ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

October 2, 2020

Braga, Portugal

Deadline: April 17, 2020

This ECREA 2020 Children, Youth and Media pre-conference will engage participants in a fruitful dialogue about “Ethics and Children’s rights”.

The event will take a workshop format to encourage participants to interact in small groups moderated by a senior researcher.

Submission and Selection: Authors Notification 15th May 2020

Registration: Until 2nd September 2020

Local organizers:

• Sara Pereira (ICS/Universidade do Minho, CECS)
• Cristina Ponte (FCSH/Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, ICNOVA)
• Teresa Sofia Castro (FCSH/Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, ICNOVA)
• Pedro Moura (ICS/Universidade do Minho, CECS)
• Joana Fillol (ICS/Universidade do Minho, CECS)

Contact: cym.ecrea2020@gmail.com

This event is supported by the ECREA Children, Youth and Media Section.

Call for Abstracts

Interested participants are encouraged to submit a 250-word abstract on one of the two following themes, distributed in two sessions:

Session 1. Ethics in research with children: When doing research with children and young people, ethical issues arise at all stages of the life cycle of the project and invite to reflexivity. Issues related to trust are raised when: i) Contacting gatekeepers and accessing children and young people. Requirements may differ depending on the country, the place of research and the groups we want to do research with. ii) Building rapport and negotiating consent with children and young people and explaining issues related to anonymity and confidentiality. iii) Saving and using photographs and videos of children and young people in research outputs (security, misuse, dissemination…). iv) Involving children and young people in the analyses of the data and in the dissemination of results.

Session 2. Ethics and Children’s Digital Rights: Thirty years ago the UN Convention did not envisaged the fast pace of digital evolution and related challenges children and families face. Since then, the digital landscape has been increasingly accessible to younger generations of children and decisions to keep children safe online has created tensions between rights to protection and participation. Considering some polarised debates and controversies on the inevitability of digital in children’s lives and in finding a balanced approach, we invite researchers and scholars to discuss and reflect on ethics concerning children’s protection, participation and provision rights and how these transfer to the digital? What changes in the digital sphere? Or not? How can we think these rights properly, namely right to privacy, image rights, right of personal portrayal.

Submission and selection process

Abstracts must be submitted by April 17, 2020 to the following e-mail: cym.ecrea2020@gmail.com

Submit your abstract as an e-mail attachment with no references to the author(s). Author(s) details (name, affiliation and contact details) must be included in the e-mail message.

Participants should submit their proposal either for theme 1 or theme 2.

No more than 15 abstracts will be selected for each session. Small groups of participants sharing similar issues will allow in-depth discussions, which will be followed by the presentation and debate in plenary.

Abstracts will be subject to blind peer-review.

Registration

Authors of accepted abstract must communicate their attendance by September 2, 2020 to cym.ecrea2020@gmail.com.

It is possible to attend the workshop without any presentation. In this situation, please inform the organizers on your interest and make the registration. The total number of participants is limited to 50.

There will be a small fee to cover attendance and refreshments at the pre-conference:

35€ for Non-ECREA members

30€ for ECREA members

15€ for PhD students.

Details and payment procedures will be announced at a later date.

Provisional Program

The pre-conference will close before the opening of the ECREA main conference.

It takes place on 2nd October 2020 (Friday).

9:15 Registration

9:30-12.15 SESSION 1

9:30-9.40 Welcome participants – ECREA CYM , Sara Pereira and Cristina Ponte

9:40-10:00 Lecture in Ethical Challenges in doing research with children, by Elisabeth Staksrud

10:00-11:00 Group work: presentation and discussion of contributions; identification of 1-2 key points in each group;

11:00-11:15 Coffee Break

11:15-12:15 Plenary: Sharing and discussing; wrapping up

12:15-13:30 Lunch Break

13:30-16.00 SESSION 2

13:30-13.50 Lecture in Ethics and Digital Rights (speaker to be announced)

13.50-15.00 Group work: presentation and discussion of contributions; identification of 1-2 key points in each group.

