[Commlist] CFP: Research Conference on “Media Education in an Uncertain and Polarized World”

Call for Papers

Research Conference on “Media Education in an Uncertain and Polarized World”

The advent and impact of COVID-19 has highlighted dramatic uncertainties 
in a more polarized world. Existing literature on the consequences of 
COVID-19 has confirmed the intensification of divergences of views and 
behaviours on various social and political issues, e.g. perceived risks 
associated with the novel coronavirus, concerns with the lifting of 
restrictions imposed by the governments and the use of news media for 
providing information about the pandemic (de Bruin, Saw & Goldman, 2020).

The uncertainties which persist and characterize the COVID-19 Era have 
brought massive challenges to the practices of higher education as a 
result of deepened polarizations. Such challenges are even more pressing 
to media education. On the one hand, the delivery of media education, 
which involves both the training and use of media technologies, has to 
address the academic effectiveness of distant learning and its social 
and ethical implications in a context of instability. On the other hand, 
COVID-19 has put media education under magnifying lenses highlighting 
how lack of inclusion and diversity persists in the university sector.

This is also the case because the world health crisis would not only 
“intensify social and economic inequalities across different higher 
education systems” (Mok, Xiong, Ke and Cheung, 2020) but also across 
different social classes within the same society.
To address these timely and pressing issues in media education, the 
Media Literacy and Education Center (MLEC) at Beijing Normal 
University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College 
(UIC), Zhuhai, China and the Department of Media and Communication at 
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou, China will jointly 
organize a research conference which aims to explore the challenges and 
opportunities of media education in the more manifestly uncertain and 
polarized world brought by COVID-19.
 The conference will be held at the UIC campus in Zhuhai, Guangdong 
Province on June 13th and 14th, 2021. The conference attendees will be 
able to participate either in-person for those in China and virtually 
for those outside of China, due to the current travel and pandemic 
control restrictions.

We are open to contributions regarding media education in the post 
COVID-19 Era in different countries. Possible themes include but are not 
limited to:


•             Theoretical frameworks

•             Emerging learning models

•             The application of Western teaching principles in 
non-Western countries

•             Media education in transnational universities

•             Teaching media law/ethics

•             Accreditation standards of media education

•             Media education in countries that are making a transition 
to democracy

•             The gap between academia and the industry

•             Fieldwork policies and learning outcomes

•             Teaching in collaboration with the industry

•             The structure of media studies curricula

•             Student awareness of politics

•             Managing student expectations

•             Technology-enhanced teaching

•             Community-based educational projects

•             Student media

•             Education as an agent of change

•             Education as a way to maintain the status quo

•             Internationalization of educational strategies

•             Media studies as a reservoir of transferable skills

•             Media literacy

•             Political and market influences on media studies 
curriculum design

•             Media studies and ideological/political indoctrination

•             Student health

•             Inclusion and diversity

•             The right to privacy in education



Key dates


Abstract submission deadline: April 16th, 2021

Notification of acceptance: May 1st, 2021

Conference registration: June 12th and June 13th, 2021

Conference: June 13th- 14th, 2021


Please send in abstracts of max 500 words to (mlec /at/ uic.edu.cn).


Conference Organizing Committee


Dr. Jesse Owen Hearns Branaman ((johearnsbranaman /at/ uic.edu.cn)), Associate 
Professor, Media and Communication Studies Program, Beijing Normal 
University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, China

Dr. Richard Xiaying Xu ((richardxu /at/ uic.edu.cn)), Assistant Professor, 
Public Relations and Advertising Program, Beijing Normal University-Hong 
Kong Baptist University United International College, China

Dr. Xianwen Kuang ((xianwen.kuang /at/ xjtlu.edu.cn)), Associate Professor, 
Department of Media and Communication, Xi’an-Jiaotong Liverpool 
University, China

Dr. Diana Garrisi ((diana.garrisi /at/ xjtlu.edu.cn)), Assistant Professor, 
Department of Media and Communication, Xi’an-Jiaotong Liverpool 
University, China

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