CFP: 1st Global Conference: Connectivity in the 21st Century

Sunday 4th November–Tuesday 6th November 2012

Salzburg, Austria

Call For Presentations:

Across many research disciplines and practitioner based institutions such as aeronautics, space travel design, religious studies, cognitive science, digital gaming, architecture, philosophy, business, business leadership and management, educational leadership and management, outdoor education, adventure therapy, school based education and childhood growth and development, the concept of ‘connectivity’ has begun to surface as a critical issue. Connectivity is defined as “a sense of being a part of something larger than oneself. It is a sense of belonging, or a sense of accompaniment. It is that feeling in your bones that you are not alone” (Hallowell 1992) Enlarging on this notion, Lerner (2010) believed it is the means by which people ‘fit’ into the world around them. In other words they gain ‘a sense of self’’ and identity by actively working on “enhancing their connectedness to others.” With the exponential creation of technological networks and avenues, humanity has on the one hand developed more opportunities to connect to one another in ways never thought possible, while at the same time there has been an increase of people expressing a deep sense of disconnection to those around them. “Human beings have a powerful need for connectedness” (Lee & Robbins, 2000). We appear to be at a cross roads to develop our sense of connectivity to bridge the gap between the perceived social, superficial ‘connectedness’ to a deeper sense of intimacy. Therefore, ‘connectivity’ has come to be an overarching spectrum that deals with how people connect within the coterie of the family, social emotional frameworks within friendship and community groups, and means of connecting across the globe through social media. Given the physiological, psychological and socio-emotional concerns and pressures humans face in this current era, this project seeks to give research and practical voice to what it means to define ‘connectivity’. It also aims to pull together how each discipline speaks to others as the planet digitally shrinks but the spread of humanity continues unabated with serious issues such adolescent suicide, loneliness and depression, all related to the notion of ‘connectivity’.

Presentation, papers, artworks and performances could deal with, but are not limited to the following focal areas and questions such as:

Connectivity and Social Media

* How have current issues such as the Facebook and Twitter ‘Kony 2012’, Arab Spring revolution, Japanese tsunami discussions developed a sense of connectivity?

* What do these phenomenon reveal about current needs to connect?

* Do these modes develop genuine engagement with others?

* How does social media connectivity engender a sense of wellbeing, socio-global agency, and a more humanistic approach to problem solving?

* Does ‘open access’ software promote global awareness and change?

* How does the notion of ‘open universities increase humanities sense of connectivity?

* Who are the new techno-rich and new techno-poor, and what does it mean for global connectivity?

Connectivity and Gaming Communities

* Do gaming communities offer cross cultural learning and engagement?

* What are the various forms of obvious and unconscious learning that global gaming develops?

* What new forms of literacy does global gaming require?

Connectivity and Social Emotional Intelligence

* What types of educational systems and ideologies support optimal social emotional awareness?

* Where does social-emotional learning fit in an ever-increasing global village?

* What role does resiliency play in deepening connectivity in children, adolescents and adults?

* How can we develop systems of connectivity to ameliorate the instances of effects of bullying in school and in social media outlets?

* How do we ensure ‘connectivity’ in the adolescent years?

* Where does the concept, and practices that lead to connectivity, fit into the current school based curriculum?

Connectivity as a Precept of Wellbeing

* The definition of ‘connectivity’ for specific disciplines and how this definition has arisen within specific research paradigms

* The diversity of nature of ‘connectivity’ forms within specific cultures, or across cultures how these relate to the creation of societal health

* How have the older forms of ‘connectivity’ narratives, understanding and practices have migrated into new the digital age?

* Where, why and how the 21st century’s concept of ‘connectivity’ started, why it started where it ends in and amongst the current set of discipline understandings and research?

* Where does sexuality fit into the concept of “connectivity”?

* Connectivity and the need for creativity and the creative process

* What is the intersection between cognitive, psychological and psychological health and how this cross-section relates to a holistic concept of ‘connectivity’?

* Where does ‘self, and the notion of identity fit with the idea of connectivity?

* What forms of ‘connectivity’ need to be created so as to ensure societal and individual wellbeing for the coming decades?

* How does ‘service learning’ create connectivity and wellbeing?

What to submit:

The Steering Group particularly welcomes the submission of pre-formed panel proposals. Presentations will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 6th July 2012. 300 word abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats with the following information and in this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract, f) up to 10 keywords.

E-mails should be entitled: CN1 Abstract Submission

Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). Please note that a Book of Abstracts is planned for the end of the year. All accepted abstracts will be included in this publication.We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

Organising Chairs:

Edie Lanphar

Rob Fisher

For further details of the project, please click here.

For further details of the conference, please click here.

Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.