The 18th Edition of the Romanian-French Bilateral Conference

The Center for Research in Communication organized along with the University of Bucharest (Centre for Media Studies and New Communication Technologies) and Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, the 18th edition of the Romanian-French Bilateral Conference in Information and Communication Sciences. The conference took place from June, the 30th to July, the 2nd, 2011, at the University of Bucharest.

This year’s edition - Traces, mémoires et Communication addressed "some of the facets of the concept of trace in terms of communication, this perspective assuming a whole epistemological approach: the trace being understood not only as a simple mark of facts or as a memory, but mainly as a symbolic construction intended to be interpreted. In other words, the relationship among evidence, trace and drawn - incorporated report in writings as different media recording techniques, is central in the context of social productions. The essential idea of this problem is that the trace naturally falls into a temporal dimension that integrates the continuity between past and present and questions its visibility (or invisibility), given the attention that we pay."

There were three main axes of approaching the concept of trace which was the key element within the issues of the colloquium. The axes were:
Axis 1 - Traces, media and new information and communication technologies: multidisciplinary approach
Axis 2 - Trace, communication and anthropology
Axis 3 - Traces and patrimonies

The welcome addresses within the opening of the colloquium were given by Ioan Pânzaru, rector of the University of Bucharest; Poliana Ştefănescu and Nicolas Pélissier, co-organizers of the symposium; Ioan Drăgan, president of the Romanian scientific council, Jean-François Tétu, president of the French scientific council; Fabien Flori, scientific and cultural attaché and deputy director of French Institute in Bucharest, (co-financier of the symposium) and Liliane Ramarosoa, director of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie in Bucharest. The inaugural conference was chaired by Paul Rasse director of the I3M laboratory, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, who presented the paper “Mutation des cultures traditionnelles et problématique de la protection du petit patrimoine fragile: le cas du pays Maramureş”. Afterwards, it followed the inaugural presentation of the three axes in order to introduce the meanings of the concepts to be discussed and to pave the way for research findings that were to be presented.

Ioan Drăgan and Jaques Walter approached the first axis Traces, médias et TIC: approche pluridisciplinaire, Pascal Lardellier the axis Trace, anthropologie et communication, while Camelia Beciu and Gino Gramaccia approached the axis Traces et patrimonies. The conference consisted of three sessions for each axis meant for deepening the concept of trace from the perspective of new technologies, communication, anthropology and cultural heritage..

The conference included also a workshop dedicated to PhD students, moderated by Béatrice Fleury, Michèle Gellereau, Nicolas Pélissier, Mirela Lazăr and Poliana Ştefănesc; the public conference Traumatisme et mémoires chaired by Serge Tisseron; and presentations of research projects.

The closing session of the colloquium included a summary of the discussions on issues covered by the three axes presented by Ioan Drăgan, Jaques Walter, Pascal Lardellier, Camelia Beciu and Gino Gramaccia, and a part of conclusions presented by Nicolas Pélissier, Ioan Drăgan and Jean-François Tétu.

The conference addressed the issue of "interaction among the concept of trace, memory and communication, both at individual and social level, taking into account that any rupture between the individual and society is caused by the artifact", this relationship being examined in its various forms and systematized in the three axes of the symposium modulated on the report of trace - media and new information and communication technologies, communication and anthropology, patrimonies.