15:00-16.00 Plenary: Sharing and discussing; wrapping up.

Cardiff University

Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media and Culture, supported by the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership for Wales, invites applications for PhD study, with the possibility of a fully-funded studentship, available to start in October 2020. We expect to make doctoral studentship awards in the area of “Journalism and Democracy”.

The School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC) has a long-standing reputation as a world-leading centre for innovative teaching and research. Researchers engage with pressing contemporary issues and debates bringing together theory and practice. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework assessment, our research was ranked 2nd in the UK in terms of its quality and impact.

A key strength of JOMEC's research environment is the ongoing dialogue between research and practice-based staff delivering impactful research and policy.

JOMEC's cutting-edge research findings are shared through weekly seminars featuring speakers from across the UK and internationally. We also host the renowned biennial ‘Future of Journalism' conference bringing together scholars and practitioners from around the world contributing to a lively research environment.

JOMEC's state of the art facilities at Two Central Square situates us at the centre of local and national media, including BBC Cymru/Wales whose brand-new headquarters is situated next door. Our location facilitates building of strong industry links, boosting students' employability through access to major media organisations within the important and growing sector of the creative and cultural industries.

JOMEC academics have multi-disciplinary backgrounds from across the social sciences and humanities; have a strong tradition of teamwork and collaborative publications, and a substantial industry base. Pathway Convenor: Dr Cynthia Carter email:cartercl@cardif.ac.uk Studentship's are ‘open' awards and applicants should consider approaching a potential supervisor before submitting their application. Information on the research interests of JOMEC staff can be found on our academic staff webpage.

STUDENTSHIP AWARD, ELIGIBILITY, TYPE OF AWARD (1+3 OR +3?)

See the ESRC Wales DTP website for further details HERE

HOW TO APPLY

A completed application form submitted to through the University's online application system (see details here) by the deadline of 12.00 noon, 3 February 2020.

The application must contain the following documents:

1. Covering letter: Please address to Dr Cynthia Carter. The covering letter must set out your reasons and motivation for applying to study at Cardiff University, and the “Journalism and Democracy” pathway; your understanding, and expectations of doctoral study; and your academic interests generally, and particularly of those relating to your proposed research. The letter should be no more than two pages and specify whether you wish to apply on a +3 or 1+3 basis.

2. Academic / Professional Qualifications and where appropriate proof of English Language Competency (7.5 IELTS with a minimum of 7.0 in each sub score).

3. References: All applications require two academic references to be submitted in support. Candidates must approach referees themselves and include references with their application.

4. Curriculum Vitae: Maximum two pages.

5. Research Proposal: A maximum of 1000 words, not including bibliographic references and we suggest the following five headings in your proposal:

• Title, aims and purpose of the research;
• Brief overview of the relevant academic literature;
• Proposed design/methods;
• Academic contributions of your research.
• Bibliographic References

Short-listed applicants will be invited to interview, which are expected to occur in late February/early March 2020. A short-list of applicants will then be put forward to a Panel from ESRC Wales DTP Management Group at which final decisions with regard to studentship awards will be made.

Successful applicants can expect to hear by early April 2020.

Funding Notes

Short-listed applicants will be invited to interview, which are expected to occur in late February/early March 2020. A short-list of applicants will then be put forward to a Panel from ESRC Wales DTP Management Group at which final decisions with regard to studentship awards will be made.

Successful applicants can expect to hear by early April 2020.

May 15-16, 2020

León, Spain

Deadline: March 15, 2020

The Association for Communication in Politics (ACOP) will be holding its Sixth International Meeting on 15-16 May 2020 in León (Spain). Drawing on León’s condition as the birthplace of parliamentarism, the academic committee of ACOP is calling on political communication scholars to submit proposals to a theme panel on ‘Parliaments and Communication’. A selection of the best papers presented at the León meeting will be considered for publication as part of a special issue in the International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics (Intellect Books) after peer review. The deadline for submission of abstracts is March 15, 2020. Attendees will be notified of acceptance by March 31, 2020.

