[ecrea] Reminder deadline: 1 November 2015, for Special issue on “The Unbearable Lightness of Communication Research”

    Call for Statements (max. 2000 words) for Special issue of

    The International Communication GAZETTE

    on

    “The Unbearable Lightness of Communication Research”

    Special issue editors

    Jan Servaes (City University of Hong Kong)

    Jim Anderson (University of Utah, USA)

    (9cssc9 /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(9cssc9 /at/ gmail.com)>

    What has the communication discipline contributed to the social
    sciences? What has been its impact on policy and social change?
    Starting with a number of general provocative observations, we plan
    to zoom in on the relevance of Communication Research and the need
    for a rethink of the place and role of communication research in
    theory and praxis.

    The provocative title for this special issue is the result of some
    comparing of notes and brainstorming about the history and relevance
    of communication research in the US and Europe between James
    Anderson (2014a, b) and Jan Servaes (2012, 2015).

    We both reached the rather sobering preliminary conclusion that
    there are at least six deficiencies in communication research:

    (1) We have never developed our own set of disciplinary problems on
    which science depends. Instead we have been derivative.

    (2) We are following the dead-end trail of cognitivism, which makes
    little sense in what is a dynamic field.

    (3) We are still using methods developed nearly 100 years ago. Our
    statistical sophistication far outstrips our ability to measure and
    quantify.

    (4) We have failed to return something of value to society. Instead,
    we chase technology, culture, and participate in moral panics.

    (5) We are not paying enough attention to what is going on in other
    disciplines, and are therefore not interdisciplinary enough.

    (6) We have no clinical practice, meaning that we have very low
    utility to society at large.

    And maybe (7), we are far too content with our current state and our
    "also participated" trophies.

    To assist and join this soul-searching exercise (and extending it to
    other parts of the world) we submitted panel proposals to the 2015
    ICA and IAMCR conferences. The ICA proposal got accepted. It
    featured the following scholars: Francois Cooren, Mohan Dutta, Gary
    Gumpert, John Hartley, C.C. Lee, Robin Mansell, and Dennis Mumby, in
    addition to Jim Anderson and Jan Servaes. The IAMCR proposal got
    rejected by the Chair of the History section.

    We herewith invite brief comments (of 1000-2000 words) that address
    one or all of the identified ‘deficiencies’, and recommend ways out.

    Deadline for submissions (of max 2000 words): 1 November 2015 to be
    submitted to (9cssc9 /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(9cssc9 /at/ gmail.com)> with
    ‘Gazette Special issue’ in the subject line

    For info on Gazette, go to:
    http://www.sagepub.com/j…/Journal200826/manuscriptSubmission

<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sagepub.com%2Fjournals%2FJournal200826%2FmanuscriptSubmission&h=6AQGejpObAQEXUxlvPWzWEBev1bwUpwEUIX0rz4aj6N0kZQ&enc=AZPuFAHdTB4lOAdEDE2GBtRaoUS_hJp6xzogWjDDENgmEhz_UjPUljn4lnF2riFFSrD0IjkRqvjF4zD73S5MXAmcBCriGOvElv3nNeFBJ7ZrMSQdGgvXKUoJSdQ8wt86Nazzgr0xlA6RTU0hx6fiGXWNrk6COsAW56d0U547hWnBNA&s=1>

    …

    References

    Anderson, Jim & Middleton, Michael (2014a) Developments in Empirical
    and Rhetorical Communication Theory. Paper ICA Conference, Seattle.

    Anderson, Jim & Middleton, Michael (2014b) “Epistemological
    Movements in the Field of Communication: An Analysis of Empirical
    and Rhetorical/Critical Scholarship” in Gehrke, Pat & Keith, William
    (eds.). A Century of Communication Studies. The Unfisnished
    Conversation. New York: Routledge.

    Servaes, Jan (2012) “Homo academicus: Quo vadis?”, Nagy-Zekmi Silvia
    & Hollis Karyn (eds.), Global Academe: Engaging Intellectual
    Discourse, New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 85-98

    Servaes, Jan (2015). “ECREA, Quo Vadis?”. Communications. The
    European Journal of Communication Research. 40(1): 1-20. (DOI
    10.1515/comm-2014-0033)


    --

    --

    *jan servaes*, ph.d. | (jservaes /at/ cityu.edu.hk)
    <mailto:(jservaes /at/ cityu.edu.hk)>

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