Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication
University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
3-5 October, 2013
After its successful launch in Brasov, Romania, in June 2012, ESTIDIA (European Society for Transcultural and Interdisciplinary Dialogue) is convening its second conference, whose goal is to create a discussion forum bringing together researchers and doctoral students who are investigating change-related dialogue mechanisms and strategies from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives.
The University of Bari, Italy, has the pleasure to host ESTIDIA 2013, in the hope that this conference will give rise to creative synergies and facilitate new networks, crossing both geographical and disciplinary borders.
Conference Theme
Change, be it subtle or dramatic, is constantly an integral part of social life, bringing about
significant alteration of social structure, behavior patterns and cultural values. Social change
refers to variations over time in the ecological ordering of populations and communities, in
patterns of roles and social interactions, in the structure and functioning of institutions, and in
the cultures of societies. In recent times, two fallacies about social change have been
intensively debated. According to the first fallacy, social change is simply a linear movement
in time from a traditional past towards a modern future, while old values and institutions are
regarded as impediments to changes and obstacles to modernization. The second fallacy is
based on the assumption that there is an irreconcilable conflict between old and new traditions
and structures, which leads to old traditions and structures being simply displaced by new
ones. However, both fallacies have been proved wrong and consequently discarded by a large
body of studies which provide alternative interpretations that challenge the assumptions of the
traditional-modern polarisation. In the dynamic and multi-dimensional reality that we
experience daily, tradition and modernity are in fact mutually reinforcing, rather than being
mutually exclusive systems. It is these two aspects, dialogue-driven continuity in
discontinuity, and discontinuity in continuity, that are the topic focus for the conference
presentations and discussions.
The various theories of social change range from those that explain specific factors that cause small-scale changes to abstract and broader theories which attempt to understand underlying trends in the evolution and transformation of human societies. The focus of the conference is on the traditions, principles, purposes and practices of dialogic interaction in the public sphere that are part of, and conducive to, societal change. While many societies are currently experiencing dramatic shifts in their political, economic and social structures, there are at least two dominant trends: the increasing democratization of political life, and the rise of complex bureaucratic institutions. The key factors of social change underlying these trends are globalization, technological developments, systemic upheavals, migration and the ensuing multiculturalism and multilingualism. But perhaps the most potentially powerful factors of social change are the people animated by a profound need to communicate and, through public dialogue, to craft a dynamic vision for a more just set of social arrangements in the pursuit of major goals in the service of the common good. The implementation of visionary ideas calls for critically discussing ideas and conceptualizations which take into account the continuously changing nature of societies and communities, and which aim at explicating the interdependence between individuals’ interaction practices and the discursive construction of identities, on the one hand, and their access to full participation in society, on the other.
Key issues of interest to the conference include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Promoting citizen-centred multicultural and social practices in Europe and beyond
- Enhancing the dialogue of tradition and innovation at the interface of the public and private
spheres
- Initiating and responding to societal changes through cross-European networking activities
- Exploring patterns of social and personal change at micro- and macro-level
- Scrutinizing dialogic problem-solving strategies in cross-cultural perspectives
- Identifying divergence and convergence patterns in public narrative and dialogue
- Discourse of social change – Boundary-crossing between practice and theory
We welcome contributions from diverse fields of enquiry, including discourse studies,
conversation analysis, discursive psychology, critical discourse analysis, rhetoric, narrative
analysis, political discourse analysis, social semiotics, multimodal discourse analysis, applied
linguistics, gesture studies, as well as approaches to dialogue and verbal interaction pertaining
to sociology, political science, pedagogy, comparative education, philosophy, anthropology,
media studies, journalism and cultural studies. Proposals for individual papers or special
sessions may include research questions like the following:
- How should we grapple with the notion that arguing for and against is an opportunity
for positive change?
- How can interpersonal and institutional interactions facilitate and encourage bottom-
up or top-down social change (in processes of political transition, power transfer and
empowerment, business outsourcing, etc.)?