Topics likely to be covered at the meeting include:

• Publicity versus secrecy in parliamentary deliberations
• Parliaments and parliamentarians on social media
• Parliamentary TV channels
• Members of Parliament and their relationship with constituents
• Parliaments as architectures of communication and debate
• Personal branding of Congressional members
• Journalists and their coverage of parliamentary activities
• Communication between Parliaments and other branches of power (Executives, Judiciary)
• Parliaments and citizen engagement
• Parliaments and civic education
• Comparative studies of Parliamentary communication

The titles and abstracts of the proposed papers may be submitted in English or Spanish by March 15, 2020 to and should include title, author(s), institutional affiliation(s), and a 300-word summary. Please, state in the subject of your e-mail ‘Leon Conference Submission’. Abstracts will be evaluated by looking at their theoretical orientation (aims, research questions or hypotheses), their empirical grounding (methods), and their policy or societal relevance. Full papers based on accepted abstracts will be due on Friday, 25th September 2020.

About ACOP and its international meeting

The Association for Communication in Politics (‘Asociación de Comunicación Política’ in Spanish) is a unique assembly of political communication academics and practitioners (political marketing consultants, journalists, civic leaders) founded in 2008 and with 500 members from across the world.

The ACOP international meeting is held every two years and gathers academics and political consultants from a wide variety of countries and cultural backgrounds, who share their latest research results and comment on recent campaign experiences. Past speakers include George Lakoff, Evgeny Morozov, Christian Salmon, Jaime Durán Barba, Philip Howard, Joel Benenson, Michael delli Carpini and Jen O’Malley.

For more information about the ACOP meeting, please visit the website https://congreso.compolitica.com/

May 19, 2020

RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Deadline (extended): February 14, 2020

ICA Preconference

This pre-conference will address questions, such as:

1) What are the challenges of global strategic communication education in the 21st Century?

2) In what ways is strategic communication practice shaped by artificial intelligence and highly sophisticated technology?

3) What is the nature of trust and transparency in strategic communication between humans and machines?

4) What are the limits of machine-driven strategic communication?

5) How do we develop relationships with machines and bots?

6) Is all communication strategic between humans and machines?

7) How can artificial intelligence and automation ensure ethical and responsible strategic communication?

The pre-conference will address the challenges and opportunities for trans-disciplinary education and practice in communication, specifically strategic communication that is complicated by the contemporary rise of highly sophisticated technology and artificial intelligence. Communication scholars as well as scholars from other disciplines are invited to interrogate these questions from the perspective of 21st Century trans-disciplinary education and global, outcomes-based practice.

Members of all divisions and interest groups are invited to submit abstracts, and we particularly encourage submissions from members of Instructional and Developmental Communication, Public Relations, Communication and Technology, and Human-machine Communication.

Extended abstracts of 1500 words that respond to the above questions and themes must be submitted by 14 FEBRUARY 2020 to Katerina Tsetsura (tsetsura@ou.edu). Spaces are limited to enable a robust discussion.

Cost: US$60. The budget for this pre-conference is based on a minimum of 25 paid registrations of US$60.00. The registration fee will pay for coffee, tea, breaks and lunch.

For more information, please check out the ICA Preconference website.

June 24-25, 2020

Paris, France

Deadline: February 25, 2020

On June 24-25, 2020, the Centre for Comparative Studies on Political and Public Communication (Ceccopop) will be holding its 26th annual conference in Paris in partnership with the International School of Political Studies of Paris East – UPEC University. The focus of the conference is on the role of political communication in the study of protests, demonstrations, and anomic displays of emotions.

Around the world we have seen the rise of protests and expressions of passion in opposition to dominant power structures, leaders, and elite decisions. American or Ukrainian new leaders without any traditional political background and backing have been elected showing, as in France, that the emotion is a major factor in the individual decision to vote (Foucault, 2017). Protests have occurred in long-established democracies, democracies in transition, and even non-democratic countries—invoking many forms of communication. Arab Springs, French seemingly never-ending protests and strikes and so-called "yellow vests" phenomenon, the American Women's March, Californian or Australian climate change petitions and marches, European countries xenophobic gatherings, achievements of Italian or Indonesian populist parties, Indian demonstration against anti-Muslim laws, the recent years have seen protests and emotions invade the political sphere with the help of the whole new range of tools granted by traditional and social media.

