Category: Conferences

CFP ICA 2025: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research (USA)

ConferencesCall for papers: ICA@75: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research, Denver, Colorado, USA, 12-16 June 2025. Deadline: 1 November 2024.

Addressing the International Communication Association’s 75th anniversary, the 2025 conference theme is an invitation to critically reflect on communication studies as a discipline and ICA as an agent and site of disciplinary development. Theme sessions will take stock of our past, critically review present developments, and chart out future avenues for communication research. Organizers particularly welcome contributions speaking to three important aspects of the theme: communication scholarship as a transformative and stabilizing force in society, as a research practice that can be both revolutionary and consolidating, and communication studies as a disrupted and resilient discipline. In all these contexts, elements of disruption and consolidation are not necessarily antithetical but may productively be framed as a dialectical relationship.

ICA has made significant strides in amplifying the visibility of communication scholarship beyond academia. From democratic backsliding to climate change and conflict transformation, our discipline is poised to provide relevant answers to many burning questions of our time. Through public scholarship, communication scholars can make themselves useful by addressing the problems of the world’s current polycrisis. They may act as a transformative voice in society (by advocating social change) and as a stabilizing force (by maintaining democracy or social justice). A key issue in this context is the sometimes troubled relationship between scholarship and advocacy.

The public impact of scholarship is typically connected to a discipline’s ability to generate original knowledge. During the past 75 years, communication research has exponentially grown in terms of quantity. However, across a variety of disciplines and academic fields, such expansion is mostly attributed to the growth in studies that consolidate existing knowledge, pushing aside disruptive and revolutionary scholarship that forges new directions and breaks existing paradigms. The progressive fragmentation of the discipline may have contributed to this trend, along with persisting social and global inequalities in academia as well as a publication and review culture that tends to disadvantage certain types of research and scholarly communities, including those from the Global South.

Communication research is facing these issues while itself being disrupted on multiple fronts and, perhaps, with unprecedented consequences. AI-based technologies have started revolutionizing scholarly practice with vast implications for the way we conduct and evaluate scholarship. In addition to high levels of insecurity and precarity, researchers face growing demands to publish in prestigious venues, obtain large grants, and participate in reviewing and evaluations, all putting heavy mental strain on scholars. Through this call, we encourage the discipline to think about possible ways to consolidate our research environment by growing resilience and developing effective coping strategies.

In this spirit, organizers invite submissions for papers and panel proposals that address the conference theme along the lines of the outlined three areas. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following issues and topics:

  • Strategies to increase the visibility and impact of communication scholarship addressing the problems of our time
  • The relationship between scholarship and advocacy as well as obstacles to public scholarship and ways to overcome them
  • Research-based disruptions of dominant theories guiding communication inquiry
  • Historical trajectories of communication scholarship that have disrupted other fields of research and where communication studies has been disrupted by other disciplines
  • The cross-fertilization of communication research through disruptions originating from within
  • Research-based disruptions of dominant modes of communication inquiry from the Global South
  • The impact of AI on the conduct and evaluation of communication scholarship
  • The political economy of scholarship for the discipline’s ability to generate original knowledge
  • Assessments of growing academic demands and the resulting mental toll
  • Strategies to grow resilience and cultivate solidarity networks among various academic communities

CFP: Family Language Policy Conference (Ireland)

“Collaborative

Call for papers: Family Language Policy Conference: Reimagining the Field, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland, 22-23 October 2024. Deadline: 31 July 2024.

In their 2008 paper, King et al. laid the foundation for the emergence of the field that came to be recognised as Family Language Policy (FLP). Since then, this field of inquiry has received an increasing amount of scholarly attention and has evolved into a burgeoning field over the last decade. In this short time span, the core interests of FLP have shifted: While it initially attempted “to draw direct causal links across ideologies, practices, and outcomes”, it moved on to examining “how families are constructed through multilingual language practices, and how language functions as a resource for this process of family making and meaning making” (King 2016: 728). Recent FLP scholarship has pointed to the necessity of putting under scrutiny the central concepts of family, language, and language policy and not departing from taken-for-granted notions in order to produce situated accounts of FLP (Lanza & Lomeu Gomes 2020). A recent proposal even suggests reimagining the field “under the more all-encompassing label of family multilingualism” (Léglise 2023: 288), arguing that the institutionalisation of FLP as a field has marginalised different kinds of knowledges pertinent to family multilingualism.

Encouraged by the impetus of these and other reflections on the foundations of research on family language policy and family multilingualism, this Hybrid International Conference on Family Language Policy is being organised under the theme of Reimagining the Field. The aim is to provide a forum for discussing epistemological, theoretical and methodological considerations around FLP and family multilingualism (FM), for setting future research agendas and for exploring possibilities for establishing regular venues for such exchange.

Contributions in the form of papers and symposia are welcomed on the following issues:
• Epistemological foundations of FLP/FM
• Key theoretical concepts in FLP/FM
• Nexus of FLP/FM and the wider community
• Interaction between FLP/FM and educational institutions
• Children’s agency
• Digital and multimodal interaction in the family
• Affect and emotion in FLP/FM
• FLP/FM and political economy
• Participatory approaches in FLP/FM

CFP: Institute of General Semantics Symposium on Communication, Consciousness, and Culture (USA)

“Collaborative

Call for papers and proposals for Communication, Consciousness, and Culture: A Symposium Sponsored by the Institute of General Semantics, co-sponsored by the New York Society for General Semantics, Media Ecology Association, International Bateson Institute, Tomkins Institute, and the 404 Festival of Art and Technology, September 20-22, 2024, The Players, 16 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. Deadline: 18 August 2024.

Organizers welcome papers and proposals that fit the symposium theme or that otherwise relate to the topics of general semantics, linguistics and semiotics, media ecology, communication and culture, science and the empirical method, epistemology and phenomenology, cybernetics and systems theory, technology and society, art and perception, cognition and consciousness, evolution and emergence, health and human potential, etc.

 

CFP: IN SITU Horizons of Sustainability (Croatia)

“Collaborative

Call for papers, IN SITU: Horizons of Sustainability: The Power of Creative Innovation for Transformation of Rural and Non-urban Futures, Šibenik, Croatia, 25-27 September 2024. Deadline: 8 July 2024.

IN SITU is a four-year project that combines research and experimental actions to advance the innovation-related practices, capacities, and potentials of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) based in non-urban and rural areas of the EU. The project aims to better understand their forms, processes, and governance needs and to advance the ability of non-urban and rural CCIs to act as drivers of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability. Ultimately, the aim is to contribute to a more informed and sustainable future for practitioners in cultural and creative industries based in non-urban and rural areas.

This first international conference of the IN SITU project will explore the transformative power of innovative approaches of cultural and creative agents in forging more equitable and sustainable communities beyond urban centres.

In this event, organizers wish to inspire new ways of learning from one another. They aim to create an intimate environment that enables meaningful discussions and networking opportunities across research, culture-based creative practice, and planning and policy-making spheres. Therefore, within the conference, they will create different spaces and opportunities to foster exchange and dialogue with non-conventional approaches that fully place participants in the context of the place where the event is located. This also means that the number of presentations will be limited to allow for these other approaches.

They invite proposals for presentations of papers and projects from scholars, researchers, artists, cultural practitioners, activists, policymakers and decision-makers from across the world and a broad range of disciplines. All proposals should make an original contribution to the topic of place-based innovation and the transformative power of the creative and cultural sector in forging more equitable and sustainable communities in rural and non-urban areas.

Call for Signatures for NCA African Communication Division (USA)

“Collaborative

Call for signatures for a new African Communication Division, National Communication Association, USA.

NCA Members Godfried Asante, Ph.D. (San Diego State University), Chrindo Kundai, Ph.D. (Lewis and Clark University), Nana Kwame Fordjour, Ph.D. (University of Maryland College Park), Eric Karikari, Ph.D. (Towson University), and Jenna Hanchey, Ph.D. (Arizona State University), Prisca Ngongo Ph.D (Texas State University) and Anna Klyueva Ph.D (University of Houston, Clear-Lake) are leading an effort to propose a new African Communication Studies Division at NCA.

A division focused on communication topics in the diverse African continent is timely and relevant. Such a division can help further NCA’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity, as well as centralize and advance the study of communication topics on and about the African continent. While providing an academic center to those conducting research and teaching about the African continent, a new African Communication Studies Division will highlight the value of scholarship in this region and cultivate more academic interest. This Division will serve as a dedicated space to share and promote the African communication scholarship covering a range of communication subfields. Organizers seek 300 signatures from current NCA members in support of the effort. Please sign using this link.

CFP 15th International Symposium on Bilingualism (Spain)

Conferences

Call for papers: 15th International Symposium on Bilingualism: The Different Faces of Bilingualism, San Sebastián, Spain, 9-13 June 2025. Deadline: for Symposium Submission: deadline extended to 13 November 2024.

“The Different Faces of Bilingualism” is a deliberately broad theme for ISB15, aimed at meeting ISB’s mission to create a space for researchers with a diverse range of interests to share their knowledge and gain new perspectives, and to foster meaningful cross-disciplinary collaborations. We hope to bring together researchers working on different faces of bilingualism, including different research areas, methodological approaches, and populations. In line with this aim, we have invited plenary speakers who represent different faces of bilingualism, from sociolinguistics to education, psycholinguistics to translation. This broad theme reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the organizing committee, based in a center of excellence for neuroscientific research into language and bilingualism. To capitalize on this expertise, ISB15 will feature The Bilingual Brain Day, which is intended to share the core insights of the field with researchers of other areas and to discuss the state-of-the-art with researchers in the field. The conference theme also aims to promote inclusivity, inspired by its location in the Spanish Basque Country, one of the few regions in the world that has successfully revived its bilingual heritage across all aspects of society.

