Global Fusion 2020 (Virtual) Conference
Organized by Southern Illinois Universities Carbondale (SIUC) & Edwardsville (SIUE)
October 9-11, 2020
Call for Papers
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Global Fusion conference, held annually by an innovative consortium of mass communication programs from institutions of higher education in the United States. This will be our first-ever virtual gathering, in order to avoid the risks of in-person gatherings in the age of the novel coronavirus pandemic. We are committed to having a 2020 conference given the need for serious discussion of vital global communication issues in the face of planetary challenges, in particular the current pandemic, the impacts of global climate change and a seeming collapse of democratic structures.
We invite original, non-published research submissions on any aspect of global media and international aspects of mediated communication. We encourage special attention be paid to issues of scale and accessibility, class, and notions of “resilience” during this global pandemic and the increasingly frequent climate-driven disasters befalling populations worldwide. Given these circumstances, how should we study contemporary global discourses and the varied mass communication systems which deliver them?
While we have chosen a theme, we also encourage research encompassing the widest possible range of topics. We encourage a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches appropriate to communication and media studies research. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: social justice and media, new technologies and communities, social movements, media representations of global or transnational issues, global media flows, media audiences and reception. Other topics may include: communication and immigrant or diasporic populations, the comparative or international role of social media in political systems and institutions, messaging techniques and strategies for health communication in global settings, media policy and law in global or international settings, infrastructural challenges for media and development, the philosophy of globalization and media, international film and television studies, the role of streaming platforms in developing or challenging globalization, and the rise of authoritarian populism around the world and in the United States.
Submission deadline: 11:59 P.M. (EST) Monday, July 20, 2020
NOTE: For the 2020 virtual conference, if a proposal is accepted, the presenter will need to record their presentation for upload to the virtual conference site prior to the conference. All panelists’ presentations will be made available for conference participants to view prior to a designated live (synchronous) discussion of the panel’s presentations. The schedule of presentations will be made available through the virtual conference website.
Submission Instructions
Individual papers: proposals may be submitted in the form of completed papers or abstracts of 300-400 words. Please note that only full papers will be considered for the awards for best paper. Please include a cover sheet with the paper title, the names of all authors, and contact information for the corresponding author (affiliation, mailing address, telephone number, and email address). No identifying information should appear on the paper or on the abstract page, to ensure blind review.
Panels: Please submit a panel abstract of 200-300 words, and 50-100 word abstracts for each paper. The names of all authors along with the paper titles, as well as contact information for the submitter, should appear on a cover sheet. No identifying information should appear on the panel proposal page.
Individual Abstracts: Please submit a paper abstract of 200-300 words. The names of all authors along with the paper titles, as well as contact information for the corresponding author, should appear on a cover sheet. No identifying information should appear on the panel proposal page.
Note: Word documents or .pdf files are the only accepted formats for papers and panel proposals. People interested in submitting creative work should contact Sarah Lewison at sacamixta@gmail.com for further instructions. Global Fusion strongly encourages the submission of creative work in order to widen our conversations about the possibilities for global communication.
Abstract, papers, panel proposals, and proposals for creative work should: (1) Be separate from the cover page; (2) Contain the title of the proposed paper; (3) Include a total word count; and (4) NOT contain any identifying information about the identity of the author(s).
At least one author of an accepted paper must attend the conference virtually to present the paper. There is one exception: if student authors cannot be present, they must make arrangements for the paper to be presented by someone else. If an accepted author unexpectedly discovers they will not be able to present, we would very much appreciate notification no less than one month before the conference date, allowing us time to re-arrange the schedule.
Begun in 2000, the purpose of the Global Fusion Conference is to promote academic excellence in global media and international communication studies. The conference is sponsored by a consortium of universities: Southern Illinois University, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Ohio University, University of Virginia, and Temple University.
Submission deadline: 11:59 P.M. (EST) Monday, July 20, 2020 Submit proposals to globalfusionconference@gmail.com
Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Global-Fusion-2020-105405037888600/
Awards: The Global Fusion conference offers a graduate student competition. To be considered for an award, a full paper must be submitted by August 15th and must be marked on the title page as a submission for the student competition. Papers submitted with both faculty and student authors will be considered faculty papers and are not eligible for graduate student competitions.