The Theorization Seminar

Doctoral Seminar on Consumption, Markets, and Culture Theorization

June 10-16, 2019

Ankara, Turkey

This is a weeklong intensive seminar that emphasizes mid-range and contextualized theory in the field of socio-cultural approaches to marketing and consumption. We have been running this seminar at the Bilkent University biennially. This year, it is going to be at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara.

The seminar aims to stimulate interest in and discussions of contemporary forms of historical, socio-cultural and political-economic analyses of markets, consumption and marketing. The intended audience is doctoral students and junior faculty members; however, anyone interested is welcome.

The seminar is part of European Doctoral School on Consumer Culture Theorizing (for details see https://www.sdu.dk/en/edscct/). 

Objectives of the Seminar: 

1. The goal of the seminar is to familiarize scholars with the socio-culturally inspired studies of market, consumption and marketing 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 within marketing, anthropology, sociology, communication, and cultural and gender studies. These discussions center on mid-range and contextualized theory. The seminar emphasizes the historical, socio-cultural, political-economic and ethical dimensions and challenges of consumption and marketing in developed and developing nations in the contemporary global world.  
2. The seminar also aims to enable the participants to conceptualize their work in relationship to the literature. Speakers and participants will discuss what constitutes a theoretical contribution and how to theorize and formulate a contribution.  
3. Another purpose of the seminar is to increase the participants’ awareness of the expectations of international journals and review processes. There will be a faculty panel on “how to publish” research papers. 

Seminar Coordinators:

• Eminegül Karababa, Department of Business Administration, Middle East Technical University, eminegul@metu.edu.tr
• Guliz Ger, Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University, ger@bilkent.edu.tr

Faculty:           

Russell Belk, York University

Dominique Desjeux, Université Paris Descartes

Eileen Fisher, York University

Güliz Ger, Bilkent University

Eminegül Karababa, Middle East Technical University

Olga Kravets, University of Royal Holloway

Steven Miles, Manchester Metropolitan University

Zeynep Arsel, Concordia University

Location and Dates: Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 10-16 June 2019

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, be evaluated, and receive course credit.  The number of participants is limited to 30. The tuition and fees for the seminar will be announced soon. 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 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. Letters of interest should be sent to cmctseminar@gmail.com as attachments to e-mail messages. The deadline for applications is 1 March 2019 (Friday). 

Seminar Program:

The program consists of lectures, panels, presentations, group work, and one-to-one meetings. Participants will receive a reading list upon registering for the seminar. 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 projects. They will be evaluated based on their presentation, participation, and the capacity shown in enriching their perspective. The details of the program is available here.