Anomic action is generally the result of some frustration with regular channels of politics i.e. a failure of communication between the governed and the government. Plato warns that: “When revolution comes it may seem to arise from little causes and petty whims; but though it may spring from slight occasions it is the precipitate result of grave and accumulated wrongs” (Bloom, 1968, 556). Likewise protests arise from a feeling of hurt or threat. They may be violent or peaceful; seek change or return to previous dominant patterns of privilege or power targeting particular governmental, economic, religious, or cultural elites. Additionally, counter-protests may arise based on issues or moral values. In all of these cases, protest is essentially a communicative action replete with emotions. Historically, emotions and cognition/reason have been viewed as disembodied and separate phenomena, but current research argues that they are integrally linked processes of understanding and meaning making (Marcus & al, 2000, Jasper, 2018). Through the lens of political communication scholars can explore the framing of protests, or the identities that are primed, and the agendas they set, which are all aspects of political communication.

Some possible questions. What communication tools help to spread or contain protest movements? What are the emotional messages conveyed in news media coverage of protests? What emotions are expressed under what conditions and by whom? What are the implications for governance with the spread of emotional protests? What emotions are expressed verbally, visually, aurally, symbolically? What are the emotions that drive people to protest? How do leaders use affective appeals to foment, channel or repress protests? How are some leaders managing to channel emotions in order to obtain or to maintain power? Have social media encouraged protests and how does it compare to protests a century ago, when populism and nationalism was rising?

These central questions will be the subject of the international conference on comparative political communication to be held in Paris by the Center of Comparative studies in Political and Public Communication (www.ceccopop.com) in partnership with the International School of Political Studies of Paris East – UPEC University. This scientific event will bring together researchers and communication professionals from several countries.

The conference is organized by Philippe J. Maarek, Professor specialized in Political Communication at the Paris Est Créteil University (UPEC), former president of the Political Communication Research Sections of IPSA and IAMCR, associate member of the Sic.Lab Mediterrannée, former member of the Institute of Communication Science of CNRS, and head of CECCOPOP. He shares its scientific direction with Ann Crigler, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California and Marion Just, Emerita Professor at Wellesley College.

The event will be bilingual, French-English. Colleagues wishing to present a paper are invited to send a request to participate before February 25th, 2020, to the following email address: ceccopop@gmail.com.

Proposals must include an abstract of 250 to 500 words (one or two sheets) and a one-page Vitae. They should clearly articulate the central question, theoretical and methodological approaches, evidence that will be used to address the argument, and the broader implications of the work for the study of political communication. They will be subject to a double-blind evaluation by the Scientific Board.

Attendees will be notified of acceptance by March 20, 2020. All papers must be presented in English or French with a Power Point in the other language. PowerPoint presentations based on accepted abstracts will be due June 15, 2020. The conference fee will be 120 euros to cover participation expenses and lunch. All participants should find their own accommodations in Paris.

Références :

• Foucault, Martial, 2017, "Le clivage gauche-droite n'a pas disparu", Le Monde, Sept 2, 2017.
• Jasper, James M. 2018. The Emotions of Protest. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Marcus, George, W. Russell Neuman, & Michael MacKuen. 2000. Affective Intelligence and Political Judgment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Plato. The Republic. 1968. Ed. And Trans. Allan Bloom. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Direction Scientifique / Scientific Direction:

