Plenary sessions

Opening plenary | Sunday 30 June | 16:30

Chairs
Donald Matheson, University of Canterbury, IAMCR 2024 Local Organising Committee Chair

Debashish Munshi, University of Waikato, IAMCR 2024 Local Organising Committee

Welcoming words
Nico Carpentier, President IAMCR

Kevin Watson, Executive Dean, University of Canterbury

Opening keynote: Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, New Zealand

Plenary 1 | Indigenous Epistemologies: Decolonizing communication through Indigenous Perspectives

Monday 1 July | 10:30 – 12:30

This plenary panel features four prominent keynote speakers who look at ways of decolonizing communication through Indigenous perspectives. In line with the conference theme of Weave the people together: Communicative projects of decolonising, engaging, and listening, the panel of Indigenous scholars and writers talk about drawing on Indigenous epistemologies for research oriented towards global justice and breaking down of hierarchies of power. They challenge established structures of communication research and inspire delegates to work with the lived experiences and cultural contexts of diverse groups of people and mobilize strategies for equitable communication for social and climate justice. More details >>

This plenary session is kindly sponsored by Waikato Management School, University of Waikato.

Panellists

Prof Bronwyn Carlson, Macquarie University, Australia
Dr Nēpia Mahuika, Massey University, New Zealand
Prof Selina Tusitala Marsh, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Prof Carl Mika, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Plenary 2 | Creative Communication and Activism: Catalyst of Change?

Tuesday 2 July | 10:30 – 12:30

This panel features scholars at the forefront of drawing on artistic epistemologies for research oriented towards global justice, environmental activism, decolonisation, and breaking down of hierarchies of power. We will address key questions about the processes, aesthetics, ethics, impacts, and evaluation of artistic activism, with goals to probe existing knowledge of the social, environmental, and political contributions artistic activism can make and better understand how it functions. Panellists will explore challenges such as: What is the role of art as we face dire planetary problems? How much evidence is there that art can function persuasively to change attitudes and behaviours? What kinds of creativity work best to progress social and environmental change, and how do we know? In what ways is or is not art a form of communication? What are the risks in harnessing art to change? More details >>

This plenary panel is kindly sponsored by Massey School of Humanities, Media & Creative Communication

Chair: Prof Linda-Jean Kenix, University of Canterbury