November 10, 2025

History of Media Studies Newsletter November 2025

History of Media Studies Newsletter November 2025

Welcome to the 54th edition of the History of Media Studies Newsletter. The monthly email, assembled by Dave Park, Jeff Pooley, and Pete Simonson, maintains a loose affiliation with the History of Media Studies journal and the Working Group on the History of Media Studies. Please contact us with any questions, suggestions, or items.

1. Working Group on the History of Media Studies

Join us for the next remote session devoted to discussing working papers with authors. Hosted by the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM). Open to anyone interested in the history of the media studies fields. Instructions to join are here. The session will feature simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish.

Wednesday, November 19

Wednesday, November 19, 15:00-16:00 UTC (10am-11am EST)

Reading for discussion:

• Mariano Zarowsky, “New York, Santiago, París: las conexiones transnacionales de Seth Siegelaub, un editor marxista (1972-1991)” | “New York, Santiago, Paris: The Transnational Connections of Seth Siegelaub, a Marxist Publisher (1972-1991)” (working paper)

Note: The session will feature simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish.

For the Zoom link and the reading download, visit the Working Group page. Instructions for joining the group are here. Questions? Contact us

2. Conferences, Calls & Announcements

If you have a call or announcement relevant to the history of media studies, please contact us.

1. Call for Papers: Harold Lasswell and the Return of Propaganda: The Centenary of Propaganda Technique in the World War**

• Among the important events related to propaganda research whose tradition re-emerged in these first three decades of the 20th century, one stands out as a turning point: the first doctoral thesis on the subject, defended by political scientist Harold Lasswell in 1926 at the University of Chicago, which also celebrates its centenary. Published the following year, Propaganda Technique in the World War became the pioneering landmark in academic studies on war propaganda and transformed its author into the most important American expert on the subject for many years. This Esferas dossier celebrates not only the centenary of Harold Lasswell's thesis but also the approaching centenary of propaganda studies, founded on the need to understand this product of the media and which, despite its multiple facets, continues to present itself as an urgent problem to be interpreted in contemporary times.
• Deadline: 15 December 2025
• More details

2. CFP: Special Issue “Celebrating 60 Years of ELIZA? Critical Pasts and Futures of AI”

• The Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society calls for papers for a special issue marking the 60th anniversary of ELIZA, one of the first chatbots developed by Joseph Weizenbaum. Co-edited by Christian Strippel (Weizenbaum Institute) and Magnus Rust (University of Basel), the special issue invites interdisciplinary contributions exploring ELIZA’s legacy and its relevance to current debates on AI, including topics such as the anthropomorphization, commercialization, gendering, and mythologization of AI technologies. The deadline for abstract submission is November, 17, 2025. The Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society (WJDS) is an interdisciplinary, free open access journal that investigates processes of digitalization in society from the perspectives of different research areas.
• Deadline: 17 November 2025
• More details

3. CFP: International Conference on French Theory and Contemporary Screen Studies

• In the context of contemporary Screen Studies – a field characterised by a multiplicity of disparate methods, theories, practices and research objects – it would appear that ‘French theory’ occupies a paradoxical place: on the one hand, ample cognizance of French film theory and French (post)structuralism is still viewed as a pre-requisite to the formation of film and media scholars, who may be expected to demonstrate their familiarity with, for example, the semiological writings of Christian Metz, the psychoanalytic theories of Jean-Louis Baudry, or the post-structuralist rhetoric of Julia Kristeva and Roland Barthes. On the other hand, French film theory is liable to be viewed as passé, a hangover from the ‘high theory’ battles of the 1970s and 1980s. This conference invites attendees to reflect upon any aspect of French film theory (be that its pre-war iterations, its post-war auteurist, semiotic and structuralist paradigms, or its various ‘high theoretical’ incarnations) as it pertains to 21st century Screen Studies, interrogating the contemporary tensions, uses and developments that characterise its failure to disappear.
• Conference dates: 11 & 12 June 2026
• Deadline: 12 January 2026
• More details

4. Call for Papers: Tenth Annual Conference on the History of Recent Social Science (HISRESS)

• This two-day conference of the Society for the History of Recent Social Science (HISRESS), at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, will bring together researchers working on the history of post-World War II social science. It will provide a forum for the latest research on the cross-disciplinary history of the post-war social sciences, including but not limited to anthropology, economics, psychology, political science, and sociology as well as related fields like area studies, communication studies, design, history, international relations, law, linguistics, and urban studies. The conference will be organized as a series of one-hour, single-paper sessions attended by all participants. Ample time will be set aside for intellectual exchange between presenters and attendees, as all participants are expected to prepare unpublished papers (not longer than 10,000 words, excluding footnotes and references) for circulation to other participants and read all pre-circulated papers in advance.
• Conference dates: 11 & 12 June 2026
• Deadline: 2 February 2026
• More details

