Here we are, full-swing into the planning for the Gold Coast, and ICA President-Elect Silvio Waisbord (George Washington U) and I are delighted to announce the ICA24 Local Host Committee! In keeping with the initiative undertaken by ICA President Eun-Ju Lee and I last year, we have transitioned the Local Host role from being one senior scholar to being a committee in order to broaden and invigorate the role, choosing instead four early career scholars who have their fingers on the pulse of all the culture and entertainment Gold Coast (and the surrounding region) has to offer! Local host job duties include such things as advising members on the best things to see and do in the host city, helping connect pre- and postconference organizers with university resources, promoting the conference to local universities, helping division and interest group officers choose appropriate venues for offsite events, and other non-academic but crucial aspects of conference preparation. Starting with the November issue, these four local host committee members will bring you articles on the Gold Coast and broader Queensland region based on their personal knowledge and experience. Keep an eye out for these snapshots of Gold Coast’s must-see and must-do attractions in the November, December, January/February, and March editions of the newsletter. Many thanks to Oscar, Sasha, Chaundra, and Samantha for their willingness to serve! Their bios are listed below in alphabetical order by surname. 

Oscar Davis (Indigenous Fellow - Assistant Professor in Philosophy and History, Bond U). 

Oscar Davis is an Indigenous Fellow and Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Australian studies at Bond University. With Aboriginal (Gamilaraay) heritage on his mother’s side, and Papua New Guinean (Tatana/Ranubada) heritage on his father’s side, Oscar is interested in how Indigenous Australian and Melanesian ways of being, doing, and knowing can inform the ontological foundations of our moral responsibility with the environment. Oscar also explores how evolutionary biology has shaped moral discourse. In particular, Oscar's research in metaethics critically analyses the evolutionary debunking argument, where the evolutionary processes which formed our moral sense are said to undermine the objective, stance-independent truth of moral facts. 

Sasha Goodwin (Doctoral Candidate, Bond U) is an accomplished professional with a research focus centered on the intersection of crime and communication. With a career spanning 15 years as a Queensland Police officer on the Gold Coast, Sasha brings a wealth of firsthand experience in crime and justice to her academic pursuits. Complementing her practical background, she has also dedicated 15 years to her role as a teaching fellow at Bond University. Having called the Gold Coast home for the past 35 years, Sasha's work embodies a deep understanding of both the local community and the intricate dynamics of crime and communication. Her email is sgoodwin@bond.edu.au.

Chaundra Manorome (she/her) (ABD, Bond U) has recently submitted her PhD entitled "It definitely makes me feel better about working in advertising. Exploring practitioners perspectives' into brand activism" which focuses on brand activism from the creative practitioner's perspective. Chaundra is currently working as a sessional academic at Bond University teaching subjects in advertising and also works part time as a learning and content designer with the microcredential unit. Chaundra has lived on the Gold Coast for the past eight years and can be contacted at cmanorome@gmail.com.

Samantha Vilkins (she/her) (Postdoc, Queensland U of Technology) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Queensland University of Technology’s Digital Media Research Centre, working on a five-year Australian Research Council project determining the drivers and dynamics of partisanship and polarisation in online public debate. Drawing on a background in mathematics and an ungodly fascination with bureaucracy, her work focuses on how public data and other facts are made and used in public debate. Samantha is a Brisbane local, returning frequently to Gold Coast beaches as reprieve as she studied her PhD down in chilly Canberra. Her visual design work has been on display at the National Museum of Australia and the National Library of Australia, and was part of the Science Gallery Melbourne's 2018 PERFECTION exhibit. Her best email is samantha.vilkins@qut.edu.au.