TAMIU 2016 Communication Conference April 8-9
Latin American Communication Research in Transnational Settings 2016
About the Conference
The Graduate Program in Communication at Texas A&M International University seeks submissions for its first annual research conference in April 8-9, 2016. We invite submissions for paper presentations from faculty, scholars and graduate students working in any area of communication research concerning Latin America or the US/Mexico border.
The conference will be introduced by a keynote panel addressing major contemporary debates and new directions within contemporary Latin American media and communication studies through presentations from leading researchers in Mexico, the US, and Europe.
We welcome paper proposals in Spanish or English on topics including but not limited to:
- The relationship between consumption, neoliberalism, and citizenship in contemporary Latin America
- The impact of media representations on cultural identity in the US-Mexico Border region
- Portrayals and/or audience perceptions of Latina/os and/or Latin Americans in television, film, or news
- New research on popular Latin American genres (e.g. telenovelas, series, reality shows, comedies, sports, news programs)
- The exportation of Latin American television formats and the importation of foreign formats to Latin America
- The role of digital media in creating and expanding activist networks in Latin America
- Alternative or activist media histories in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, or other areas
- Media and human rights issues (including public security and violence against journalists)
- The political economic relationship between national governments and cultural industries
- Novel interrogations or re-readings of older theories of international communication including modernization, media imperialism, and cultural proximity
- New directions in audience research and analysis
Please send paper proposals with titles, name of author, institutional affiliation and category (Faculty, Graduate Student, Senior Undergraduate student) and 300-word abstracts to stuart.davis@tamiu.edu by February 29 for consideration for inclusion in the conference.
About the speakers

Guillermo Orozco Gómez is Chair of the Department of Social Communication at the University of Guadalajara. His longstanding research interests include the analysis of reception audiences and media literacy in Latin America. His publications include Al Rescate de Los Medios: Desafío Democrático para Los Comunicadores (1994), Televisión y audiencias: un enfoque cualitativo (1996), La investigación de la comunicación dentro y fuera de América Latina: Tendencias, perspectivas y desafíos del estudio de los medios (1997), and Televisión, audiencias y educación (2001), and Televisiones en México: Un Recuento Histórico (2007).

Philippe Meers is Head of the Department of Communication Studies, Deputy Director of the Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center, and Chair of the Centre for Mexican Studies at the University of Antwerp. His areas of expertise include international communication, media and cultural policy, the relationship between cinema and cultural memory, and global film distribution/circulation. His publications include the books Cinema, Audiences, and Modernity (2013), Explorations in New Cinema History (2011), and Film/TV/Genre (2004), as well as articles in The Journal of Popular Film and Television, Javnost: The Public, and Media, Culture & Society.

Joseph Straubhaar is Amon G. Carter Centennial Professor of Communications in the Department of Radio-TV-Film at The University of Texas at Austin and director of the Moody College of Communications’ Latino and Latin American Studies Program. His areas of expertise include global media flows and audiences, digital inclusion, the comparative analysis of new television technologies, and media sociology. His publications include Latin American Television Industries (2013), The Persistence of Inequity in the Technopolis: Race, Class and the Digital Divide in Austin, Texas (2012), World Television: From Global to Local (2007), and Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology (9th Edition, 2015).
Antonio La Pastina is Associate Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University. His central research interests include media anthropology, television reception, and intercultural communication. His work has appeared in over 20 different international journals including Critical Studies in Media Communication, The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, International Journal of Cultural Studies, International Communication Gazette, New Media & Society, and Communication Research.
9 - 9:30 a.m. (STC 236): Welcoming Remarks from Pablo Arenaz (Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs) and Thomas Mitchell (Dean, College of Arts and Sciences)
9:30 - 11 a.m. (STC 236): Keynote Panel #1
Joseph Straubhaar (Uniersity of Texas, Austin), "Is National TV in Latin America Finally Losing Its Audience?"
Guillermo Orozco Gomez (Universidad de Guadalajara) "La Televisón: ¿muriendo o floreciendo?
11 - 11:30 a.m.: Coffee Break
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Panels
A1: The US-Mexico Border, Media, and Public Policy - (STC 225)
- Sandra Braman (Texas A&M University), “The Border as Medium and Media Policy”
- Lucia Palmer (University of Texas at Austin), “Tracing Migrant Death on the U.S.-Mexico Border: The Intersection of Storytelling and Activism in Who is Dayani Cristal?”
- Stuart Davis (Texas A&M International University), “Dissecting Media Constructions of the US-Mexico Border: Data Journalism as Social Critique”
A2: Bodies, Sexuality, and Media Representations - (STC 230)
- Dora R. Fitzgerald, Zazil Reyes García, Trey D. Guinn (University of the Incarnate Word), “Representations of Bodies and Borders in María Full of Grace”
- Selma Jasive López Charles and Mirna Granat Ramos (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), “Representaciones de la diversidad sexual en las series norteamericanas de television”
- Nazar Ali De La Garza Villarreal, Carolina Valdez García, and Grecia Rodríguez Fernández (Universidad de Monterrey), “Reception study about the queer contents and stereotypes in television from young audiences in Monterrey: RuPaul’s Drag Race”
- Victoria D. Mancha (Texas A&M International University), “Feminist Reponses to Gendered Stereotypes in Promotional Culture: A Critical Assessment of Second and Third Wave Consumer Activism.”
1 - 2:30 p.m.: Lunch
2:30 - 4 p.m.: Panels
B1: Construcción de la Identidad Étnica de los Preparatorianos y Universitarios Indígenas Emigrados a Monterrey: Medios de Comunicación, Escuela y Proyectos Migratorios - (STC 120)
- Alma Paola Trejo Peña (Universidad Regiomontana)
- Ana Isabel Hibert Santana (Universidad Regiomontana)
- Julieta Martínez Martínez (Universidad Regiomontana)
- Susana Alejandra Romero Rodríguez (Universidad Regiomontana)
- Juan Antonio Doncel de la Colina (Universidad Regiomontana)
B2: Film Audiences and the Social Experience of Cinema - (STC 231)
- Lucila Hinojosa Córdova (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), “Nuevos planteamientos en la investigación sobre las audiencias: el ascenso del Narco Cinema y las Narco Series en el imaginario de los públicos.”
- Waydi Miranda Pérez (Universidad Iberoamericana), “Cine y sociedad en Cartagena de Indias (1912-1923): programación y lugares de exhibición”
- Blanca Chong López, José Luz Ornelas López, Jazmín Alejandra Solís López, and Jessica Ivonne Flores Ramírez (Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila), “Las audiencias de cine en Torreón, Coahuila, México, durante las décadas 1940 – 1960.”
- J. Carlos Lozano (Texas A&M International University), “Political economic influences in the exhibition and programming of films in a U.S.-Mexico border city: The case of Laredo, Texas, 1915-1960”
B3: "Chicana Photographers and Immigration Anthropology" - (STC 236)
- Joey T. Lopez (University of Incarnate of Word)
- Arlene Mejorado (Independent artist)
- Daniela Riojas (Independent artist)
4 - 5:30 p.m.: Panels
C1: Constructing and Negotiating Cultural Identity through Media - (STC 120)
- Luís Fernando Morales Morante (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona), “Cultura de proximidad o formas narrativas: Por qué ven telenovelas los latinos residentes en Austin-Texas?”
- Jeremiah Spence (University of Texas at Austin), “Cultural proximity revisited through the lens of Brazilian TV studies”.
- Beatriz Elena Inzunza Acedo, Citlalli Sánchez Hernández (Universidad de Monterrey), “Cultura de Audiencias Tradicionales y Digitales Regiomontanas.”
- Jesus Gonzalez (Texas A&M International University), “Race and Social Class on TV: The Influence of TV Status on Latino Audiences.”
9:30 - 11 a.m. (WHT 111): Keynote Panel #2
Antonio la Pastina (Texas A&M University), "Consumption and identity formation in rural Brazil: A longitudinal ethnographic analysis of technological changes and national belonging."
Phillipe Meers (University of Antwerp, Belgium), "New cinema histories from below. Bridging Latin American and European perspectives."
