Tuesday, 30 May 2023 | 8:30 - 17:00

Off-site: The Creative School Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University

Deadline: February 3, 2023

Co-Sponsored: Urban Communication Foundation (UCF) and Activism, Communication and Social Justice, Global Communication and Social Change, Ethnicity and Race in Communication, and Popular Media and Culture with support from the University of Michigan.

Organizers: Matthew Bui (U of Michigan), Myria Georgiou (London School of Economics), Germaine Halegoua (U of Michigan), Dave Colangelo (Toronto Metropolitan U), Sherry Yu (U of Toronto)

This preconference convenes scholars and practitioners interested in topics such as the mediated representation of urban (sub)communities; digital rights and inequalities; datafication; and communication and social change. Participants will reimagine the role of urban communication research and praxis in effecting more equitable, sustainable futures amid multiple convergent crises including housing, poverty, and climate change. Work foregrounding questions of power and inequality from local, global, and/or transnational lenses, underrepresented regions and communities is encouraged.

Registration Fee: $75.00 USD, registration will open in January, by invitation-only.

Call for Papers

This full-day post-conference will convene scholars and practitioners to discuss and reimagine the role of urban communication and urban technology research and praxis. Participants are invited to engage with urgent and emerging questions about power and inequality amid multiple convergent crises, including but not limited to housing, poverty, discrimination, and climate change. The event aims to create an open and collaborative environment for discussing themes and challenges related to urban communication but also opportunities to advance ethical and equitable futures for and through urban communication, technology design, and policy through scholarship and activism. Work foregrounding questions of power and inequality from local, global, and/or transnational lenses, underrepresented regions and communities is strongly encouraged. The post-conference is driven by a number of key questions:

• How are digital and data-driven technologies embroiled with various political, social, and economic campaigns for change within local, transnational, and global urban contexts?
  
• What is the role of grassroots movements in exploring and articulating novel and creative interventions for urban technology and urban communication? How are such campaigns enmeshed in ongoing sociocultural and political struggles for power?
  
• What are the ethical and practical considerations for how to engage with marginalized groups and communities around urban technology and data? How are (urban and digital) policy and design implicated in these issues?
  
• What are the connections between datafication and digitalization and the persistence of–and alleviation of–“wicked problems” (e.g., poverty, homelessness, climate change)?
  
• What issues and themes shape the sub-field of urban communication and urban technology now and in the future? How can current and emerging scholarship and praxis re-imagine urban communication, infrastructures, and exchanges?
  

The ICA post-conference welcomes interdisciplinary conversations and participants from fields such as media, information, and communication; science and technology studies (STS); urban planning and architecture, sociology, and the urban humanities, among others.

Please submit 300-word abstracts, including your name, affiliation, and 150-word bio to the link below by 20 January 2023. Notifications will be sent out by 10 February 2023. Registration will open in March 2023. Please contact organizers for inquiries regarding travel and registration stipends.

The post-conference is co-sponsored by the Urban Communication Foundation (UCF) and supported by the ICA Activism, Communication and Global Change interest group; Ethnicity and Race in Communication division; and Popular Media and Culture division (with further support from the University of Michigan).

All presenters will be considered for inclusion in a special issue or other publication or venue to be discussed among participants and organizers during the conference. Beyond these intellectual exchanges, we also hope to use the post-conference as a space for networking and mentorship for researchers from a variety of disciplines and career stages.

Submission Details

Abstract submission and short deadline: 3 February 2023

Submit abstracts, short bios, and travel assistance (or fee waiver) requests to this link: https://forms.gle/Z2u2B6RySEAg1929A

Inquiries of submission should contact Dr. Matthew Bui, U. of Michigan, mattbui@umich.edu, subject line “ICA 2023 Postconference”