Istanbul 2011 - International Communication Section Call for Papers

The International Communication Section of the IAMCR invites research proposals on the conference theme -Cities, Creativity, Connectivity- within and/or across national borders. In the heavily networked world of today, terms such as "international" and "global" have acquired renewed and new meanings, practices, status, and power relations in the media and communication arenas.  Connections and divisions suggested by the conference theme are both old (as in metropolis-colony) and new (for example, the new global cities and related media connections at every level, institutional and individual).

We especially welcome submissions from and about the global South, with an emphasis on international development. Other submissions on more general areas of interest to the International Communication section will also be considered.

Proposals related to the conference theme may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Urban policy-making for media and communication in rural development - contradictions, possibilities
• Recent and new actors (media NGOs,  the third sector) and the city in the global South
• Media technologies and urban, semi-urban and rural divides and connectivities, with special attention to Web 2.0-based media and M4D (mobile technologies for development)
• Urban development movements and the media
• Marginalized migratory populations (e.g., in urban slums), and media-related representations, practices, and information-seeking behaviours
• Media communication, contemporary built environments, and themes of sustainability in the global South
• Communication and the remaking of cities in post-colonies
• The virtual as transnational metropolis

Additionally, proposals are invited for more general areas of interest to the International Communication Section, which include:

• Press systems and international journalism
• Comparative media research
• Challenges and opportunities presented by the processes of globalization to media and communication (including technology, culture, mobility, labour, migrations, etc.)
• Information and communication flow
• Global media industries
• Global media ethics
• Media and foreign policy
• Media and international crises
• Theoretical and methodological concerns for studying global/international communication

Preparation and submission of paper and panel abstracts

Please ensure that abstracts contain the following:

1. Title of the paper.
2. Length: Up to 500 words.
3. Content: The section welcomes a variety of perspectives and methods. For full-fledged studies, reviewers will look for a clear idea of the following: what is the topic and why is it important to know about the research (significance of the study), the main question or research problem addressed, some form of conceptual framework or theory that inspires the paper, methods used to answer the main questions posed, anticipated analysis, and expected outcomes. For reviews and syntheses, some idea of framework, questions, methods and sources have to be addressed in the abstract, to help evaluate the submission.
4. Author information: The name(s) of author(s) and title (professor, postdoctoral fellow, graduate student, etc.), institutional affiliation, e-mail address, postal, phone and fax information should be provided on a cover page. All identifying information should be kept separate from the abstract page itself. To ensure connection between the cover sheet and the abstract, include a title-similar running head on the abstract page.
5. Number of submissions: Only one submission per author or co-author will be considered for review in the International Communication Section.
6. Official languages of the IAMCR: Although IAMCR accepts presentations in Spanish, English, and French, we encourage abstract submissions in English to facilitate timely completion of the reviews and selections for the conference.

Abstracts should be submitted to the Open Conference System (OCS) using the link to be found on the official Istanbul conference website. OCS will begin accepting submissions from 01 December 2010.

The deadline for submission of paper abstracts is 08 February 2011.

For questions, please contact: