminisms, to trace their genealogies and transformations, to explore their current manifestations, and to envision what forms and roles they may assume in the future. On one hand, many problems that prompted feminist interventions in new media two decades ago persist today and, in some cases, have intensified. [1] On the other hand, salient projects—many of them pushing the boundaries of new media art far into the realms of political activism and popular media forms—may serve as reminders of important goals established by early digital feminists or define new ones. Calls for reassessment already have arisen from scholars such as Mary Flanagan and Suyin Looui, who have looked for models beyond the definition of “‘classic’ cyberfeminist art” that nevertheless use new media to promote feminist aims. [2] It is the goal of this special issue to provide a forum for new thinking about new/media/feminisms: past, present, and future.

The editors encourage potential contributors to consider how feminist work in new media has changed over the past three decades, and to identify contemporary theories and practices that are reshaping perspectives in this field. How are artists rethinking or reintuiting feminism through contemporary art practices? How do these practices relate to or diverge from established feminist lineages? How have changes in new media technologies, such as the advent of mobile computing and social media, influenced feminist approaches to media?

The editors welcome creative and traditional formats of submissions that address new media feminisms, past and present.

Submissions may take the form of:
- artist’s statements and artwork
- manifestos or performance scripts
- critical discussions of exhibitions or select works
- case studies of artists, artworks, or collectives
- interviews of theorists/practitioners/critics
- historical survey essays
- theoretical works
- hybrid critical works
- and other forms

Possible subjects include:
- Artists’ perspectives on feminist influences in their own artwork
- Critical perspectives on new media content and/or uses.
- Responses to new media culture
- Curatorial perspectives on feminism in new media
- Art historical responses to feminism and new media

ABSTRACT GUIDELINES
Please send your submission proposal with the following information, by
email to: [email protected] AND [email protected] with 'Media-N
Submission' and your name(s) in the subject line.

Include your Email(s), Proposal Title, 300-500 word Proposal Description, up
to 3 page Resume, and your Title/Affiliation (the institution/organization
you work with if applicable, or independent scholar/practitioner.) Note:
submissions of artworks should also include a link to online documentation.

FINAL PAPER GUIDELINES:
All papers are to follow the Chicago Manual of Style 16th ed. Please check
out more details under Publication Guidelines, here:
http://www.newmediacaucus.org/wp/media-n-journal/guidelines/guidelines-for-g
uest-editors/

If you have questions about Media-N, please feel free to contact:
Pat Badani, Editor in Chief Media-N, Journal of the New Media Caucus
[email protected]

Media-N was established in 2005 to provide a forum for New Media Caucus
members, featuring their scholarly research, artworks and projects. The New
Media Caucus is a nonprofit, international membership organization that
advances the conceptual and artistic use of digital media. Additionally, the
NMC is a College Art Association Affiliate Society.
http://www.newmediacaucus.org/
http://www.newmediacaucus.org/wp/media-n-journal/
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1. Problems include limited or unequal opportunities for women in computing and information technology professions, relatively small numbers of young women seeking degrees in technology fields, repetitive gendered labor in technologized areas domestically and globally, exclusion from or discrimination within high-status workplace or leisure activities, gender-based cyberbullying, and pervasive sexual objectification in gaming and other popular technology-driven media.
2. Flanagan, Mary, and Suyin Looui. “Rethinking the F Word: A Review of Activist Art on the Internet.” NWSA Journal 19 (2007): 181-200.