• Ann Crigler, University of Southern California, USA
• Marion Just, Wellesley College, USA
• Philippe J. Maarek, Université Paris Est – UPEC & Ceccopop, France
• Conseil Scientifique / Scientific Board
• Camelia Beciu, Université de Bucarest, Roumanie/Romania
• W. Lance Bennett, University of Washington, Etats-Unis/USA
• Donatella Campus, Università di Bologna, Italie/Italy
• Eric Dacheux, Université de Clermont Auvergne, France
• Dana R. Fisher, University of Maryland, Etats-Unis/USA
• Denisa Hejlova, Charles University, République Tchèque/Czech Republic
• Christina Holtz-Bacha, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Allemagne/Germany Julio Juarez Gamiz, UNAM, Mexique/Mexico
• Anna Matulková-Shavit, Charles University, République Tchèque/Czech Republic
• Lars Nord, Midwestern University, Suède/Sweden
• Edoardo Novelli, Università degli Studi Roma TRE, Italie/Italy
• Yves Palau, Université Paris Est – UPEC, France
• Stylianos Papathanassopoulos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Grèce/Greece Nicolas Pelissier, Université Côte d’Azur, France
• Brigitte Sebbah, Université de Toulouse 3, France
• Ioanna Vovou, Panteion University, Grèce/Greece
• Claes de Vreese, University of Amsterdam, Pays-Bas/Netherlands
• Organisation / Organization
• Philippe J. Maarek, Université Paris Est – UPEC & Ceccopop, France

Deadline: May 31, 2020

The Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies is accepting and processing full papers for its Special Issue dedicated to the problems of media, culture and society in Africa and Asia. Scholars are invited to submit research papers – welcoming both theoretical/conceptual work as well as empirical analyses – on a variety of aspects. This thematic issue of Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies will present fresh discussions on the current situation and challenges encountered in media studies, culture and society in the ever changing landscape in Africa and Asia as well as reflections on how democratic developments have impacted the society in both continents in order to identify and explore a range of important questions regarding its significance for the changing nature of media, culture and society in the digital age.

Contributions are expected to critically analyze current theoretical developments in communication, culture and society; reexamine and enlarge epistemology of the subjects under review; to assess media perspectives about the global South; theoretical and epistemological approaches for comparative research across both continents; provide discourse on the relevance of theories and models across different societies and media systems; and explore efforts and discussions on the theoretical cross-pollination within different continental and regional media.

Aim & Scope: This Special Issue aims to bring together pioneering, groundbreaking contributions from media and communication studies and related disciplines such as sociology, psychology and political science.

Possible topics to be examined in this Special Issue may include but not limited to:

• The core questions that need to be addressed in the current globalized and digital ecosystem with regard to media, culture and society in Africa and Asia
• How media and cultural conceptual frameworks communicate and address changing institutional, professional, and audience cultures and practices across the two continents
• Theories and concepts that explain the gap between normative theories and professional practices across different media systems, cultures and societies in both continents
• Concepts and theories needed to understand changes in media institutions in global and digital times across cultures and societies in Africa and Asia
• The impact of journalism, citizen journalism, and user generated content in journalism and media studies in established news organisations across both continents
• Reporting crises across societies in Africa and Asia
• Dealing with the online journalism and “fake news” spreading through social media, challenges and solutions
• The social media reporter; how social media impacts the culture and practice of journalism in Africa and Asia

The call invites high-quality conceptual and theoretical papers that address the topics under consideration. Manuscripts must be submitted by May 31, 2020, via Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies online submission system. Authors must indicate that they wish to have their manuscript considered for the Special Issue. Accepted articles are expected to be published on the Galactica Media’s online platform in the end of July 2020.

Those interested in submitting a paper can raise preliminary questions with the Editor: Ben-Collins Ndinojuo of University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria (ben.ndinojuo@uniport.edu.ng).

