[Air-L] ICA Mobile Preconference

[Lee Humphreys]

Apologies for the cross-postings:

Call for Abstracts:

Seamlessly Mobile?: Mobile Communication @ a Crossroads
2011 International Communication Association (ICA) Pre-conference  
Workshop
http://sociomobile.org/mobile2011/Mobile2011/home.html

May 25 – 26, 2011, Boston MA, USA

Mobile phones are becoming increasingly adept as ubiquitous tools that  
serve purposes beyond that of mere voice communication.  How we  
conceptualize mobile-mediated communication alongside computer- 
mediated communication is less distinct as access to the Internet  
becomes more integrated into mobile phone devices.  Are people moving  
toward a more seamless integration of mobile and computer media as  
supporting their communication needs?  Is the integration of the  
Internet into mobile phones shifting how people conceptualize what it  
means to be “online” vs. “offline”?  Does this shift in mobile  
communication bear any social consequences?

This preconference will provide a venue for innovative scholars from  
around the world who are doing research in the area of mobile  
communication.  It will give them a chance to gather and discuss the  
challenges that this shift in the use of mobile phones poses not only  
for the users but for those doing research on mobile communication.   
We welcome abstracts that will focus on the following areas related to  
these provocative questions:

•       Patterns of mobile phone use and differences related to  
gender, age, lifestyle, culture, and/or access
•       Ethics and social responsibility of use, shifts in social  
expectations of remote vs. co-present others
•       Threats to privacy and issues of surveillance as they relate  
to technological innovations like GPS & location devices.
•       Research design and methodological challenges, including  
finding venues for one’s work
•       The expansion of online and offline social networking and its  
demands
•       Technology, design, and accessibility issues/challenges/ 
expansion and development (i.e. emerging markets)
•       Perceptions of use and imagining use beyond current  
capabilities (i.e. mobile fantasies, mobile art, mobile personalities,  
mobile witnessing/activism)

The preconference will be comprised of formal panel presentations,  
opportunities for informal discussions, and time for networking.  In  
addition there may be invited performances of innovative artists whose  
work focuses on mobile communication as it relates to the themes of  
this preconference.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words are due by November 15, 2010.
Please send them along with your name and contact information to Katie.cumiskey at csi.cuny.edu 
  .
Accepted abstracts will be notified by November 29, 2010.
Final papers will be due April 1, 2011.

Lead Organizers:
Dr. Kathleen M. Cumiskey, Associate Professor, Psychology Department,  
Director of Social Media Lab, College of Staten Island/CUNY, Staten  
Island, NY USA; Katie.cumiskey at csi.cuny.edu
Dr. Richard Ling, Head of Group Digital Culture and Mobile  
Communication, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen S, Denmark; rili at itu.dk
Dr. Scott Campbell, Assistant Professor and Pohs Fellow of  
Telecommunications, Department of Communication Studies, University of  
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA; swcamp at umich.edu
Dr. Lee Humphreys, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication,  
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; lmh13 at cornell.edu
Dr. Yi Fan Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and  
Theater Arts, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA; Y5Chen at odu.edu