11 - 11:30 a.m.: Coffee Break
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Panels
D1: Youth and Media Audiences - (WHT 103)
- Melissa Santillana and Ana Lu Ramirez (Texas A&M International University), “Survey Analysis: Perceptions About Border Residents, cultural mediations, and media consumption patterns”.
- Viviana Rojas (University of Texas San Antonio), and Juan Pinon (New York University), “Millennials from the borderlands: The impact of class and ethnicity on media consumption”.
- Diana Valdez Nieto (Universidad de Guadalajara), “¿Qué están leyendo los jóvenes del Siglo XXI?”
- Adolfo Mora (University of Texas at Austin), “Questioning the public(s) of Modern Family's Gloria Pritchett: Can a mediated Latina have universal appeal?"
D2: Health Communication in the Americas - (WHT 125)
- Gabriela de la Peña Astorga, Miguel Sánchez Maldonado (Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila), “Estrategias de comunicación y cultura de solidaridad en el cuidado de la salud de las personas migrantes en Coahuila: discurso y prácticas de los líderes de la Casa del Migrante en Saltillo”.
- Stuart Davis (Texas A&M International University), “Citizen Health Journalism: Assessing digital media training programs for health care workers in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas”
- Miguel Sánchez Maldonado, Gabriela de la Peña Astorga, Isabel Macías Cordero (Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila), “Fuentes informativas y percepciones mediáticas en torno a la diabetes entre los hombres saltillenses”
1 - 2:30 p.m.: Lunch
2:30 - 4 p.m.: Panels
E1: Representing Controversial Issues in Contemporary News - (WHT 126)
- Jessica Gantt Shafer (Texas A&M University), “He isn’t politically correct, he’ll stop illegal immigration:” Incorrectness as front-stage bigotry”.
- Lourdes Cueva Chacón, and Vinicio Sinta, (University of Texas at Austin), “Objective journalism versus advocacy: What the Ramos-Trump confrontation reveals of the current state of Latino journalism”.
- Viviana Rojas (University of Texas San Antonio), Juan Pinon (New York University), and Estefania Lopez-Salinas (University of Texas at San Antonio), “On the immigrant side: The political implications of Univision’s coverage of immigration news on its social media platforms”.
- Alma Elena Gutiérrez Leyton, Karen Deyanira Román Martínez, Karina Guadalupe Lara Delgadillo, Neyda Gloria Flores Tamez, Carmen Dinorah García Retes, Ana María del Rosario Leal de León, Eunice Monserrat Daza Campos, and Aseneth Hernández González (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), “El feminicidio en la prensa regiomontana durante la negativa de la alerta de género en Nuevo León”.
E2: Cultures of News Production in the United States and Mexico - (WHT 103)
- Ana Cecilia Torres González, Moisés Torres Herrera, Alma Elena Gutiérrez Leyton (Tecnologico de Monterrey), “Subjetividad y autocensura en la práctica periodística en contextos de violencia y narcotráfico en Nuevo León”
- Julieta Flores Michel, Ernesto Rocha Ruiz (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), “Presencia y rol de hombres y mujeres en las notas de un periódico impreso de la ciudad de Monterrey, N.L. México”.
- Silke Jasso (Texas A&M International University), “Women in News Industries: Organizational Structure and Power”
- Claudia Alicia Lerma Noriega (Tecnológico de Monterrey), Alma Elena Gutiérrez Leyton (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), Emmanuel Alejandro Salazar Bravo, (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), Paola Monserrat Campos Pérez (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), Salma Teresa Díaz (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León), and Omar Arturo López Gutiérrez (Tecnológico de Monterrey), “El nuevo periodismo regiomontano: análisis de los primeros 100 días de ‘El Bronco’ desde una gubernatura independiente.”
4:30 - 5 p.m. (WHT 111): Closing Remarks
J. Carlos Lozano (Texas A&M International University)
Stuart Davis (Texas A&M International University)
Contact
Department of Psychology and Communication
Academic Innovation Center (AIC) 313
Phone: 956.326.2465 | Email: psychology-communication@tamiu.edu