5. 2026 Cheiron Book Prize Competition

• Cheiron (The international society for the history of behavioral & social sciences) welcomes – and encourages – authors and publishers to submit entries for Cheiron’s upcoming Book Prize Competition. Eligible works include original book-length historical studies, written in English, and published after October 15, 2024. Subject matter should focus on either specific or more general aspects of the social and behavioral sciences including, but not limited to, histories of psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, sociology, and social statistics, as well as historical biographies of scholars in these areas. The author of the winning book will receive $500 and be expected to discuss their work in a session solely devoted to the Book Prize at Cheiron’s next annual meeting, which will be held as a virtual (Zoom) meeting June 25 through June 27, 2026. Announcements of the award will be widely circulated to relevant journals and organizations. To submit a nomination, please email Ian Davidson: ian.davidson@concordia.ab.ca
• Deadline: 31 December 2025

6. CFP: 58th Annual Meeting of Cheiron – The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences

• The 58th Annual Meeting of Cheiron – The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences – will be held virtually from Thursday, June 25th through Saturday, June 27th, 2026. The theme of the meeting will be “Cheiron without Borders.” Cheiron invites submissions of papers, thematic symposia, panels, roundtables, workshops and posters that deal with an aspect of the history of the human, behavioral or social sciences or related historiographical and methodological issues. Proposals for oral presentations should contain a 500- to 600-word abstract in English plus a short bibliography. If the presentation itself will be given in a language other than English, please indicate this in your proposal.
• Conference dates: 25 June, 2026, to 27 June, 2027
• Deadline: 13 February 2025
• More details

3. The Journal

History of Media Studies encourages submissions (en español) on the history of research, education, and reflective knowledge about media and communication—as expressed through academic institutions; through commercial, governmental, and non-governmental organizations; and through “alter-traditions” of thought and practice often excluded from the academic mainstream.

4. New Publications

Works listed here are newly published, or new to the bibliography.

The History of Communication Research Bibliography is a project of the Annenberg School for Communication Library Archives (ASCLA) at the University of Pennsylvania.

1. Clayton, Russell B., and Jessica G. Myrick. "'What Can the Heart Tell Us about Thinking?' A Three-Decade Review of Heart Rate Measurement and Its Future Applications to Advertising Research." Journal of Advertising 54, no. 5 (2025): 621--36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2025.2515905.

   ABSTRACT: This conceptual review revisits how scholars have understood and applied measurements of heart rate—a common biometric assessment—to understand audience cognitive responses to advertisements. This review utilizes Annie Lang’s chapter “What Can the Heart Tell Us about Thinking?” in Measuring Psychological Responses to Media Messages (1994b) as a starting point for examining the evolution of research in this area across the past three decades. Whereas much of the application of heart rate measures in communication research has been published across communication subdisciplines (e.g., media effects, political communication, health communication), this review consolidates information about the connections between heart rate and cognitive processing in the field of advertising, more specifically. We also review the benefits and drawbacks of different statistical analyses for assessing heart rate data as well as the application of mixed-method triangulation strategies for examining audience cognition. We conclude with an overview of technological advancements for measuring heart rate and applications in the field along with a brief discussion of concerns regarding reverse inferencing. In total, we revisit and offer additional insights into various aspects of heart rate as a biometric indicator of audience cognitive processing of advertising-based communication.

2. Goodman, Sheryl. "Introduction." In The Pennsylvania Scholars Series: Robert T. Craig, edited by Sheryl Goodman. Pennsylvania Communication Association, 2025. https://pcasite.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PSS-RTC-2025.pdf.

   ABSTRACT: [first paragraph, in lieu of abstract] This volume is dedicated to the scholarship of Robert T. Craig. His ideas have shaped the field of communication, as well as the work and life experiences of innumerable scholars and teachers over the past fifty years. Craig has published widely, with multiple outstanding article awards. He is a Fellow and Past President of the International Communication Association, and a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association. Craig taught at Penn State University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Temple University, and the University of Colorado Boulder, where he is Professor Emeritus. When I was a graduate student in the late 1980s at Temple University, my fellow graduate students and I were dazzled by Bob Craig’s brilliance. He seemed to know everything about all aspects of the field of communication, and every time he gave a mini lecture in class, made a comment in our weekly colloquium, or answered a question in the hallway, we would just look at each other in awe.

