Any questions about ICA Mobile (a long-running preconference of the annual International Communication Association conference), please contact me at brett.oppegaard@hawaii.edu. Deadline is Dec. 8.
- Brett Oppegaard, Associate Professor, University of Hawaii
Call for “Blue Sky” workshop proposals *From Voice to … ?* *The 15th Annual ICA Mobile Preconference*
May 23, 2018
*Deadline for Workshop Proposals:* Friday, Dec. 8, 2017
*Where to submit proposals:* icamobile2018 <icamobile2018@gmail.com> @gmail.com <icamobile2018@gmail.com>
Research on mobile communication has grown from a niche area into a well-established sub-discipline. Since the mid-1990s, the study of mobile communication has developed its own research trajectories, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, and methodological approaches for better understanding of the implications of the technology dominating contemporary social life.
We therefore call for “Blue Sky” workshop proposals for the 2018 Mobile Preconference that continue to push our understandings of this field. The proposals should focus on the discussion of new ideas, theory, and empirical results, but also can be more practical-, community- or industry-oriented. The preconference will be organized around several interactive Blue Sky workshop sessions, with each lasting about 90 minutes. We invite scholars to present ideas that are at various levels of gestation. Research ideas that are just being formed, ideas for mobile pedagogy, and notions of mobile applications used by practitioners in the field particularly are welcome. This forum is designed to cultivate a supportive and integrated community of thinkers.
A Blue Sky workshop session typically will be organized around a consortium of four or five main participants who present and discuss their work around a coherent theme but also directly will engage and involve the audience. Our preconference attendees usually participate in multiple workshops in the same day, as a way to further develop our community of scholars.
The theme of “voices” at this year’s ICA conference resonates well with the history of mobile communication research. Indeed, much of the early work focused on just that, person-to-person talk. Mobile communication studies, and telephone/telecommunications studies, before it, were pioneering in attention paid to mediated voice (as well as listening). With time, we have seen the development of ever-more-advanced ways of using our mobile handsets to interact with one another, to gather information, and to entertain ourselves. In all of this, however, mobile voice remains fundamental.
Workshop themes can focus on any of the dimensions of mobile communication ranging from mobiles and social cohesion, mobile theory/methods, mobile communication and the news, mobile learning, entertainment, gaming and/or photography. They can look into mobile communication in organizations, mobile communication and development, mobile communication for social good, and mobile communication as a means for threats to privacy, cyberbullying and/or robotification. Workshops could look into mobile romance, parenting mobiles, locative gaming, mHealth, and the relationships of mobile technologies to the elderly or children. They could focus on mobile communication in the Global South, mobile communication and migration, mobile journalism, etc. In short, we are open to a wide variety of themes associated with the the use of mobile communication and mobile media in society.
Workshop proposals are particularly welcomed from mobile-oriented scholars in the early stages of their careers. We also welcome established scholars to partner with younger colleagues in the development of proposals. Each workshop will be alloted a timeslot of 90 minutes.
Submissions should include a workshop summary of 500-800 words (excluding title and references).
This summary should describe:
(1) the topic and its relation to the preconference theme,
(2) the goal of the workshop,
(3) the scheduled activity, detailing how participants and audience members will be involved, and
(4) the participants and their relationship/contribution to the workshop.
Proposals can be submitted via email to: icamobile2018 <icamobile2018@gmail.com>@gmail.com <icamobile2018@gmail.com>. The workshop summaries will be published online and in the printed program. Submissions will be reviewed by a committee of scholars. Proposals will be selected based on criteria of relevance, originality, composition of the group, theoretical/practical contribution, clarity of presentation, as well as fit with the conference theme. Review will be non-blind due to the interactive workshop nature. Notifications of acceptance will be emailed to contributors by early January 2018.
The 15th annual Mobile Preconference will take place at the National Technical Museum that is approximately 1.5 km from the Prague Old Town Hilton Hotel.