[ecrea] CFP: SACOMM 2018, “Communication at a Crossroads”

*Call for Papers, SACOMM 2018, University of Johannesburg, 12-14 September*

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*Theme: “Communication at a Crossroads”*

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*Deadline for abstract submissions: 30 April 2018
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A crossroads is a site where roads intersect. It is a point of crisis, a 
turning point, and a point of alternative configurations, convergence 
plus divergence, meeting and departure, unity and disunity. 
Metaphorically, it is a point of flux and change, a critical juncture at 
which a life-changing decision must be made. The crossroads is a 
superposition of varied, multiple, different – sometimes conflicting – 
tendencies, impulses and trajectories, and there is little certainty 
about the future. At a crossroads movement is channelled, controlled, 
regulated, or freed: we can stand still or go forward, get lost or find 
endless possibilities, be trapped by inaction, insincerity and passivity 
or find freedom. At a crossroads we can be transfixed to the past and 
its aftermaths, or we sincerely take the future on. We may be misled, be 
manipulated into going in particular directions, or we may use the 
crossroads to affirm our independence and agency, forge alliances, and 
build new, transformative, ethical, just futures.


The student movement for free, quality decolonised education that 
started in 2015, followed by persistent calls for decolonisation of the 
university and transformation of research and teaching, has heightened 
the crises and tensions within traditional disciplines. Centres cannot 
hold, and typical business-as-usual attitudes to epistemic injustice are 
no longer tenable. The discipline of communication, like many others 
that have been caught up in these crises and tensions, is at an 
epistemic and disciplinary crossroads of its own, one that calls for a 
“communication turn” and for bold, new, difficult, innovative, 
boundary-crossing, boundary-smashing, critical, frank and courageous 
conversations in communication.

This conference calls for presentations, papers, posters and panels in 
communication, media, journalism, film, television, and cultural studies 
that interrogate the notion of “communication at a crossroads” and the 
“communication turn” in a variety of ways. The intention is to take 
stock of the current flux within these fields, as well as map possible 
futures. Our context is Southern Africa, Africa, and the global south. 
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following:


  * Communication at a crossroads
  * Decolonisation and epistemic struggles
  * Dare we decolonise communication?
  * The “communication turn”
  * Film/Television at a crossroads
  * Journalism at a crossroads
  * Public relations at a crossroads
  * Corporate communication at a crossroads
  * Development communication at a crossroads
  * Communication, advocacy and activism at a crossroads
  * Visual culture, media and communication
  * New media, new mediatisations, and their practices
  * Whither social media?
  * Communication, social media and social movements in Africa
  * Whither cultural studies?
  * Communication industries at a crossroads

*KEYNOTE SPEAKER*

The confirmed Keynote Speaker for SACOMM 2018, Johannesburg, is Prof. 
Francis Nyamnjoh, University of Cape Town.**

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*ABSTRACT CATEGORIES**
*Category 1: Full 20 minute conference paper presentations.
Category 2: Panel discussion sessions and/or roundtable/workshop proposals

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*ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS*

All abstracts must be submitted on the correct abstract submission form. 
Submissions which are not submitted on the correct form will not be 
accepted. Incomplete submissions will not be accepted.

The Abstract Submission form can be downloaded in MSWord format at 
http://sacomm.org.za/call-for-papers/

All abstract submissions should be addressed to the SACOMM Conference 
Organiser, Collen Chambwera, at (sacomm2018 /at/ uj.ac.za) 
<mailto:(sacomm2018 /at/ uj.ac.za)>. Please note that you may submit more than 
one abstract, but no more than two. In case you submit two abstracts, 
please make sure that they belong in different streams.

Submission deadline: 30 April 2018.

*SCHEDULE**
*Deadline for electronic submission of all abstracts for peer review and 
other proposals: Monday 30 April 2018. The conference organisers will 
notify authors about the status of their contributions via e-mail by end 
of May 2018. ****

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*CONFERENCE REGISTRATION**
*A call for registration with further details about the conference will 
be released in June.

Conference theme: The conference theme gives an indication of the topic 
of discussions during plenary sessions at the SACOMM annual conference. 
Individual abstract submissions are not strictly required to adhere to 
the conference theme.

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**CONFERENCE FEES**

Academics: R 3400******

Students/emerging scholars/independent scholars: R 1000*
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Included in conference fees:

  * Full access to all conference sessions and activities;
  * Gala dinner on Thursday 13 September;
  * Lunch and coffee breaks from Wednesday 12 September to Friday 14
    September;
  * Conference programme.
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*SACOMM STREAMS***

SACOMM has six different streams. Please indicate which stream your 
abstract submission should be allocated to on your abstract submission form.

The SACOMM streams are:

  * Media Studies and Journalism
  * Corporate Communication
  * Screen Studies
  * Communication Studies
  * Communication education and curriculum development (CECD)
  * Communications advocacy and activism (CAA)


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