3. Gumpert, Gary, and Susan Drucker. "Media Ecology Takes an Urban Turn." Explorations in Media Ecology 24, no. 2 (2025): 211--19. https://doi.org/10.1386/eme_00254_7.

   ABSTRACT: This article provides a sampling of the contributions of foundational media ecology scholars to our understanding of urban communication. Such scholars include Marshall McLuhan, Jacques Ellul, Lewis Mumford and Walter Benjamin.

4. Herrero, Esperanza, Leonarda García-Jiménez, and Maribel Olmos Carrillo. Voces silenciadas, voces escuchadas. Hacia la resignificación de las investigadoras en comunicación. Tirant Lo Blanch, 2025. https://editorial.tirant.com/mex/libro/voces-silenciadas-voces-escuchadas-hacia-la-resignacion-de-las-investigadoras-en-comunicacion-esperanza-herrero-9788410814844.

   ABSTRACT: En este libro pensamos críticamente el campo de la comunicación para resignificar las figuras de las mujeres investigadoras, cuestionando los relatos tradicionales y proponiendo una visión colaborativa, heterogénea y plural del conocimiento. Se trata de un abordaje complejo que parte de un marco teórico en el que hemos explicado lo que ha sucedido históricamente con la mujer en la ciencia, para pasar a la recuperación de las biografías y figuras de 13 de las académicas que lideraron las ciencias de la comunicación durante las últimas décadas del siglo XX. A continuación, hemos entrevistado a 8 de estas investigadoras. Las temáticas principales de estos encuentros nos ayudan a entender por qué ha pasado lo que ha pasado en el campo de la comunicación y a abrirnos a perspectivas alternativas a las dominantes. Hemos cerrado la obra con una aproximación a las investigadoras iberoamericanas con el fin de potenciar un relato epistémico polifónico también desde el Sur Global. No se trata solamente de recuperar figuras olvidadas o semi-olvidadas, sino de llegar más allá y repensar, a través y a partir de ellas, los modos en los que hacemos la investigación. Porque la academia es un espacio de reproducción pero también de contestación de los significados hegemónicos de género que han regido nuestras epistemologías, mirar a las mujeres nos invita a mirar a los márgenes. Y, con ello, a cuestionarnos no solamente la exclusión y lo borrado, sino los modos y las formas de pensamiento que nos han llevado hacia una situación en la que lo femenino (sujetos, prácticas de producción, objetos de estudio, metodologías, enfoques, etc.) ha sido clasificado como científicamente menor, como socialmente irrelevante. Y, por supuesto, no lo es. Las voces silenciadas también deben ser escuchadas, como hemos hecho en esta obra, lo que es una puerta abierta a la esperanza. No podría ser de otra forma, porque si aspiramos a co-construirnos como comunidad científica de manera comunicativa: ¿acaso no es este encuentro epistémico con el otro una máxima ética y estética que deba impulsarnos a seguir hacia adelante y aspirar a un mundo y una ciencia mejores? Volvamos siempre a la comunicación, a nuestra esencia ontológica, como forma de recordarnos que siendo el encuentro posible, la vida merece la pena.

5. Robles, Jessica. "In Conversation with the Perspective of Robert T. Craig." In The Pennsylvania Scholars Series: Robert T. Craig, edited by Sheryl Goodman. Pennsylvania Communication Association, 2025. https://pcasite.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PSS-RTC-2025.pdf.

   ABSTRACT: [first paragraph, in lieu of abstract] I do not remember my first encounters with Bob Craig, and my memory of the first thing I ever said in a PhD classroom (which Craig was teaching) was that my comment was embarrassingly irrelevant. I confess I did not know who Craig was before I arrived at the University of Colorado at Boulder to start my PhD and had not read anything he’d written. He was not an obvious choice of advisor and since neither of us seem to be natural-born conversation starters, it is possible we may not have spoken to each other for a long time. There is an alternate universe in which I did not choose him as my advisor, possibly one in which he wasn’t even on my doctoral committee, but this possible universe is almost impossible for me to imagine because Craig’s work is embedded in so much of what I do, not just when I’m citing him in my research; indeed, not just in my research. I believe Craig’s work is in fact so foundational to communication research that this is true for many people.