Note that this is a call specifically for symposium proposals. Symposia are 120-minute blocks that allow for extended, interactive discussion on a specific topic, focusing on a cluster of independent yet related papers. Each symposium consists of four slots, and should consist either of four presentations, or of three presentations and a discussion. Abstract submission for individual papers will be possible starting 18 September 2024. For any inquiries, please reach out to isb2025@bcbl.eu

CFP South Asia Communication Association @ AEJMC 2024 (USA)

ConferencesCall for papers: South Asia Communication Association @ AEJMC, Philadelphia, PA, Aug. 8-11, 2024. Deadline: 28 April 2024.

Submissions are invited for “Representation and Voice — The Future of Democracy: Media
Research on South Asia & Its Diaspora Worldwide,” the 2024 South Asia Communication Association (SACA)’s refereed-research session at the 107th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), which will be held in Philadelphia, PA, at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. There will be two interactive research sessions, August 8 and August 9. Organizers invite you to submit your research on media and communication in South Asia or its diaspora worldwide across a wide range of perspectives and approaches.

Cyber-Conference on Dispute Resolution 2024 (Online)

Conferences
14th Annual International Cyber-Conference on Dispute Resolution, 10 April 2024, Noon – 2:45 pm (US Pacific Coast Time).

The Cyber-conference promotes a global town-hall style dialogue between students, professors, mediators, arbitrators, Indigenous Peacemakers, scholars, lawyers, judges, law-makers, policy think-tanks, community leaders, and restorative practitioners in both the public and private sector. The conference supports the work of the peace-builders and dispute-resolution practitioners working in a variety of locations all around the globe.

CFP Japan-US Communication Association 2024

ConferencesCall for submissions: Japan-US Communication Association, held as part of National Communication Association’s convention, 21-24 November 2024, New Orleans, LA, USA. Deadline: 5 April 2024.

The Japan-U.S. Communication Association (JUCA) invites individual paper submissions for competitive review for the 110th NCA Annual Convention (November 21–24, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana). Papers may address issues in any area of communication, including communication technology, social media, digital, pop culture, mass media, journalism, public relations, advertising, interpersonal, small-group, organizational, international, rhetoric, politics, health, peace, environment, cultural identity, gender, and critical/cultural studies. All methods are welcome. However, they must be related to Japan or Japanese people/culture in some way, such as Japanese indigenous communication, Japan–U.S. communication or relations, and communication between Japanese and people of any nation. Individual papers reflecting the 2024 convention theme, “Communication for Greater Regard,” are particularly desired. The convention theme invites paper and panel submissions that examine the stewardship of communication for greater regard for what has been before us, what is presently around us, and what will be beyond us, as well as other topics that relate to the convention theme.

CFP IICD of NCA 2024

ConferencesCall for submissions: International & Intercultural Communication Division, National Communication Association, 21-24 November 2024, New Orleans, LA, USA. Deadline: 5 April 2024.

The International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) of the National Communication Association invites scholarly submissions that examine, question, and/or critique communication in and across cultural, intercultural, and international contexts. Four kinds of submissions will be considered this year: (1) individual papers, (2) paper sessions, (3) panel discussions, and (4) performance sessions.

National Communication Association’s 110th annual convention theme is “Communication for Greater Regard.” The convention theme encourages scholars, teachers, practitioners, and performers in the field of international and intercultural communication to share new ideas, pursue new lines of inquiry, engage diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, foster interdisciplinary collaborations, and produce transformative scholarship. Explore communication for greater regard in three ways: 1) greater regard for what has been done before us, (2) greater regard for what is presently around us, and (3) greater regard for what will be beyond us. Specific questions to address: What does it seem the discipline has regarded for 100+ years? How does communication function in today’s climate to enrich greater regard, how has this shifted over the years, or does it need to shift in the future? How is greater regard currently exhibited in communication research, teaching, service, and practice? How are priorities and power structures shaped in the discipline and/or in human communication endeavors through greater regard or to create greater regard? What intentional contributions should we be actively undertaking to foster greater regard?

The division also encourage submitters to consider the following: How do international and intercultural communication scholars explore the past, the present, and the future of our field? What issues have been ignored/dismissed in our field and should be given attention/consideration? What are the new trends within international and intercultural communication? How can we reconcile past, present, and future trends to help our field move forward? How do we think about intercultural and international communication in the current political climate and crisis of wars? How do we move forward with international and intercultural communication while thinking about social justice? How is intercultural communication responding to racial justice movements, anti-Blackness, indigeneity, and hate crimes against Asian communities? How is technology influencing culture and politics? How do we develop critical intercultural ethics in the face of global pandemics and health crises?