Dr. Arthur A. Raney, Professor and Director of Doctoral Studies in the School of Communication, and Dr. Mary Beth Oliver, Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of Media Effects Research Laboratory in the College of Communications at Penn State University, will chair the Research Symposium at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) annual convention in Las Vegas in April 2013.

The theme of the symposium is Media and the Social Life: The Self, Relationships, and Society.  Media content, consumption, and use touch on virtually all aspects of our social lives, including how we think of ourselves and others, and how we understand, create, and maintain relationships. Almost all facets of our lives are affected by media, including our emotional and moral selves, and our lives pertaining to family, romance, friendship, and work. Likewise, changes in the media landscape imply that our social lives may be evolving as well. What do technologies such mobile communication, virtual worlds, and social networking imply about our social lives? The symposium will join leading scholars in efforts to explore the diversity of ways that media intersect with social life. Invited panels and addresses by senior scholars, as well as competitive papers, will set the course for future understanding of these connections. The three broad themes the symposium will address include 1) media and the self; 2) media and relationships; and 3) emerging media and social life.

The BEA2013 Research Symposium is now accepting faculty and student submissions for its paper competition.  All submissions must be received by December 1, 2012.  For more information and to submit papers, please visit http://www.beaweb.org/2013/rs.html

In addition to the symposium, Raney and Oliver are editing a book on the topic, with contributions from leading scholars in the United States and Europe.  The volume will be published by Routledge in late 2013/early 2014.