Please find below a call for contributions for a special session organized by the Emerging Scholars Network of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), of possible interest for both emerging and senior scholars. Best regards, Francesca Musiani ESN-IAMCR communications coordinator ----- International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) 2011 Theme: “Cities, Creativity, Connectivity” *CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO A ROUND TABLE ON* *"The University in Crisis* *”Tradition, innovation, and employment in Communications departments”* Organized by the Emerging Scholars Network * * Over the past few years, students and faculty in California, Puerto Rico, Quebec, Greece and England, and other regions where the government has customarily given strong support to higher education, have responded to massive fee increases with protests and strikes. In other countries universities and students have recently been at the center of social struggles, as have communications technologies. What does this mean for the nature of academic employment and research in Communications? And how does neoliberal policy affect academic research and practice in Communications, an interdisciplinary area of study incorporating both critical theory and research directly applicable to the business world? The Emerging Scholars Network of the IAMCR invites interested scholars and advocates to submit abstracts for around table on: “The University in Crisis: Tradition, innovation, and employment in Communications departments.” Present developments in academia in the Western world have followed a consistent trajectory of government disengagement, while institutions such as tenure and thesis-based PhDs are being questioned. Universities in the Global South are sometimes strongly supported by government and sometimes entirely private. We invite contributions that address one (or more) of the following themes: a) Historical traditions in universities and how Communications, as one of the newest disciplines in the humanities, has fit into these practices; regional differences in the nature of universities and changes affecting them; b) The role of Communications studies in studying, critiquing, alleviating or contributing to the negative effects of globalization; b) The effects of different funding sources on research and employment, as well as the role of corporations in universities and Communications departments; c) Case studies, personal ethnographies, and examples of new patterns of employment for emerging scholars; d) Possible solutions/attempts to reconcile such debates and address contemporary challenges: visionary proposals for preserving the value of higher education in a hostile political climate, the future of academic employment and the role of Communications in future universities. The Emerging Scholars Network welcomes proposals from both emerging and senior scholars. Interested contributors are invited to submit a proposal of no more than 500 words along with a *curriculum vitae*. **Submissions should include your name, affiliation, and email address, and should be sent by ------ to Holly Nazar (hollynazar@hotmail.com) with carbon copy to Stefania Milan (Stefania.Milan@eui.eu). The list of panelists will be announced by the end of April 2011. -- Francesca Musiani Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation (associé au CNRS, UMR7185) MINES ParisTech 60, Boulevard Saint Michel 75272 PARIS Cedex 06 France 33 (0)1 40 51 92 77 33 (0)6 45 31 90 53 francesca.musiani@mines-paristech.fr www.csi.mines-paristech.fr/Perso/Musiani/