Call for proposals: ICA24 Regional Hub Application. Deadline: 1 December 2023.
In conjunction with the International Communication Association’s 74th (hybrid) annual conference on 20-24 June 2024 in Gold Coast, Australia, the organization welcomes proposals for ICA Regional Hubs worldwide to host events concurrent with the annual ICA conference. While there is no substitute for an in-person experience at an ICA conference, they recognize that a significant and growing proportion of ICA membership resides in the Global South, making travel to in-person attendance inaccessible due to fiscal, political, environmental, and, as underscored during the pandemic, health hurdles. In response to these concerns, ICA’s Regional Hubs Initiative offers a window into ICA – its community and scholarship. It reflects ICA’s commitment to be welcoming to a broader global community of communication scholars. Since its inception at the virtual ICA 2021 and continuing at the hybrid conferences in ICA22 and ICA23, each year, ICA has hosted over 10 ICA Regional Hubs.
Regional hubs host sessions for regional submissions, with some hubs receiving over 100 submissions, from which some were selected for oral presentation and others for posters. Most of the hubs hosted guest lectures from scholars worldwide, including some who joined from other Regional Hubs. Some Hubs live-streamed presentations and sessions from the primary conference location (Gold Coast in 2024) and organized local panels to facilitate discussion around them. A few organized Blue Sky workshops or workshops on special topics such as scholarly publishing, submitting grants, and scholarship applications. Some hubs live-streamed their events on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube and often garnered considerable local media coverage. Finally, in some cases, the hubs hosted those presenting papers selected for the ICA conference remotely from their locations.
In support of this initiative, ICA provides the opportunity to apply for modest financial support as an attendance “hub” for attendees in one area. Organizers of a proposed hub should nominate one person to fill out the application and serve as the sole point of contact for ICA headquarters. This person should, before filling out the application, ascertain how many attendees they anticipate inviting to take part in their hub experience, obtain permission from the facility in question, and include estimated expenses for both in their proposal.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 