[Air-L] CfP ICA's Doctoral Consortium of Communication and Technology and Mobile Communication

[M.L. Antheunis]

CALL FOR STUDENT PROPOSALS

10th Annual Doctoral Consortium of the Communication and Technology Division
co-sponsored by the Mobile Communication Interest Group of
the International Communication Association (ICA)

Friday, 24 May 2019 | Washington DC, exact location to be announced

Description
The consortium will bring together PhD candidates conducting research on various types of communication technologies and mobile communication to give them the opportunity to present and discuss their research in a constructive and international atmosphere. The objectives of the event are to provide feedback and advice to participating PhD candidates on their in-progress research thesis. Moreover, the Doctoral Consortium will provide the opportunity to meet experts as well as fellow PhD candidates from different backgrounds working on related topics.

During the consortium, students and faculty will be organized into small groups, determined by the thematic nature of the research. In each group, students will present their work, and receive feedback from their fellow students and faculty participants, all of whom will have read the proposals in advance of the Doctoral Consortium. Each proposal will receive detailed feedback from three faculty participants. There will be two poster sessions to allow participants from other groups to learn about and comment on the research of the PhD candidates.

In addition to the presentation and critique of proposals, there will be discussion of issues related to making the transition from graduate student to faculty member. Of course, this process differs widely across different nations and academic traditions. Bearing these differences in mind, we will discuss positioning one’s work for the job market, strategies for publication, the interviewing process and other aspects of faculty job searches. Anticipating a time when participants will have an academic position, the discussion will include issues like managing workload and working relationships, finding a work/life balance, and ways of being a successful academic.

Submission Process
Applicants must be advanced to candidacy and have their dissertation proposal topic previously approved by their committee or supervisor. Ideally, students will be in the early stages of their dissertation, where feedback would be helpful in refining and advancing their work. To apply, students must submit a proposal describing their research.

Submissions must be related to one of the working areas of the Communication and Technology Division (CAT) or the Mobile Communication Interest Group (MCIG) of the International Communication Association (ICA). A description of the respective research areas can be found in the last section of this call. We encourage students to closely read these descriptions, as we will not consider any submissions not fitting the working areas of Cat or MCIG. In your submission, please identify whether you’re submitting to MCIG or CAT.

Proposals must identify a significant problem (or problems) in a relevant field of research, briefly outline current knowledge of the problem domain, and clearly formulate a research question, or specify hypotheses to be tested. Proposals should outline the research approach, methods, and any results obtained so far. Submissions should be between 3000 and 4000 words (excluding references and appendices) and must include name and affiliation of the PhD candidate.

Applications need to be accompanied by a short letter of recommendation from the advisor or member of the dissertation committee stating how the PhD candidate can benefit from participation in the Doctoral Consortium.

The proposal and letter of recommendation must be submitted as one PDF document and sent as an attachment in an email to Veronika Karnowski at veronika.karnowski at ifkw.lmu.de<mailto:veronika.karnowski at ifkw.lmu.de>. The deadline for submission is 1 February 2019. Submitted proposals will be reviewed by the members of the program committee based on significance of research, specificity of research topic and/or questions, clarity of writing and degree to which student can benefit from expert guidance and feedback.

To help ensure the consortium best meets the needs of its members, limited financial assistance is made possible by the CAT Division and the MCIG. Please note in your application if you would like to be considered for financial support to cover your costs for participation in the Doctoral Consortium (this support would cover only the $75 participation fee and not travel to the conference).

About the Communication and Technology Division
The CAT Division is concerned with the role played by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the process of communication. It is committed to enhancing theory and methodology pertaining to adoption, usage, effects, and policy of ICTs. Areas of research include human-computer interaction, computer-mediated communication, mobile communication, and other technologically mediated social interaction and networking in all contexts (interpersonal, group, organizational, societal/cultural) and at all levels of analyses. CAT invites papers that make an innovative and original contribution to our understanding of ICTs, with the primary focus on communication aspects of particular technological characteristics.

About the Mobile Communication Interest Group
The MCIG focuses on the phenomenon of mobility in communication – thus being placed on the intersection of mobility, technology, and culture in human communication. While including a wide array of perspectives and approaches in communication scholarship from historical perspectives to studies on future media innovations, from ethnographic to quantitative empirical approaches, from journalism studies to media effects research the common ground of the Interest Group is state of the art theorizing on mobile communication as well as the discussion of adequate methodology to do so.

Registration
Participation is only by invitation. Once a proposal is accepted, students can register through the ICA website. Cost for participation is US$75 per person.

Steering Committee
Marjolijn L. Antheunis, Tilburg U, Netherlands (Program Director)
Katy Pearce, U of Washington, USA (Program committee)
Veronika Karnowski, LMU Munich, Germany (Program committee)
German Neubaum, U of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (Program committee)

Faculty members will be announced later