Theme Session Series

2012 - Communication and Community

Edited by Patricia Moy, U of Washington

Community-building. Global community. Networked community. Traditionally described vis-a-vis notions of physical spaces, the notion of community has evolved over the centuries. And, as the contributors to this volume illustrate, the concept remains a critical one today. The chapters in Communication and Community illustrate the nuanced processes by which communication flows within various communities. They depict the forces by which our lives are shaped by the past and the present, by individual beliefs and social dynamics, by peers as well as power structures, and certainly, by the myriad messages that permeate our lifespace. The scholarship presented herein explores the impact of social, political, technological, and economic developments on how communication and community shape each other. Most notably, the volume illuminates the opportunities and challenges created by these continuing transformations in communication and community.

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2011 - Communication @ the Center

Edited by Steve Jones, U of Illinios at Chicago

This work draws on scholarship that in theoretical and practical terms focuses on the centrality of communication as a scholarly pursuit, as an intellectual enterprise and as a pervasive element of everyday life. The authors of the chapters herein examine the history and present contours of the field, bringing new insight and clarity into the role communication plays in academia and scholarship. They engage in research that foregrounds communication not only teleologically but also ontologically. The chapters in this volume engage social, political, environmental and other issues with theoretical sophistication and methodological innovation. In so doing the authors have focused on critical challenges and issues that communication is ideally positioned to examine, critique and illuminate. The work represented in Communication @ the Center serves as a thought-provoking guide to the past, present and future of the field of communication.

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2010 - Matters of Communication: Political, Cultural, and Technological Challenges

Edited by Timothy Kuhn, U of Colorado at Boulder

This book is an invitation to consider the consequences of thinking about communication as im/material with respect to pressing political, cultural, and technological problems. Arguing against those who separate the social world into the material and the symbolic, communication scholars increasingly assert that communication matters in social life precisely because it is the central nexus of constitution: The point at which objects, sites, and bodies intertwine with—and become inseparable from—norms, ideologies, and values in the production of social phenomena. Pursuing this vision, the 10 chapters in this volume (along with a preface and introduction) provide theoretical and empirical examples that show how communicative practice constitutes efforts to shape communities, exercise control, and engage in projects of social transformation. Taken as a whole, the volume capitalizes on our contemporary encounter with materiality to evoke conceptions of communication with the potential to open up novel engagements with political, cultural, and technological challenges.

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Edited by Stuart Allen, Bournemouth U

To observe that certain words are central to communication research is to prompt interesting questions about their influence. In taking such key words – or keywords – as its organizing theme, this book invites a careful reconsideration of several premises underpinning the vocabulary we use to document, describe and critique the world around us.

Under close scrutiny here is a selection of keywords – including “aesthetics,” “authenticity”, “citizenship,” “city,” “communication,” “difference,” “discourse,” “effects,” “framing,” “identity,” “message,” “public sphere,” “technology” and “urban,” amongst others – crisscrossing the terrain of the field in a manner that is subtly complex and consistently intriguing.

Each of the book’s contributors makes the case for an enhanced awareness of the ways in which words shape the nature of our inquiries. Their shared aim is to illuminate unexpected contours of our otherwise familiar terms in order to encourage fresh perspectives, and thereby reinvigorate current thinking. Words matter, these contributors show us, and sometimes for reasons that prove to be rather surprising.

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Edited by Lynn M. Harter, Ohio U, Mohan J. Dutta,  Purdue U, and Courtney E. Cole, Ohio U

This edited collection provides a forum for communication scholars whose efforts are directed toward social change. Originating from theme sessions at the 2008 convention of the International Communication Association (ICA), this volume engages communication theory to enlarge communication practices. Chapters address perennial issues of interest to communication scholars as experiences in contemporary terrains: How can scholarship weave its way more fully into the lives of people residing outside of the academy? What counts as social impact? What are the epistemological and ontological debates that play out in the realm of communication scholarship that seeks to redress lived inequities? What ethical demands accompany scholarship and activism in international landscapes characterized by globalization, neo-colonialism, and rapid technological shifts?

Each chapter makes a distinctive contribution to communication theory and practice. Collectively, contributors’ work reveals the eclectic nature of theoretical and methodological work pursued by communication scholars and practitioners, and focuses on meaning-making as it evolves, changes, adapts, and is sustained in conversation, mediated communication, distributed organizing, and other venues. This collection seeks to foster edifying dialogue about social injustices, and move people to meaningful reflection and action.

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Edited by Nico Carpentier and Benjamin De Cleen, Vrijie U, Brussels

Available from Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd (). ICA Conference attendees are offered a 25% discount on this title.

ICA annually publishes a selection of papers from the annual conference theme sessions in a short edited book of approximately six chapters. These chapters are written in an engaging style in order to attract members of other disciplines to this series. As such, these collections are not conference proceedings but are a unique set of essays that capture the insights and agendas of our top scholars. The series begins with the 2007 ICA conference in San Francisco.

The edited volumes comprise a collection that provides both breadth and depth on cutting-edge scholarship discussed during the theme session panels. The chapters represent the scholarship presented in the theme sessions as a whole. Some papers come from panels; others have individual sections by individual panelists, organized around the panel theme.

In light of ICA's interest in reaching out to other countries, disciplines, practitioners and the public, this Theme Session series is not restricted to the traditional academic paper format. Authors may use powerpoints and discussion points as outlines for these chapters; indeed, we hope that chapters will be organized and written in a more accessible format than the traditional academic chapter. Authors are requested to provide a draft of their manuscript at the time of the conference.

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