The planning for the Singapore conference is already under way and we have some important information to share, as well as some very good news.
First, I would like to remind of a few important dates: Friday, 6 November 2009, which is the deadline to submit papers and panel proposals through our website (http://www.icahdq.org/cfp/index.asp); and Tuesday, 22 June - Saturday, 26 June 2010, which is the period during which the ICA conference will be held in Singapore.
As you know, this conference title is "Matters of Communication: Political, Cultural and Technological Challenges." It is an invitation for you to explore what could be called the im/material dimension of communication. If we live in a world of artifacts, technologies, bodies, and sites, we also live in a world of principles, passions, ideas, meanings, and values. Although both material and immaterial aspects of this world intertwine with each other, it seems crucial not to reduce one to the other, making the study of communication essential to understanding the spectral nature of our experiences and exchanges.
Please do not hesitate to submit theme panels and papers, as the best contributions will be published in a book to be edited by Professor Timothy Kuhn (U of Colorado - Boulder, USA). Regarding the theme panels, I would like to encourage you to consider cross-divisional theme panel submissions, since cross-divisional panels were extremely successful in Chicago and we would like to repeat this wonderful experience initiated by the current ICA president, Barbie Zelizer.
In terms of plenary sessions, we will be lucky enough to have Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht (Stanford U, USA) as one of our keynote speakers. Professor Gumbrecht will give a lecture titled, "The Price of Hypercommunication," which will be scheduled as our opening plenary session on Tuesday evening, 22 June. Another keynote, titled "Censorship and the New Media" will be scheduled as our closing plenary and will feature Ang Peng Hwa (Nanyang Technological U, Singapore) and two other scholars whose names will soon be announced.
I am also happy to report that 13 ICA preconferences have been selected. They will all take place on Tuesday, 22 June and will cover a variety of interests and topics, including women's status in new media, intercultural dialogue, health communication campaigns, and global public relations. Singapore's international setting offers a wonderful platform for these preconferences to explore how diverse cultural perspectives impact communication in all its forms. Note also that two postconferences will also be organized: The 8th Chinese Internet Research Conference and a Doctoral consortium.
Also, please note that there are other conferences being organized around the same time as ICA, which could allow you to combine them as you travel to Singapore: (1) The 12th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP) -- to be hosted by The University of Queensland, Griffith University, and Queensland University of Technology -- at Griffith University Southbank campus, in Brisbane, Australia, from June 16-19, 2010 (http://www.ialsp.org/Conferences/2010/ICLASP12_Announcement.html); (2) the CAJ conference organized by the Communication Association of Japan, on Sunday, 20 June 2010 in Tokyo, Japan; and (3) the 8th international Crossroads, which will be held in Hong Kong, from 17-21 June 2010 (http://www.cultstud.org/).
Don't forget the 6 November deadline! I can't wait to see you in Singapore!
