CFP - Int'l Conf on Culture, Politics & Climate Change, 13-15 Sept 2012 @ CU-Boulder

This cross-disciplinary conference will explore intersections between culture, politics, and science in order to enhance our understanding of public policy addressing climate change. The conference will interrogate the many obstacles and opportunities confronting U.S. climate policymakers and scientists. Presenters will be asked to broadly consider how climate change is communicated and how these processes intersect with ongoing cultural and political issues. While we will focus on climate change, authors are encouraged to draw lessons that can be applied to a variety of environmental contexts. Comparative papers and panels that explore similarities and differences between culture, politics, and climate policy in the U.S. and other countries are encouraged.

Discussions about climate change, policy, and science arise in a variety of cultural settings. Questions of how and whether to address climate change on a national and global scale are significant parts of political and cultural discourse. How policy is made, the role of state and non-state actors, the communication of science and values, and how meaning is derived from our shared culture are all questions that directly influence policy outcomes. In the context of U.S. national elections and ongoing international climate negotiations, these considerations are especially relevant. This conference will address these questions in the context of the 2012 elections, the COP-18 climate talks, and other cultural developments.

Papers and panels on climate change may address, but should not be limited to questions about: ● Communication of science ● Media and environmental policy ● Social movements/activism ● Political communication of climate change ● Mediated representation ● Non-state actors in climate politics and communication ● Journalism studies ● Visual culture ● Consumer culture studies ● Spiritualities of globalization ● Religions and the environment ● Documentary/feature film

Culture, Politics, and Climate Change is a conference of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. For more information, contact: Deserai A. Crow, Associate Director, Center for Environmental Journalism deserai.crow@colorado.edu

This conference is co-sponsored by the Journalism and Mass Communication Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, Advertising a2b, the CIRES Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. We hope you'll put this on your calendar, submit and abstract by the January 2012 deadline, and participate in this conference as part of your 2012 research community plans.

Cheers, Max