The radio and audio media area provides a forum for scholars, practitioners, and artists of what Michelle Hilmes (2013) calls soundwork: “the entire complex of sound-based media that enters our experience through a variety of technologies and forms.” Its forms include, but are not limited to, journalism, narrative nonfiction, audio and radio drama, sports, podcasts, as well as films and TV adapted from radio or podcasts, such as “Sorry, Wrong Number” (1948) or “Homecoming” (2018-2020).
We invite papers and presentations on all aspects of radio and audio media, including but not limited to: radio and audio media history; radio and audio media programs and content (music, drama, talk, news, public affairs, features, interviews, sports, college, religious, ethnic, community, low-power, pirate, etc.); podcasting (news, public affairs, commentary, drama, branded content); new audio media (internet radio, streaming audio, etc.); audio social media (Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, Reddit Talk, etc.); radio literature studies; media representations of radio and audio media; rhetorical research; legal and regulatory policy; economics of radio and audio media; and radio and audio media technology. We welcome U.S., international, or comparative works and media presentations. We are catholic regarding method, theory, or approach. Papers or presentations should be planned for no more than fifteen minutes. We encourage you to emphasize audience involvement and elicit stimulating questions and discussion.
Recent papers have focused on the notion of liveness in podcasting (“’A spiraling disaster without end’: The Flop House’s Improvised Liveness”), science fiction radio dramas (“Science Fiction in the Golden Age of American Radio, 1930-1950”), and political uses of radio in 1920s America (“Radio Rally: The Rise of Electoral Campaigning Over the Airwaves, 1923 to 1925”).
Paper or presentation proposals must include an abstract of 200 words and paper or presentation title, and author’s institutional affiliation and email address. We do not accept undergraduate student submissions.
Address paper or presentation proposals or inquiries via email to: Matthew Killmeier, PCA/ACA Radio and Audio Media Area Chair, Dept. of Communication and Theatre, Auburn University at Montgomery, [email protected] 334-244-3950 (work) 207-317-7693 (mobile)
