Signal Strength Symposium 2018 is calling for papers. The event held on 8 March 2018 (International Women’s Day) in Sheffield, UK, and it is organised by the Department of Journalism Studies, University of Sheffield. Theme of this symposium is “Women & media practice in conflict and crisis situations”.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (2017), women comprise approximately 50 per cent of refugees worldwide, mostly as a result of conflict, and are often put at greater hardship than men in these situations based upon their gender. The symposium aims to examine the extent to which radio – and other forms of media – provides a platform for women who are, or have been, in conflict and crisis.

The organisers welcome papers related to following themes or to the broader topic:

• Use of radio and media in conflict environments
• Use of radio to support women
• Local and/or community radio in conflict/crisis
• Women as (radio/media) audience in conflict/crisis
• Empowering of women – and local communities – through radio (and media)
• Radio in society in conflict-affected areas
• Safety and protection of women journalists
• Representation of women in conflict/crisis by the radio
• Women and broadcasting technologies
• Media freedoms – the limits and limitations of media strategies and policies, domestic and foreign
• Stereotyping on air and in the media
• Resourcing women’s radio journalism in conflict/crisis environments
• Women in radio and on air – pedagogy and practice

Deadline for abstracts is on 15th January 2018 extended to 22 January 2018. Further information is available on symposium website.