6. Rogers, Jaqueline McLeod. "McLuhan's Urbanism: Engaged Citizens in Open Cities." Explorations in Media Ecology 24, no. 2 (2025): 221--29. https://doi.org/10.1386/eme_00252_7.

   ABSTRACT: McLuhan advocated for citizens to engage with their physical surroundings and with others in community and to become more involved in decision-making about media availability and restrictions; his position remains pertinent with the continuing need for increased citizen engagement and participation in urban life. Both as individuals and collectively, we can cultivate awareness of and assert some control over our relationship with media and technology, toning down the automatic operations of smart city logics, especially those that impose systemic regulations. Opportunities to engage with urban place are increased if reshaping and repurposing the urban environment becomes a common project – so that we are not simply users of urban space defined for us by actors in government and corporate positions but co-producers of open cities.

7. Simonson, Peter. "Robert T. Craig's Intellectual Development: Contexts and Vectors, 1960s-1990s." In The Pennsylvania Scholars Series: Robert T. Craig, edited by Sheryl Goodman. Pennsylvania Communication Association, 2025. https://pcasite.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PSS-RTC-2025.pdf.

   ABSTRACT: [first paragraph, in lieu of abstract] Others in this special issue will speak more about Robert T. Craig’s many contributions and legacies. I focus instead on his origins and intellectual development, situated within the social and institutional contexts that shaped him. I cast his story in generational terms, both personally and academically, and situate it within the field of communication from the time he entered it in the late 1960s. While there have been strong international dimensions to his career, he is also very much the product of U.S. communication studies and some of the things that distinguish it from other national traditions: he entered the field through competitive debate, has been shaped by fault lines and crossfertilizations between rhetorical studies and communication science, and has had intimate contact with the wide range of subdisciplines that uneasily co-exist on U.S. campuses under the sign of communication (Pooley, 2023). Those and other contexts have shaped his signal work in conceptualizing communication as a practical discipline, defining the field of communication theory, and advancing the pragmatist tradition of thinking about it.

8. Tracy, Karen. "Grounded Practical Theory: Its Intellectual and Personal History." In The Pennsylvania Scholars Series: Robert T. Craig, edited by Sheryl Goodman. Pennsylvania Communication Association, 2025. https://pcasite.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/PSS-RTC-2025.pdf.

   ABSTRACT: [first paragraph, in lieu of abstract] Grounded Practical Theory (GPT) is the child of conversations that Bob Craig and I had about how scholars in our field ought to be doing communication research. The conversations occurred at our dinner table, in the living room, and at departmental colloquia. In 1981 Bob and I joined Temple University’s Rhetoric and Communication Department, then called the Department of Speech. I was a newly minted PhD; Bob came to Temple bringing a handful of years’ experience as a faculty member at Penn State and the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. After publishing a couple of coauthored papers in which we analyzed requests produced in a variety of situations (Craig, Tracy & Spisak, 1986; Tracy, Craig, Smith & Spisak, 1984), I decided I needed to establish my own independent scholarly reputation—no more publishing with Bob! During the second half of the 1980s our lives were filled with teaching, meetings, and publishing independently. Both of us were tenured and promoted during those years and, on the personal front, our daughter Jill was born.

9. Winkin, Yves, and Jean-Marie Charpentier. La communication au long cours: Conversations sur les sciences de la communication. C&F Editions, 2025.

   ABSTRACT: Dès la publication de La Nouvelle communication en 1981, Yves Winkin devient un passeur entre les sciences de la communication aux États-Unis et la sociologie française. Jean-Marie Charpentier, en animant ces cinq conversations, lui permet de développer au fil de souvenirs et anecdotes, son approche globale et anthropologique de la communication. La transmission du savoir, fil rouge de ces dialogues, nous offre un outil pour penser les utopies concrètes et les lieux d’enchantement. Au-delà de la question du message et de son codage, Yves Winkin aborde la communication dans sa globalité. Une approche anthropologique issue des recherches sur les comportements communicationnels des individus et des groupes, et sur l'impact des environnements, notamment urbains, sur la qualité de la communication. L'approche par conversations entre Yves Winkin et Jean-Marie Charpentier rend très abordables les concepts principaux des sciences de la communication et la présentation des auteurs majeurs de ce domaine. Un livre indispensable aux étudiants en communication et aux praticiens de la communication d'entreprise ou institutionnelle pour mettre leurs pratiques en perspective.