We have programmed an intriguing array of Theme Session panels that cover everything from ICA's collaborations with other communication associations on issues of social change through new methodologies and multidisciplinary as well as transnational initiatives. We have scheduled our Theme Sessions throughout our Montréal conference and already have a website in which all of these sessions as well as our Miniplenaries are posted (see http://www.coms.ohiou.edu/ica). I'd like to thank our Theme Session co-chairs, Lynn Harter and Mohan Dutta, for their work on this website and for the Call for Submissions for the 2008 Theme Book that is posted in this newsletter.

Because these theme panels are so easily accessible on the website listed above, I'll simply list the offerings (and locations) and highlight a few points. I encourage everyone to take a look at the panel descriptions and the speakers-they are a great series of sessions that touch just about every interest of ICA members.

Some thing to keep in mind are that the Theme Sessions typically are discussion panels designed to integrate and promote discovery, learning, and engagement as panelists and audience members take up the conversation on particular topics. Another aspect to note is that these panels feature participants from different regions of the world (e.g., "When the Internet Reaches the Villages" has speakers from South Africa, Brazil, China, India, and the United States) and associations (e.g., "Re-Envisioning Research Methods to Communicate for Social Impact," features Simon Ellis, among other experts in methodologies, who is Head of Science Culture and Communications for the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. He'll speak about the framework UNESCO is developing for "assessing the degree to which every country 'enables' people to access the information they need for their everyday lives under UNESCO's Information for All programme with links to established goals of the World Summit on the Information Society, Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals."

On Friday, May 23, 2008, we have four Theme sessions:

• Preparing Students to Communicate for Social Impact in Jesuit Education (9:00-10:15 am in the Drummond Centre of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Leading Communication Associations for Social Impact: CCA (Council of Communication Associations) Address the Future of the Field (10:30-11:45 am in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Re-Envisioning Research Methods to Communicate for Social Impact (1:30-2:45 pm in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)
• When the Internet Reaches the Villages (4:30-5:45 pm in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)

On Saturday, May 24, 2008, we have programmed another 4 sessions that challenge ICA members to engage others as public intellectuals, in dialogue and deliberation, and converse about disability through film and the discussion among experts and community members when documentaries prompt greater awareness and desire for change. We also honor our top paper submissions to our Theme Sessions.

• Communications Scholars as Public Intellectuals: Challenges and Responsibilities (9:00-10:15 am in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Communication Innovation in Conflict, Collaboration, Deliberation, and Dialogue (10:30-11:45 pm in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Top Papers Related to the ICA Conference Theme: Communicating for Social Impact (1:30-2:45 pm in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Documenting and Disrupting (Dis)ability Through Film: Communicating for Social Impact (3:00-4:15 pm in the East Ballroom of Le Centre Sheraton)

Immigration issues, rebuilding after natural disasters, citizenship, health-new media intersections, and global concerns about technical and scientific expertise, among other topics, are featured in our final set of Theme Session panels on Sunday, May 25, 2008:

• Communication in Action: Scholarly Intervention at Local and National Levels (9:00-10:15 pm in Drummond West of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Convergence and Collaboration: Communication Research, Activism, and Education for the Common Good (10:30-11:45 pm in Drummond West of Le Centre Sheraton)
• The Social Impact of Networking the Poor for Development (1:30- 2:45 pm in Drummond West of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Communicating for Social and Occupational Change: Girls and Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) (3:00-4:15 pm in Drummond West of Le Centre Sheraton)
• Communicating for Social Impact in Public Discourse (4:30-5:45 pm in Drummond West of Le Centre Sheraton)

In all, our Theme Sessions offer a wide array of methodologies, theoretical approaches, and national/multinational interests.