The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites proposals for IAMCR 2023, to be held in Lyon, France, from 9 to 13 July (Lyon23) with an Online Conference Papers (OCP23) component from 26 June to 5 July.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 9 February 2023 at 23h59 UTC.
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups >
The Emerging Scholars Network welcomes proposals from early career scholars that address the section’s interests in communication research that promotes universal values of solidarity, equality, and respect. As a section dedicated to the support and development of emerging scholarship, our section welcomes works in progress, work that creates frameworks for new ideas in research and teaching, and panels and special sessions addressing publishing, mentoring, academic work and academic jobs, innovative research methodologies, and language barriers in academia.
Authors are encouraged to submit proposals related to the conference’s central theme of inhabiting the planet, outlined in detail below. The section also welcomes proposals on topics of interest to the ESN, including community media; media, protest, and activism; media and education; media and identity (including gender, LGBTQ2+, ethnic and racial identity; and indigenous media); and communication policy and governance.
New this year the ESN encourages submissions to joint sessions being held with the Gender and Communication Section (GEN); Political Economy Section (POE); Communication Policy & Technology Section (CPT); the International Communication Section (INC); the Environment, Science, and Risk Communication Working Group (ESR); and Communication & Alternative Media sections (CCAM). Please see below for more details about submitting your proposal to these special sessions.
Main theme – Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond
IAMCR conferences have a main conference theme that is explored from multiple perspectives throughout the conference in plenaries and other moments, including the programmes of the thematic sections and working groups. Additionally, each section and working group also defines some of its own themes, which are described in their individual calls for proposals. Proposals for contributions to the conference are submitted to the sections and working groups and may focus on an aspect of the main conference theme as it relates to the concerns of the section or working group, or address a theme identified by the section or working group.
The main theme for IAMCR 2023, “Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond,” is concerned with possibilities for rethinking communication research agendas at a time when the irreversible effects of climate change is compounded by stark geopolitical, sociocultural and religious tensions in human communities. At this juncture, urgent reflection and research is needed on how we can hope to flourish today and in the future, and also how media and communication tools and environments can be positive forces and spaces for change.
Five sub-themes of this central theme have been identified: Humanity and progress; democracy; media, information and communication; cities and territories; and environmental accountability.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme and its sub-themes
2023 Joint Sessions: Opportunities for feedback, mentorship, and building research communities
New at the 2023 IAMCR conference, the Emerging Scholars Network has partnered with six other sections to create joint sessions that will allow for discussion, feedback, and mentoring between emerging scholars and established members of other research communities. These sessions will be chaired by a discussant from the partner section and provide an opportunity to meet like-minded peers and receive feedback from experienced scholars within the field.
You are invited to apply directly to these joint sessions by identifying the panel in the title of your submission (ex. Title of Paper - CPT/ESN Joint Session). The joint sessions are as follows:
- Communication, Policy & Technology Section (CPT/ESN). Papers submitted to this session should engage with related policy issues around media, communication technologies, and online platforms.
- Gender and Communication Section (GEN/ESN). Papers submitted to this session should engage with theory and practice and explore the relationship between gender, media, and communication.
- Political Economy Section (POE/ESN). Papers submitted to this session should engage with the political-economic logic, structures, and social imaginaries that shape the processes and environments of media and communication.
- Environment, Science & Risk Communication Working Group (ESR/ESN). Papers submitted to this session should explore the role of media and other stakeholders in reporting and communicating about a plethora of environmental issues that include climate change, energy-related conflicts, conservation, and others.
- Community Communication and Alternative Media Section (CCAM/ESN). Papers submitted to this session should explore the objectives, practices, and dynamics of community, alternative and citizens' media, including issues of localism, politics, socio-economics, language, ethnicity, gender, or other interests and intersections.
- International Communication Section (INC/ESN). This session is entitled “Emerging Scholarship in International Communication.” Papers submitted to this session should engage with national, inter-regional and international issues that have to do with all subjects of communication, including journalism, political communication, globalisation, and other inter-cultural forms of expression.
Contributing to the conference: Lyon23 and OCP23
There will be two ways of joining IAMCR2023:
- If you are not able to or don’t want to join the face-to-face conference in Lyon but do want to submit an online-only paper, submit your abstract to OCP23 only. If accepted, you’ll later submit your full paper to the online platform, which will be open for discussion from 26 June to 5 July.
- If you do want to join the face-to-face event, submit your abstract to Lyon23 and OCP23. If accepted you’ll submit your paper to the online platform and present it at the face-to-face conference.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts should have between 300 and 500 words and must be submitted online here. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.
It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should an author submit more than two abstracts as a single author or as the lead author of a co-authored paper and no author will submit more than one abstract to the Emerging Scholars Network Section. The same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one section or working group. Any such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected.
Proposals for panels can only be submitted to Lyon23 and OCP23. Panel submissions must include an abstract for each paper submitted here and a description & supplemental information submitted via this form on the conference website.
The deadline to submit abstracts is 9 February 2022 at 23h59 UTC.
See important dates and deadlines to keep in mind
Languages
The Emerging Scholars Network Section accepts abstracts in each of the three official IAMCR languages - English, French, and Spanish.
For further information about the ESN section, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact the Head of the section:
Sibo Chen
sibo.chen [at] ryerson.ca
or
Steph Hill
steph.hill [at] ryerson.ca