October 26-28, 2020

İzmir University of Economics, Turkey

Deadline to submit abstracts: April 15, 2020

(Dis)Continuities: Cultures, Markets & Politics

It was during the early 1900s when processes of communication were for the first time acknowledged as constituent components of social relations in modern societies. Since then, communication studies have flourished and become one of the most active fields of scholarly research mainly due to its interdisciplinarity and its inherent association with everyday life. The past century has been marked by momentous discontinuities and changes – in societal structures, in political organizations, in markets and industries, in everyday technologies and in human thought and interaction in all its forms. All these discontinuities and changes have had an impact on the field, contributing in productive ways to the vibrant flux in communication research and creating ruptures, cleavages, offshoots, camps, and approaches within the discipline. So much so that today some areas of the field are all but unrecognisable. The rise of new forms of ICTs just over the last few decades, for instance, are forcing communication scholars to embrace enormous challenges. Today we are faced with new means of production and distribution in all forms of content; innovative narrative practices that span diverse media forms have become commonplace; we see novel producers and consumers that transform markets as we have known them; we tackle data in extraordinary sizes and novel manners. In short, in the age of digitalisation, unprecedented media and communication ecologies have come into being which demand new methods of analysis and intelligibility.

While change is ever-present, there are also many continuities. Many aspects of the social world and the processes of communication intrinsic to it endure. In fact, if the old saying can be trusted, “the more things change, the more they remain the same”. Our desire and concern for emancipation, equality, empowerment, freedom, justice and struggle for a better world unwaveringly prevail as our most impending challenges. Our deepest desires, fears, longings, and anxieties are still at the heart of the human condition. We know for a fact that the centrality of communication processes in modern democratic societies remains unchanged. In turn, despite vicissitudes in communication technologies and social life, there are many continuities in communication theory and practice. Many methods, models, approaches, theories and schools of thought are still highly relevant and applicable - perhaps more so than ever.

It is these continuities and discontinuities in both social life and the field of communication studies that frame the theme of this year’s Communication in the Digital Age Symposium. Hence, the symposium theme (dis)continuities aims to bring together different academic disciplines/approaches/issues represented within the field of communication studies. A better understanding of these continuities, discontinuities and changes will enable us to make better sense of the ways in which contemporary societies function and the role of communication in them. Driven by our belief in the importance of such a discussion, we invite communication scholars working in all related fields to contribute to the symposium with their work. We welcome abstracts for scholarly papers and themed panels related to the theme of the symposium.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Histories, theories and models
• Media, gender and LGBTQ+
• Children, youth and media
• Law, governance and politics
• Ownership, production and distribution
• Audience and reception
• Media and/of diaspora
• Global media studies
• Networks, clusters and minorities
• Old and new modes of cinematic narration
• Interactive media and digital platforms
• Media activism and social movements
• Ecology and sustainability
• Big data and digital humanities
• Corporate identity, image and reputation
• Brands, consumers and new markets
• Perception, persuasion and engagement
• New approaches in public relations and advertising
• Ethics, crises and community impact
• Intercultural/transcultural communication and diversity
• Mediatization and/of politics

For further information http://cida2020.ieu.edu.tr/

For inquiries cida2020@izmirekonomi.edu.tr.

May 15-16, 2020

University of London

Please do register for Liberalism Inc: 200 years of the Guardian, a conference at Goldsmiths, University of London on 15/16 May.

• Friday 15 May, 6-8pm: opening keynote with Gary Younge (former editor-at-large of the Guardian) and respondents Bev Skeggs and Richard Seymour.
• Saturday 16 May, 10am-6pm: main conference with keynotes from Alan Rusbridger (former editor-in-chief of the Guardian), Ghada Karmi (author of Return: A Palestinian Memoir) and Mark Curtis (author of Dirty Wars and Secret Affairs).

Panels include: The Guardian and Empire, Regulation, Racism and Populism, Feminism, Foreign Coverage, Bias - and more!

Free registration is here and the whole event takes place in the Professor Stuart Hall building at Goldsmiths, University of London.

If you want more information, please get in touch (d.freedman@gold.ac.uk)

Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS)

Deadline: July 31, 2020

Edited by Dimitris Serafis, Jolanta Drzewiecka, Sara Greco

We are seeking contributions for a thematic section of Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) – a peer-reviewed open-access journal of communication and media research – exploring discursive constructions of migration.

