International Conference on Media and Memory

Monday, 9 November 2015

Arrivals

16:30 Registration Open 

17:00 Opening Session | Welcome Addresses
Jonila Godole, Director of IDMC
Robert Wilton, Acting Head of OSCE Presence in Albania
Odeta Barbullushi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

17:30–18:15 Keynote Lecture
Prof. Dr. Peter Gross, University of Tennessee, USA

18:15–19:00 PLENARY SESSION: JOURNALISTS TALK ABOUT COVERING THE COMMUNIST PAST • Moderation: Sonila Danaj, University of Jyvaskyla
Panel discussions with journalists

19.30 Reception

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

08:30 Registration Open

09:00–10:15 FIRST SESSION: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN CONSTRUCTING MEMORY THROUGH TIME • Moderation: Dr. Lori E. Amy, Georgia Southern University

• Types of Media Outlets and the Construction of Collective Memory: The Media from 1921 to 1924 and its Role on the Memory of Albanian History
  Dr. Iris Luarasi, University of Tirana
• Understanding Albanian Media through the Status of the Journalist in the Communist Period
  Dr. Ardita Reçi, University of Shkodra
• The Present Past: Covering The Communist Period in the Contemporary Albanian Media
  Dr. Jonila Godole, University of Tirana

10:15–11:30 SECOND SESSION: TRANSFORMATION OF LANGUAGE AND IMAGES IN MEDIA AND LITERATURE • Moderation: Prof. As. Mark Marku, University of Tirana

• Language Difference in Media Discourse Before and After the 90s
  PhD Candidate Elona Limaj, Albanian University
• The Present of a Past Communism
  PhD Irena Myzeqari, European University of Tirana
• Politics of Memory in Post-communist Albania: the 'New Woman' in Contemporary Media
  PhD Candidate Irida Vorpsi, University of Tirana/University of Vienna

11:30–11:45 Coffee Break

11:45–13:00 THIRD SESSION: MEDIA AND MEMORY: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES • Moderation: Dr. Trudy Anderson, European University of Tirana

• Discursive Changes in Remembering Communism in Romania
  Dr. Alina Thiemann, visiting fellow, Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt am Main
• The fall of the Communist Regime in Albania as Depicted in the Italian Media in the early 90s
  Dr. Erka Caro dhe Sonila Danaj, University of Jyvaskyla
• The Communist Albania in Time Magazine, 1944–1989
  Dr. Belina Budini, European University of Tirana
• "A Look Inside the Bunker" – Communist Albania according to the New York Times
  Albert Gjoka, Journalist

13:00–14:00 Lunch

14:15–15:30 FOURTH SESSION: MEMORY IN NEW MEDIA • Moderation: Dr. Rrapo Zguri, University of Tirana

• The Memory of the Non-material Cultural Heritage and Non-cultural Diversity in Albania in Multimedia Applications (New Media)
  Dr. Shpend Bengu, European University of Tirana
• Collective Memory in Social Networks
  Rashela Shehu, University of Tirana
• New Media and an Ethics of Encounter
  Dr. Lori E. Amy, Georgia Southern University

15:45–16:00 Coffee Break

16:00–17:15 FIFTH SESSION: MEMORY IN THE MEDIA: CRITICAL VIEWS • Moderation: Prof. Dr. Peter Gross, University of Tennessee, USA

• Collective Dis-Memory, Collective Amnesia, the Post-Soviet Syndrome, and Hidden Documentaries in Albania
  Dr. Trudy Anderson (European University of Tirana), Fabian Kati and Ilda Papajani
• Commemorating "The Glorious Past" – "peza n*fest"
  Dr. Enriketa Pandelejmoni (Papa), University of Tirana
• Who Died? The Role of the Media in the Reconfiguration of Collective Memory in Albania
  Dr. Jonila Godole (University of Tirana) and Sonila Danaj (University of Jyvaskyla)
• The Role of the Media in the Recognition and/or Glorification of the Crimes of Communism
  Dr. Agron Tufa, University of Tirana

17:30–18:00 CLOSING SESSION: CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

19:00 Conference Dinner

Ongoing POSTER PRESENTATIONS

• Dissidence, Memory and Nostalgia in (Post)Communist Romania. Two Cases from the Păltiniş School
  Dr. Dinu Gabriel Munteanu
• Comparative Analysis Rwanda, Germany and BiH
  Naida Softic
• Under Totalitarian Control? Scope of Action of Local Press Correspondents in Communist Albania in the 1970s and 1980s
  Idrit Idrizi
• Transtextuality as a Means of Construction of Collective Memory in a Modern Ukrainian Magazine Essay
  Tetyana Ivanykha dhe Hanna Polyakova Zaporizhzhya, National University, Ukraine
• The Influence of the Italian TV on the Fall of the Communist Regime in Albania
  PhD Lorena Liçenji, European University of Tirana

Call for Papers

Media play a key role in the collective memory of a country through the way they report on different historical figures and events. During the dictatorship, similarly to other communist countries, Albanian media and journalists were part of the regime's propaganda apparatus. Their transformation in the early 1990s to independent and democratic media has not been easy. Twenty five years have passed since the fall of the Stalinist dictatorship in Albania, and it is time we examine the role Albanian media and journalists have played on the societal reflection on the country's past during this period.

The Institute for Democracy, Media and Culture (IDMC) with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Albania aims to bring together media and cultural communication scholars in an international conference where they will present their studies on Albanian media, and discuss their views on the media's attitude towards Albania's past with a special focus on the previous totalitarian regime.

In order to put the Albanian experience in a comparative context, international scholars with an academic interest on memory studies, in general, and on Central and Eastern European countries that have undergone similar transitional processes, in particular, will also be invited to participate.

The aim of the conference is to promote innovative research studies and findings with theoretical and empirical contributions in the field.

Conference Themes

The conference will focus on the following themes:

• The role of the media in the past
• Journalistic culture past and present
• Collective memory topics, perspectives, and genres in the media
• Types of media outlet and the construction of collective memory
• The collective memory of other periods through the lens of communist experience/media
• Journalistic practices in producing and reproducing collective memory
• The role of the media producers in the construction of collective memory
• The role of media technology in archiving collective memory
• Collective Memory in (TV) documentaries
• Social media and collective memory
• Media of remembrance: Literature
• (New) Media of remembrance
• Other themes not mentioned by related to the main topic of the conference are also welcome
  

Keynote Speaker

School of Journalism and Electronic Media
The University of Tennessee
USA

Peter Gross is Director and Professor, School of Journalism & Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee. He specializes in international communication, began his duties as director of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media August 1, 2006. Multilingual, Gross has worked, written about and and traveled extensively in Western and East/Central Europe, in some former Soviet Republics (Belarus, Moldova, Tajikistan), Taiwan, India, China and Cuba.

Proposal Submission Guidelines

Scholars and graduate students who are interested to participate in this conference are invited to submit a paper proposal (abstract) of 300 words in English or in Albanian and English to jonila.godole@idmc.al and sonila.danaj@jyu.fi no later than September 30, 2015. Accepted candidates will be informed by October 5, 2015.

Poster presentations proposals are also welcomed. If you wish to submit a poster presentation, please submit an abstract of 150 words in English or in Albanian and English to jonila.godole@idmc.al and sonila.danaj@jyu.fi no later than September 30, 2015. Accepted candidates will be informed by October 5, 2015.

Every participant can present only one paper as author or co-author. Every author can participate with a maximum of two papers, as author or co-author. A selected number of full papers will be published.

Working languages: English and Albanian.

Conference venue: Tirana International Hotel.