Friday, August 18, 2006

Call for Papers: DIGITAL STORYTELLING Edited Collection

Call for Papers: DIGITAL STORYTELLING Edited Collection
Editors: John Hartley and Kelly McWilliam
ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation
Queensland University of Technology

We're seeking a few additional chapters for the above collection, which already has a strong international line-up of scholars and practitioners on-board.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Media participation in the digital environment is beginning to evolve into distinct, recognisable forms. One of these is known as 'digital storytelling'-whereby individuals with little or no media production experience gain the skills to create succinct stories, typically constructed out of personal narratives and self-sourced images.

Originally developed by Dana Atchley, Joe Lambert, and Nina Mullen in the USA (www.storycenter.org ) and Daniel Meadows for the BBC in the UK (www.bbc.co.uk/wales/capturewales), digital storytelling is now practiced in a range of contexts, from cultural institutions and community development programs to screen innovation, broadcasting and commercial applications (e.g. www.acmi.net.au/digitalstorytelling.jsp).

Digital storytelling combines tuition of the individual with new narrative devices, for multiplatform digital publishing across hybrid sites and practices. As an elaborate textual system created for the new media ecology, digital storytelling challenges the traditional distinction between professional and amateur production and signals important developments in media literacy and participation, storytelling formats, and content distribution.

Chapters can fall under any of the following headings, though we're especially (but not exclusively) looking for chapters on digital storytelling in developing countries:

I DIGITAL STORYTELLING - HISTORY AND INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS:

Chapters that discuss the emergence of digital storytelling, including personal accounts from its pioneers. What is the motivation for digital storytelling and what practices and traditions does it draw upon?

II DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR COMMUNITY USES:

Case studies of projects targeted at specific communities (youth, seniors, lesbian and gay, Indigenous, etc.). What is 'best practice' in narrative design, distribution and skills dissemination? Chapters that show how digital storytelling has been taken up in different ways in different community and international contexts are welcome.

III DIGITAL STORYTELLING AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS:

How is digital storytelling being used within museums, galleries, universities and libraries? What does this mean in terms of wider debates about the role of cultural institutions as they turn from collection to dissemination?

IV DIGITAL STORYTELLING AND THE NEW ECONOMY:

The implications of user-led creative content for the creative industries. What does digital storytelling offer for the professional media, including broadcasters, and what new patterns of producer-consumer collaborations are made possible?

V DIGITAL STORYTELLING PRACTICE:

How to do it. Description and evaluation of pedagogy, design, process, and poetics.

VI FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN DIGITAL STORYTELLING:

Possibilities for distribution and networking, new technologies and applications, and the implications for new media theory.

Because this project is already well under way, the deadline is tight. So, if you're interested in contributing, please forward a 500 WORD ABSTRACT to me as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, 1 September 2006.

Full chapters, of up to 7000 words, will likely be due late 2006/early 2007, though there will be some flexibility in the deadline.

Please direct enquiries and proposals to: Kelly McWilliam

k.mcwilliam@qut.edu.au

ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation
Creative Industries Precinct (Z1, 515), Queensland University of = Technology
Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia
phone: +61 7 3864 8775
fax: +61 7 3864 3723