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MEDIA HISTORY FROM THE MARGINS  
CSF Summer Seminar at Monte Verità, Switzerland  
August 19-24, 2018  
Co-organized by the Universities of Lausanne and Luxembourg, and USI
Università della Svizzera Italiana

##### Keynote Speakers

- Weihong Bao, University of Berkeley
- Jérôme Bourdon, University of Tel Aviv
- Lisa Parks, MIT
- Trevor Pinch, Cornell University

The summer seminar aims to rethink media history from the margins and to
place at the center of our attention neglected, alternative, or censured
media texts, uses, and technologies. By shifting the discussion from
hegemonic actors, dominant institutions, and successful mass media to
the fringes of media history, it pursues the double objective of
rewriting media history into media histories, and of opening a space to
rethink historiographical practices and methods. The writing of marginal
histories is inseparable from a reflection on the modes of operation and
politics of historical writing: bringing together established and
emerging scholars, the seminar investigates what has been left over by
hegemonic mass media and hegemonic historical narratives.

[![](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-450x300.jpg){.alignleft
.size-large .wp-image-5024 loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="450"
height="300"
srcset="https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-450x300.jpg.webp 450w, https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-300x200.jpg.webp 300w, https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-140x93.jpg.webp 140w, https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-1536x1024.jpg.webp 1536w, https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-2048x1365.jpg.webp 2048w, https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378-1080x720.jpg.webp 1080w"
sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tina-rataj-berard-168378.jpg)Traditionally,
media history has been conceived as a 'grand narrative' of singular
media and national institutions: the 'birth' of cinema at the end of the
19th century and its subsequent 'coming of age' with the conversion to
talkies; the history of public broadcasters in European countries; the
dominance of post-war TV; and more recently the hegemony of digital
media. Given the importance of media for the construction and
consolidation of national mediascapes, media history has furthermore
received mostly attention from a national angle, notwithstanding the
importance of transnational communication in a globalized world.

More recent historiography has challenged these narratives by
highlighting the importance of transnational circulations and
intermedial relations. Instead of studying singular media within
national boarders, it focuses on the "entanglement" of actors,
practices, and technologies approached from the perspective of dynamic
relationships and interdependences. Building upon this scholarship, the
seminar favors a multilayered perspective emphasizing transient media
experiences, material and conceptual hybridity, and marginal events.
More particularly, it proposes to critically reflect upon centers and
peripheries in media history: the expression 'from the margins' is
borrowed from postcolonial history exploring the peripheries of world
history in order to "de-center" Western histories, as well as to
stimulate a debate on history as a discipline. Here, rather than
retelling the past, history functions as an act of resistance countering
dominant narratives.

The seminar is structured in three sections expanding on three days, to
which is added a one-day graduate symposium. Titled Marginal Spaces,
Marginal Objects, Marginal Times, the thematic axes pay particular
attention to geographical and spatial, material and technological, and
historiographical aspects of marginal media histories.

- **Marginal Spaces** looks at media and communication realms located
  outside the axes of traditional media history, and below or beyond
  national actors or geographically situated objects. We look for papers
  that rewrite the geography of producers, users, and discourses, and
  that revisit the logic of center-periphery and of inside-outside
  mainstream media by focusing, for instance, on migrating media
  objects, or alternative and activist media. We wish to discuss
  organizations and media makers working outside dominant media
  structures and to study, for instance, media making in the scientific
  and military sphere.
- **Marginal Objects** analyzes the diversity of technologies for
  recording, reproducing, projecting, and storing sound and images, text
  and data at various historical conjunctures. Embracing concrete and
  imaginary devices, successful machines and forgotten gadgets, the
  papers consider a variety of sources that exceed the technical
  discourse and relocate media materialities within their social,
  political, and economic contexts. We look in particular for papers
  that present original media objects and technologies from the
  perspective of an intermedial and hybrid media history, and that take
  the singular dispositif as a starting point for a broader theoretical
  discussion. In other words, we are interested in marginal objects that
  help reframe our methodological and theoretical perspectives.
- **Marginal Times** emphasizes media histories from a longue durée
  perspective that pays attention to the long life of once "new media",
  and that looks at media practices in times of reconfiguration of the
  mass media ensemble. This section reconsiders "classic" periodizations
  in media history, and historically rethinks notions such as
  convergence or transmedia that structure current debates on
  contemporary media. It is interested in historical media and objects
  that "travel" across decades, and even centuries, acquiring new
  meanings and forms through such "time travel".  The notion of "times"
  finally refers to trends and "non-trends" in media history: which
  episodes or phases in media history have been neglected so far, and
  which disciplines or theoretical approaches might offer new
  perspectives in understanding media changes and continuities?

