WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT

This is a 7-day intensive seminar that emphasizes mid-range and contextualized theory in the field of socio-cultural approaches to marketing and consumer behavior. The intended audience includes doctoral students and junior faculty members; however, anyone interested is welcome.

This seminar is sponsored by ACR.

Objectives of the Seminar

1. The goal of the seminar is to familiarize scholars with the socio-culturally inspired studies of marketing and consumption or Consumer Culture Theoretics (CCT). The readings and the speakers highlight an interdisciplinary perspective and seek to expose the participants to sophisticated discussions of consumption and markets in marketing, anthropology, sociology, communication, and cultural and gender studies. These discussions center on mid-range and contextualized theory. The historical, socio-cultural, economic and ethical dimensions and challenges of consumption in developed and developing nations in the contemporary global world are emphasized.
2. The seminar also aims to enable the participants to conceptualize their work in relationship to the literature. We will discuss what constitutes a theoretical contribution and how to theorize and formulate a theoretical contribution.
3. Another purpose is to increase the participants’ awareness of the expectations of international journals and their review processes. There will be a faculty panel on “how to publish” research papers.

Seminar Coordinators

Faculty

SEMINAR READINGS AND FACULTY PRESENTATIONS

Location and Dates

The seminar will take place at Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration premises, located 13 kilometers from downtown Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. The seminar will begin at 17:00 p.m., June 21, Sunday and end Saturday night, June 27, 2009.

Other Course Information

The seminar will be held in English and is 6 ECTS credits. Participants are free to choose to make a presentation and get course credit or not. Those participants willing to present their research projects will receive feedback, will be evaluated, and receive course credit. The number of participants is limited to 25. The tuition and fees for the seminar is 750 Euros in total. This amount includes participation in the seminar, accommodation, and meals.

Seminar Prerequisites

There are no particular prerequisites for the participants. Selection will be based on the letter of interest, which is expected to address the student’s dissertation research interests and the fit of this seminar with their doctoral studies. For those participants who do not want to receive course credit, the letter of interest is expected to indicate their research interests and the reason why they want to participate in the seminar. The letter of interest should be around 1000 words. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2009.

Seminar Program

The program consists of lectures, panels, presentations, group work, and one-to-one meetings. A reading list will be sent to the participants after they register. The participants taking the seminar for ECTS credits are required and the others are strongly recommended to do the readings before they come to the seminar.

The participants who wish to receive ECTS credits will make a brief presentation of their research project. They will be evaluated based on their presentation, participation, and the capacity shown in enriching their perspective. The details of the program will be announced later.