The Common Ground Conference is an interdisciplinary conference broadly centered on media and communication studies hosted by the graduate department at Indiana University Bloomington Media School. This conference aims to bring together and showcase emerging scholarly and creative voices, as well as explore diverse viewpoints, methodologies, and critical approaches within the field.
This year’s theme is Media Studies in/at/from the Margins. This iteration of the titular conference considers what has traditionally been left out, neglected, or sidelined in media studies. By considering what is on the margins rather than at the heart of media studies, we hope to create a space that generates vibrant debate over what media studies can be as opposed to what it “is.” Rather than trying to locate origins for this hyperdynamic and multipronged field, therefore, we embrace its messiness and incoherence. Yet this mess cannot be uninvestigated. Sifting through the multiple possibilities embedded in the margins, we consider what sits outside the gamut of normative discipline, canon, geography, form, theory and ideology. What gets left in the marginalia, uninvestigated, unsituated and noninstitutionalized? In writing in/at and from themargins of media studies, what fresh insights can we bring to our field(s).
The 2025 conference will feature the renowned keynote speakers Cory Doctorow and Dr. Ramón Resendiz. Keynote Speakers, Film screening and Panels will be held in the Media School’s main building, Franklin Hall (601 E Kirkwood Ave).
Schedule
Friday March 7th
1:30-3pm: Ramón Resendiz keynote (room 310)
3-4 PM: Mixer (room 310)
4-5:30pm: Cory Doctorow keynote (room 310)
7 PM- 9pm: Film screenings with refreshments & snacks (Franklin Hall Commons)
Saturday March 8th
9am: Breakfast (room 310)
10am - 4:30pm: Panels (rooms 310 and 210)
6pm: Closing plenary (room 310)
7:30pm: Post social event! (the Atlas Bar)
For any questions please email us at commongroundconf@gmail.com