Situated on the top of a hill overlooking the lake of Lugano, the
location at Monte Verità is unique and offers a setting favorable for
exchange and discussion
([http://www.monteverita.org/en/24/conference-centre-monte-verita.aspx](http://www.monteverita.org/en/24/conference-centre-monte-verita.aspx){.moz-txt-link-freetext
target="_blank"}). We aim to take full advantage of this place to create
a space for collaboration and dialogue. Rather than being conceived as a
conference of one-way presentations, we consider the event as a
collective exploration of the fringes of our field.

In consequence, we are interested in contributions that associate
historical case studies with broader historiographical analysis, and
that think about their own margins and blind spots. We welcome papers
that address the overall theme by asking questions rather than giving
answers, and that include the audience from the start on. We further
look forward to proposals from scholars working outside the field of
media studies and whose research challenges our own work. Finally, we
encourage collaborative submissions that investigate innovative forms of
academic work, and that communicate in formats other than the
traditional talk.

##### Graduate Students Symposium

We invite Ph.D. students working on related topics to apply for the
one-day graduate symposium. Held on the first day of the event, the
graduate student workshop brings together Ph.D. students and seminar
participants, and aims at facilitating exchange between emerging and
established scholars on research-related issues. The graduate students
will pre-circulate a short paper related to their thesis, which will be
discussed in small groups. The discussion-based format of the workshop
allows for Ph.D. students to interact with participants and receive
concrete feedback on their research.

##### Organization

In order to create the best possible conditions for the summer seminar,
we require the presence of all participants during its entire
duration.  
The provisory program is as follows:

- Sunday, August 19: Arrival of participants
- Monday, August 20: Welcome event and Graduate Students Seminar
- Tuesday, August 21: Marginal Spaces
- Wednesday, August 22: Group discussions (morning); excursion
  (afternoon -- evening) Thursday, August 23: Marginal Objects
- Friday, August 24: Marginal Times, Conclusion, Departure of
  participants

##### Finances

The seminar is organized at the Conference Centre Monte Verità, Ascona,
Switzerland, the venue of choice for Congressi Stefano Franscini, the
international conference platform of ETH Zurich. It is generously
supported by the Congressi Stefano Franscini and the universities of
Lausanne and Luxembourg. For participants who may not be able to cover
their expenses via their universities, we may provide a stipend.

The costs are as follows:

- Full Board and Accommodation Single Room :     ca. 172.- / night /
  person
- Full Board and Accommodation Double Occupation : ca.  85.- / night /
  person

##### Organizers

François Vallotton and Anne-Katrin Weber, University of Lausanne

Gabriele Balbi, USI Università della Svizzera Italiana

Andreas Fickers, University of Luxembourg

##### Deadline for the summer seminar and the graduate student symposium

We look forward to abstracts of maximum 500 words and a short
bibliography until January 31, 2018. Participants will be notified by
March 1st, 2018. Please include in your message whether you apply for
financial assistance.

To apply for the graduate students symposium, we ask for a summary of
the doctoral thesis and a short abstract of the questions / topic /
primary sources you would like to discuss with the other participants.
The short input papers will be circulated beginning of August 2018.
Please include in your message whether you apply for financial
assistance.

Please submit your abstract including a short biographical note to
[Francois.Vallotton@unil.ch](mailto:Francois.Vallotton@unil.ch){.moz-txt-link-abbreviated
target="_blank"} and
[Anne-Katrin.Weber@unil.ch](mailto:Anne-Katrin.Weber@unil.ch){.moz-txt-link-abbreviated
target="_blank"}


MEDIA HISTORY FROM THE MARGINS CSF Summer Seminar at Monte Verità, Switzerland August 19-24, 2018 Co-organized by the Universities of Lausanne and Luxembourg, and USI Università della Svizzera Italiana Keynote Speakers Weihong Bao, University of Berkeley Jérôme Bourdon, University of Tel Aviv Lisa Parks, MIT Trevor Pinch, Cornell University  The summer seminar aims to rethink media history from the margins and to place at the center of our

Postagens de Rogue Scholar

CfP: Summer Seminar “Media History from the Margins” Aug 29-24, 2018 @ Monte Verità, Switzerland. Deadline: Jan 31, 2018.