- How are the concrete, daily instantiations of social change articulated in public debate
(e.g. media interviews, press conferences, political debates)?
- How can concepts such as identity, migration, community, and citizenship illuminate
key aspects of ongoing social, political and cultural change?
- How are the various aspects of social change discussed in the media, in educational
institutions, and/or in the political sphere?
- How is understanding social change going to enrich the researchers’ correlation
between theory and practice?
- How are messages for and against social change conveyed in public speaking and
debating?
- How is the contribution of pedagogy and psychology to be integrated in the debate on
social change?
In addition to paper presentation, two thematic workshops are being organized within the
framework of the ESTIDIA 2013 conference:
- Workshop on “Gender Empowerment through Social Innovation Strategies” (GENESIS) – based on
a project proposal by a European research consortium consisting of participants from eight EU countries
Chairs:
Keynote speakers
Abstract Submission
We invite submissions of abstracts for paper presentations (20 minutes for presentation, to be
followed by 10 minutes for questions) to be scheduled in parallel sessions. The abstract
should indicate the leading research question, theoretical approach, research methods, data
sources, results or expected results, and relevance of the research. Abstracts will be peer-
reviewed by the conference scientific committee.
Please include in the abstract: the title of the paper, the name(s) of presenter(s), institutional
affiliation and email address (max 500 words, in English).
Email submission to: alberto.fornasari@uniba.it
Conference Website: www.fasf.uniba.it ; www.uniba.it
Important Dates
New deadline for abstract submission: June 23, 2013
Notification of acceptance: July 7, 2013
New deadline for draft papers: August 11, 2013
Registration Fee
The early bird conference fee is 100 EUR, late registration fee (no later than 5th August 2013)
is 120 EUR. The registration fee includes, in addition to the CD-ROM publication of
conference proceedings, a conference bag, welcome cocktail, refreshments/coffee breaks and
guided visits of Bari.
Scientific Committee
Nicoleta Corbu – National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest,
Romania
Giuliana Garzone – Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, State University of
Milan, Italy
Adrian Lesenciuc – “Henri Coanda” Air Force Academy, Brasov, Romania
Lachlan Mackenzie – Honorary member of the University of Amsterdam; Instituto de
Linguística Teórica e Computacional, Lisbon, Portugal
John McKeown – Mefis International School, Istanbul, Turkey
Esther Pascual Olivé – Department of Communication Studies, Groningen University, The
Netherlands
Dana Popescu-Jourdy – Institut de Communication, Université “Lumiere” Lyon 2, France
Daniela Roventa-Frumusani – University of Bucharest, Romania; Director of the Department
of Cultural Anthropology and Communication
Maria de Sao Jose Corte-Real – Faculdade de Ciencias Sociais e Humanas, Universidade
Nova, Lisbon, Portugal
Helen Spencer-Oatey – Centre for Applied Linguistics, Warwick University, the U.K.
Anna Triandafyllidou – European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Maria Zaleska – University of Warsaw, Poland
Promoters of the Conference:
Cornelia Ilie, (University of Malmö, Sweden), Alberto Fornasari (University of Bari, Italy)
Organising Committee
Linda Cassibba – Director Deparment of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication,
University of Bari, Italy
Paola Zaccaria – President of the Degree Course in Communication Sciences, Full Professor
of Anglo-American Literature , University of Bari, Italy
Luca Gallo – Full Professor of Comparative Education, Director of the Laboratory of
Intercultural Education , University of Bari, Italy
Luisa Santelli Beccegato – (Former) Full Professor of Experimental Pedagogy, University of
Bari, Italy
Beatrice Ligorio – Associate Professor of Educational Psychology ,University of Bari, Italy
Michele Baldassarre – Researcher of Experimental Pedagogy, University of Bari, Italy
Alberto Fornasari – Researcher of Experimental Pedagogy, University of Bari, Italy
Venue
The 2013 ESTIDIA conference will be hosted by the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”.
University website: www.uniba.it ; www.fasf.uniba.it
