Nationalist, populist, sectarian, and schismatic pressures have appeared world-wide since the era of “high globalization” which characterized capitalism in the 1990s and 2000s. China, Russia, India, Brazil, and the UK are powerful states all making new claims on self-determination, independence, and geopolitical influence. Meanwhile, the political fracturing of old national alliances have also accompanied the new geopolitics, with consequences for popular communication and media industries. Taken together, do these transformations mark the beginning of the end of the global?

Media globalization topics of traditional concern to Global Fusion are welcome. We are especially interested in receiving proposals for papers and panels on the following subjects: populism and global media, international popular communication, global media and pandemics, journalism under conditions of authoritarianism, social media and authoritarianism, cyber-terrorism, journalism and social inequality, development communication, media and trade policy, mediated race and ethnicity, and communication rights. We welcome submissions from all theoretical and methodological approaches.

Abstracts of 250 words for conference papers are due on August 15, 2021. Graduate competition papers must full-length and be submitted by September 1, 2021. Email submissions in MS Word to globalfusion2021@tamu.edu. Please put either “abstract submission” or “graduate competition” in your email’s subject header.

This conference will be conducted online over the weekend of October 29-31, 2021.

About the conference: Global Fusion is a 21-year-old, continually held conference consortium of global media researchers from Ohio University, Southern Illinois University, Temple University, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas, and the University of Virginia. Traditionally, it has provided a scholarly forum for graduate students in media and communication studies to present or co-present research, often together with their academic advisors. The conference also welcomes participation from junior and senior scholars from communication fields.

Facebook page for Global Fusion 2021