The massive movement of migrant and refugee populations from war and conflict zones to Europe in summer 2015 created a state of emergency for the member-states and institutions of the European Union (EU). More specifically, in the context of the so-called “refugee crisis” (2015-2017) new fences and borders were raised in Europe as well as alarming racist and hateful discourses were disseminated (see Mussolf 2017; Assimakopoulos et al. 2018). 

During this polarized period, studies that adopt a critical perspective focused on the examination of migration, racism and xenophobia across various fields of research in communication sciences (see e.g. Krzyzanowski, Wodak & Triantafyllidou 2018). This thematic section aims at advancing this perspective in communication sciences by gathering cutting-edge research revolving around the discursive/communicative constructions of the migratory phenomenon and the related new forms of racism traced in various European countries (e.g. Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom etc.). In doing so, this issue attempts to present coherent research tools and approaches to expose racism and xenophobia cultivated in Europe during the past years of "crisis," thereby facilitating cultural and critical resistance to these very problems. We are looking forward to receiving submissions from different disciplines in the broader area of communication that combine critical, interdisciplinary perspectives, innovative methodological approaches, and rigorous empirical analyses of the discursive/communicative construction of migration in different European countries during the “refugee crisis”; we also encourage papers that compare discourses in more than one European country. 

Submissions relating (but not limited) to the following disciplinary perspectives are invited: 

• Political Communication 
• (Social) Media Communication 
• Intercultural Communication
• Discourse Theory 
• Discourse Analysis 
• Critical Discourse Analysis 
• Argumentation 
• Linguistics 
• Rhetoric 

Submission guidelines

The journal welcomes submissions in English, German, French, or Italian, but the abstracts must be in English. All submissions should be uploaded on the SComS platform: www.scoms.ch.

Paper submissions will be due 31 July 2020. Final acceptance depends on a double-blind peer review process. The expected publishing date of this special issue is April 2021.

For any further information, and if you wish to discuss the relevance of your research proposal to this thematic section, please contact Dimitris Serafis (dimitrios.serafis@usi.ch).

Timeline:

• Full papers are required no later than July 31, 2020
• 1st review will be provided by September 30, 2020
• 2nd submission should be submitted by November 15, 2020
• 2nd review and notification of acceptance will be provided by December 31, 2020
• Final papers should be submitted by February 15, 2021

Since 01.01.2020, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is funding the “Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability” (GCSMUS) via the DAAD program “Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation – exceed”. GCSMUS is based at Technische Universität Berlin (Germany) and connects 48 institutional partners from 48 countries and 8 world regions.

Focusing on the Sustainable Development Goal #11 of the Agenda 2030 to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, the center aims at developing transdisciplinary spatial methods in order to improve both the academic education in the spatial disciplines and planning practice via evidence-based and low-impact urban development (LIUD). SDG # 11 addresses all dimensions of sustainability namely:

• social sustainability by reducing poverty, spatial segregation and social inequality on various dimensions (e.g. class, gender, race/ethnicity, age and disability)
• economic sustainability by overcoming economic exclusion, creating career and business opportunities for all income groups and building resilient societies and economies
• ecological sustainability by reducing negative environmental impacts of cities, by reducing the negative impact of disasters and climate change on cities and by protecting and safeguarding the world’s natural and cultural heritage.

SDG #11 in particular aims at giving access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing, green and public spaces, transport system as well as basic services (such as water, food, electricity, sanitation, waste deposal, internet, heating and/or cooling, clean air, education, work/jobs, health care, leisure activities and sports.

In order to achieve these goals, the center is organized as a peer-learning process and will implement several strategic Actions between 2020 and 2024. While some of the center’s activities are for GCSMUS-member-institutions only, many activities such as international conferences, workshops as well as other events and funding opportunities are open also to non-members.

If you are interested in being informed about these activities or the center’s activities in general, please kindly subscribe to our newsletter by registering via the following website: https://lists.tu-berlin.de/mailman/listinfo/mes-smusnews

More information on the center can be found on: www.mes.tu-berlin.de/GCSMUS

If you have any other inquiries on the center, please kindly contact the GCSMUS Office by sending an email to: smus@mes.tu-berlin.de