Semiosis in Communication: New Challenges of Multimodality in the Digital Age
Bucharest, Romania
22-24 June 2023
The fourth edition of the International Conference Semiosis in Communication: New Challenges of Multimodality in the Digital Age will be organized by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania (SNSPA), through the Applied Semiotics and Communication Lab (ASCL) – affiliated to the Centre for Research in Communication (CRC) of the Communication and Public Relations Faculty, FCRP, SNSPA – in participation with:
SemioLab – Semiotics Laboratory affiliated with Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (Greece);
Southeast European Center for Semiotic Studies (SEECSS) at New Bulgarian University (NBU), Sofia (Bulgaria);
Semiotics and Visual Communication Research Lab at Cyprus University of Technology;
The Department of Communication and Public Relations from the Faculty of Philosophy and Social-Political Sciences at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Iaşi (RO);
Romanian Association of Semiotic Studies (ROASS) and under the auspices of the International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS-AIS).
This conference explores the role of semiosis in communication. Objects of interdisciplinary knowledge par excellence, semiotics, and communication are complementary ways of world mastery, of the big game, just like Solomon Marcus (2011) would say. The main objective of the International Conference Semiosis in Communication is to emphasize the importance of semiotic type queries in the communication sciences and to stimulate the exchange of ideas in these fields and areas of academic research. The main theme proposed for this fourth edition of the international conference Semiosis in Communication is New Challenges of Multimodality in the Digital Age and focuses on the new challenges of multimodality in communication, arising from the current digital ecosystem. Whether we look at multimodality as a transdisciplinary field of research concerned with the meaning-making potential, use, and development of different semiotic resources (Kress and Van Leeuwen; Djonov and Zhao 2018), as a field of application rather than a theory (Jewitt 2013), or as a way of characterizing communicative situations (considered very broadly) which rely upon combinations of different ‘forms’ of communication to be effective (Bateman, Wildfeuer, and Hiippala 2017), all these perspectives adopt a functional perspective on meaning making practices and contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of the changes taking place in the field of communication in relation to the technological advancement.
The conference is organized in several panels, which will address specific topics, such as:
Multimodality and Intercultural Mediation; Multimodal Semiosis; Semiotics and Communication; Multimodal Interaction; Multimodality, Intermediality, & (Trans)Mediation; Multimodality and Identity; Multimodality and Media Literacy; Multimodal Learning; Multimodal Digital Humanities; Multimodality and Political Communication; Narrativity & Multimodal Communication; Social Semiotics Perspectives on Sustainability & Development; Mediation and Multimodal Meaning Making in Digital Environments; Theoretical, Methodological and Analytical Trends in Multimodal Research, etc.
In the tradition of previous Semiosis in Communication (SC) editions, keynote speakers will be some internationally recognized experts in their fields of activity.
Keynote Speakers confirmed:
Jean-Marie Klinkenberg – professor emeritus at the University of Liège (Belgium) – Jean-Marie Klinkenberg is Honorary Guest of the event – https://www.uliege.be/cms/c_9054334/en/directory?uid=u002156);
Paul Cobley, President of IASS-AIS, International Association for Semiotic Studies, Deputy Dean Research & Knowledge Exchange at Middlesex University (U.K.) – Paul Cobley is Honorary Guest of the event – https://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-us/ourpeople/staff-directory/profile/cobley-paul;
Kay O’Halloran – University of Liverpool(U.K.), Chair Professor and Head of Department of Communication and Media in the School of the Arts. She is also Visiting Distinguished Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China (2017-present) –
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/communication-and-media/staff/kay-ohalloran/?;
David Machin – Professor of Linguistics at Zhejiang University China; Professor of Media and Communication at Örebro University, Sweden – http://infadm.shisu.edu.cn/corpusen/69/82/c12943a158082/page.psp;
Massimo Leone – Full Tenured Professor (“Professore Ordinario”) of Philosophy of Communication and Cultural Semiotics at the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences, University of Turin, Italy, Permanent Part-Time Visiting Full Professor of
Semiotics in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Shanghai, China, Associate Member of Cambridge Digital Humanities, Cambridge University, and Director of the Center for Religious Studies, “Bruno Kessler Foundation”, Trento, Italy – https://www.unito.it/persone/maleone;
Evangelos Kourdis – Professor in Translation Semiotics at the School of French Language and Literature, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece – https://www.frl.auth.gr/admin/person.php?id=44&lang=_en&ilang=2; and
Kristian Bankov – Professor of Semiotics at New Bulgarian University and Department Chair of the Southeast European Center for Semiotic Studies; Secretary General of IASS-AIS, International Association for Semiotic Studies – https://semiotics.nbu.bg/en/academicstaff/prof-kristian-bankov-ph-d.
Important deadlines
Submissions open: December 22, 2022
Deadline for submission of Abstracts: March 10th, 2023 (you will receive an acknowledgment by email)
Notification of Acceptance: March 24th, 2023
Deadline for participation fee: April 14th, 2023
Paper submission: Applications for presentations consist in only one document:
- Title and abstract (max. 300 words followed by 3-5 keywords) with short and relevant bionote (do not exceed 150 words, please) in MS Word format (.doc, .docx). We highly appreciate short, schematic texts.
- Please use the abstract template available on the conference website. You can download the template of abstract directly from the conference website (Abstract_Template.doc – the same template as the 2021 edition).
- Co-authored papers are welcome.
- Papers are delivered in 30 minutes presentations (20 minutes talk followed by 10 minutes of debate).
- Please, submit your proposal to dragan.nicolaesorin@gmail.com, semiocomm@gmail.com or sorin.dragan@comunicare.ro within March 10th, 2023. Only one paper for each participant (as a first author) will be accepted.
- The official language of the conference is English, but there will also be sessions in which the papers can be presented in French.
- The authors will receive confirmation via e-mail.
Registration & Conference fee
Early bird registration – by April 14th, 2023:
Delegates should pay the conference fee – 100 Euro/participant – after the notification of abstract acceptance. For delegates only attending the conference (without presenting), the fee is 30 Euro/participant.
Late registration – after April14th, 2021:
Delegates should pay the conference fee – 120 Euro/participant – after the notification of abstract acceptance. Members of the IASS-AIS will pay 100 Euro/participant. For delegates only attending the conference (without presenting), the fee is 50 Euro/participant. The fee includes conference attendance, lunch, refreshments during coffee breaks, conference bag, publication in conference proceedings, Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, Journal of Media Research or Technium Social Sciences Journal (selected papers only), as well as in other international academic journals with which we have partnerships, refreshments during coffee breaks and lunch.
After the payment delegates are required to send the payment confirmation to: dragan.nicolaesorin@gmail.com or semiocomm@gmail.com in order to register for the conference.
Conference venue
National University of Political and Administrative Studies, College of Communication and Public Relations, 30A Expozitiei Boulevard, Bucharest, Romania.
For questions and details concerning the conference Semiosis in Communication: Culture, Communication and Social Change, please write to Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan at: dragan.nicolaesorin@gmail.com; semiocomm@gmail.com or sorin.dragan@comunicare.ro.
ATSA 