“ICA@75: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research”
Planner: Dr. Rasha El-Ibiary
Vice-Chair and Program Planner
The American University in Cairo
E-mail: rousha@aucegypt.edu
The Activism, Communication and Social Justice (ACSJ) Interest Group promotes research and teaching in the intersections of three key aspects of contemporary life as captured in its name. Inline with the conference theme and CfP for ICA25 in Denver “ICA@75: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research” we believe that an interest Group like ours that centers disruption for social justice has something to say. We believe that public impact of scholarship originates from its valuable and impactful research on issues and research topics that matter.
ACSJ strives for originality in research, diversity in its membership and embraces pluralism and boldness in theory and methodology. It pushes the boundaries between theory and practice and forges links between scholarship and activism by encouraging dialogues and engagement with the stakeholders and communities.
We strive to disrupt and make underrepresented issues more visible to de-center our discipline through the richness of Activism, Communication and Social Justice research agenda. The ACSJ Interest Group encourages globalized conversations in our field. It welcomes contributions from all career phases, esp. emerging and early career scholars. We are proud to say that we are the fastest growing Interest Group and have a vibrant group of researchers that investigate cross-cutting issues of scholarly and societal relevance to push the boundaries of our field.
For ICA25 conference in Denver ACSJ invites submissions topics that relate to its description and the conference theme, from -but not limited to- to the following themes:
Conceptualization and theorization of activism (What is activism? What is social justice? What is communication? How are they related? What are the key questions to study?
Mediated activism in our contemporary world
Digital forms of activism, algorithmic and data activism
Activism, citizenship, and civic engagement
Historical and comparative studies of communicative practices related to activism
Media and transnational and global social movements
Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies for the study activism, communication, and social justice (research ethics, studying vulnerable groups, engagement, etc.)
Culture, communication, and activism
Media and collective identity
Media, memories, and activist generations
Social mobilization in different forms (e.g., manifestos, slogans, cartoons, memes)
Critical engagement with scholarship and activism
Media and marginalized racialized groups
We also welcome other topics related to the mission of ACSJ and the ICA25 call for papers that are not explicitly mentioned here including keywords like disability, Protests, revolution, and transformation processes related to the themes post-colonialism and Subaltern; Gender, Feminism and LGBTQ; Human rights, Climate and Environmental Activism; Counter-Publics; Marginalization; Globalization; Corruption, and activism against other forms of exclusion.
Principles for all submissions:
Originality: Submissions must adhere to the guidelines in the ICA general call for papers. Authors are not allowed to submit previously published papers or submitted in other conferences. The work must be original.
Anonymity: In individual submissions, please make sure to anonymize your submission or it will be automatically disqualified. That means that the authors’ names are not allowed to appear on the manuscript. This rule does not apply for the panel and roundtable submissions, as these are curated by the submitters.
Collegiality in peer-review: We believe in paying back to the community: Submitting a paper, abstract, a panel or roundtable proposal indicates you are automatically signed up to serve as reviewer for ACSJ. We ask you to write a few comments for the authors and not only score the paper numerically. Kindly be mindful of the tone of giving feedback.
Community-driven research: Paper and panel submissions which involve direct collaboration with community partners and activists, both in practice and in authorship, are encouraged.
Awarding the excellent papers: Papers authored by graduate students will be considered for the “ACSJ Top Student Paper Award.” Papers authored by faculty with a PhD will be considered for the “ACSJ Top Paper Award”. Please mark the correct check on authorship (Student paper / not a Student paper) when submitting in ScholarOne portal. Research Escalator submissions do not qualify for these awards.
ACSJ accepts two types of submissions as per ScholarOne online portal (please consult the general ICA CfP and instructions for authors on the technical aspexts of submitting a paper or a panel):
Category A: Individual submissions:
1. Full paper submissions (7,000- 8,000 words, including references, tables, etc.)
2. Extended abstracts (to be marked as Work-in-Progress before the title, should not exceed 1,500 words, including references)
3. Research Escalator paper proposals -to be submitted through the “Extended Abstract” option in ScholarOne, marked as Research Escalator before the title, should not exceed 600 words, excluding references. (See more detailed information below under detailed information on submission types).
Category B: Session Submissions:
4. Organized panel proposals, either in a high-density format with 5 papers, or standard panel with 4 papers. (See more detailed information below under detailed information on submission types).
5. Roundtable proposals: feature 5 speakers on one topic, 1 chair (See more detailed information below under detailed information on submission types)
Detailed information on submission types:
Information on Research Escalator Submissions for the Research Escalator Session:
The Research Escalator session is a mentorship opportunity for early career scholars, those new to ICA, or scholars with a work-in-progress to receive feedback and support on a project that is being developed, with the goal of eventually turning into a conference submission or journal article.
We are particularly interested in Research Escalator submissions from early-career researchers, broadly defined, and especially PhD students and early postdoctoral fellows. If you are interested, you should submit an extended abstract (max. 600 words) of your paper, not including title, abstract, tables, figures, and references. You will submit this by choosing the “Extended Abstract” option in ScholarOne and adding “Research Escalator” before your paper title and in your title page (e.g. Research Escalator: Paper Title). Please delete all identifying information before submitting your abstract for the anonymous peer-review.
During the conference, time will be set aside specifically for the research escalator sessions. Submitters will meet with their mentors in one-on-one mentorship meetings to discuss their feedback on the submission (audience members are welcome and encouraged to attend these conversations as well). At the end of the session, all will re-group and submitters will give a short “recap” of new directions/goals as well as highlight the main points they took away from their mentorship sessions.
If the abstract is selected for mentorship, submitters are expected to send the most recent version of their paper to their mentor 6 weeks prior to the conference so that they have sufficient time to review the manuscript.
Information on Organized panel submissions and roundtable proposals
Those submission types occur through the Session Proposal tab in ScholarOne. They must include the following:
400-word abstract and rationale for the panel or roundtable proposal
150-word abstract for each of the papers on the panel followed by a brief description of each panelist’s qualifications regarding the proposed topic.
75-word description of the panel or roundtable to be published in the conference program (it can repeat some of the 400 words abstract).
All panel submissions (general and theme) should include contributions from at least two different countries; not more than one contributor from a single institution, department or school in more than one submission in the same panel; and generally, be mindful to panelist diversity in terms of gender, background, country, etc.
For further questions please write to:
Rasha El-Ibiary, Associate Professor (Adj.), The American University in Cairo, rousha@aucegypt.edu
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