[Commlist] CFP Quaderns del CAC 49 October 2023 - University and critical thinking: training in communication

CFP Quaderns del CAC, issue 49, October 2023 University and critical 
thinking: training in communication

** Deadline: May 29, 2023 **

Quaderns del CAC is the scientific journal on communication published by 
the Catalan Audiovisual Council. With open access, it is published 
annually entirely in three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English. The 
journal assumes the correction and translation of the texts into the 
three languages. Diamond open access journal, it does not charge fees to 
readers, and there are no article submission or processing charges for 
the autors (No APC). In addition to the monographic theme, the journal 
also has a miscellaneous section “Articles”, where you can participate 
with ongoing research texts on communication and audiovisual culture. 
The call for papers for this section remains permanently open.
You can send your articles to (quadernsdelcac /at/ gencat.cat)

* Monographic theme *
Quaderns del CAC celebrates 25 years and wants to dedicate its 49th 
issue to reflect on the role and commitment of higher education to train 
and develop future communication professionals in a context of change, 
innovation, and constant reformulation.
At the end of 2022, at the UNESCO meeting “Transforming Knowledge for 
Just and Sustainable Futures”, presented the study Reimagining our 
Futures together. A new social contract for education. The debate sought 
to answer crucial questions such as: what kind of knowledge is being 
produced?; how is it being generated?; where does it come from?; how is 
it distributed? However, the question that raised the most doubts was 
what role the university should play, despite the high consensus on its 
capacity to generate critical thinking.
The university’s mission is – and historically has been – to train and 
transmit knowledge that is valuable for life and for the exercise of 
citizenship and, at the same time, to prepare the individual for the 
professional world (Bricall, 2000). But this requires constant renewal, 
in accordance with the evolution of learning contexts. University 
institutions must periodically review and adapt their educational 
offerings. The teaching staff must take on challenges such as updating 
content or incorporating innovative methodologies and pedagogical 
strategies, far removed from the master class. The volume of 
responsibilities and positions in management teams has had to increased, 
with the pressure to act efficiently and immediately (Postigo and 
Recoder, 2018). As a result, universities have to prepare a huge volume 
of reports on essential issues, which are very useful to analyse.

The aim of this monographic section is to advance knowledge about what 
type of critical thinking (and how) is being produced by universities in 
the area of Communication. For this reason, it seeks to gather 
contributions on how university education is adapting to social, 
economic, political, technological and business transformations. We are 
particularly interested in the results achieved, but without forgetting 
the opportunities and obstacles that emerge in the medium and long term.

We encourage you to submit contributions on topics such as:
• The offer of studies: weaknesses, strengths and challenges. What are 
the contents that should be included or reinforced? What professional 
profiles are being formed? What role should public administrations 
assume? What are the contributions of the university-business collaboration?
• Teaching programs: recognition, evaluation and qualification processes.
How do these processes contribute to the quality of teaching? What new 
dynamics are these processes introducing in the faculties? What does it 
mean to have to evaluate the high experimental level of communication 
studies?
• Faculty: training, evaluation and function.
What should be the role of university teaching staff? How do 
universities support faculty training? How is teaching quality measured? 
How do teachers from the professional world participate?
• Student participation and organization.
How can be students be involved in educational projects? How can they be 
interested in the management of their own media projects? What is the 
role of student associations and groups? Are satisfaction surveys effective?
• Encouraging students in the classroom.
How can participatory methodologies help to encourage student 
participation? Can the use of new technologies motivate active 
participation? What are the results of recreating professional 
experience in the classroom?
• Digital innovation in learning strategies and methodologies.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of virtual or hybrid 
education? What are the advantages and disadvantages of introducing new 
technologies in the classroom?
• New teaching strategies, theories and models.
What are the most appropriate methodologies? What are the benefits and 
problems of working on competencies and projects?
• Assessment systems.
What is the most appropriate evaluation system when continuous 
assessment is applied? What does the incorporation of the single 
evaluation imply? What are the challenges and opportunities posed by 
student involvement in assessment?
• Feminist perspective and gender equality.
Is there a concern to introduce the gender perspective in the study 
plans? What strategies are being applied? How is LGTBI+ diversity 
introduced? How is the use of inclusive language consireded?
• The management of diversity (cultural and linguistic) as a result of 
the growing student mobility. What issues and challenges arise in 
working with students from different cultural/geographical backgrounds?
• Employability and job placement.
What is the evolution of employability? Do graduates meet the profiles 
requested by the communication sector? What new profiles require the 
labour market?
• The preparation of professional research teams.
Training cannot neglect the need to bet on quality research, inside and 
outside the university. How are people who will be members of future 
research teams being trained?

References
Bricall, J.M. (2000). Informe Universidad 2000. Conference of Rectors of 
Spanish Universities (CRUE). Postigo, I., & Recoder, M.J. (2018). Los y 
las “tics” en los estudios de comunicación. Spanish Association of 
Universities with Information and Communication Degrees (ATIC).
UNESCO. International Commission on the Futures of Education (2021). 
Reimagining our futures together. A new social contract for education. 
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

We encourage you to participate both in the monograph and the open 
'Articles' section. We accept papers in Catalan, Spanish and English. 
All texts must be original and unpublished and must not be in the 
selection procedure of another journal. They will undergo the 
double-blind peer review process and the publication undertakes to 
inform the authors of the positive or negative result of the evaluation 
within a maximum period of one and a half months after being submitted. 
The texts must be presented following the guidelines of the journal: 
<https://bit.ly/3YVVjIW>.

You can access previous issues of Quaderns del CAC here: 
<https://bit.ly/3yKcZMY>


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