Religion & Communication Working Group - Call for Proposals 2023

The Religion and Communication Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites proposals for IAMCR 2023, to be held in Lyon, France, from 9 to 13 July (Lyon23) with an Online Conference Papers (OCP23) component from 26 June to 5 July.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 9 February 2023 at 23h59 UTC.

See the CfPs of all sections and working groups >

Conference themes

IAMCR conferences have a main conference theme that is explored from multiple perspectives throughout the conference in plenaries and other moments, including the programmes of the thematic sections and working groups. Additionally, each section and working group also defines some of its own themes, which are described in their individual calls for proposals. Proposals for contributions to the conference are submitted to the sections and working groups and may focus on an aspect of the main conference theme as it relates to the concerns of the section or working group, or address a theme identified by the section or working group.

Main theme – Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond

The main theme for IAMCR 2023, “Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond”, is concerned with possibilities for rethinking communication research agendas at a time when the irreversible effects of climate change is compounded by stark geopolitical, sociocultural and religious tensions in human communities. At this juncture, urgent reflection and research is needed on how we can hope to flourish today and in the future, and also how media and communication tools and environments can be positive forces and spaces for change.

Five sub-themes of this central theme have been identified: Humanity and progress; democracy; media, information and communication; cities and territories; and environmental accountability.

Consult a detailed description of the main theme and its sub-themes

Planet Change has affected religion and communication no less than other areas of communication. Against the background of the theme of the 2023 conference "Inhabiting the planet: Challenges for media, communication and beyond". The Religion and Communication Working Group seeks to explore and discuss the link between religion and spirituality on the one hand, and on the other, prospects for the planet's future.

Some themes that may provoke reflection among the Religion and Communication Working Group participants include:

Globalisation challenges features of democracy, and the tight link which has up to now tied people to individual countries. What part does religion and communication play in the process of globalisation?
Media technology as an engine in modern societies raises religious and ethical questions
Digitalization of information and communication are challenging the flow of religion information, distribution, and consumption of religion
The production of religious information and news has been transformed by civic journalism, professional newsgathering routines, and media technology like data journalism, data driven agency sharing, news feeds, and automated journalism.

Given the planet changes underway globally, is it time to rethink communication and relocate it, with all of its nuances, within a new understanding of media and religion that speaks to the future?

However, papers across the broad spectrum of research on the relationship between religion, media, and communication are equally encouraged. There is hardly an established canon of research in this wide field of religion, communication, and culture, although some nuclei in the current research agenda can be identified. These include:

Images of religion in mass media; news coverage of religion.
Religious communities and the media.
Impact of media on religious practices whether personal or institutional.
Theological approaches to the mass media.
Film and religion.
Religious media.
Religious public relations.
The specificity of communication practices in religions given their singular content and claims.
Religious communication processes.
Media expression of faith and spirituality

Theoretical, methodological, empirical - all approaches are welcome for proposed papers, provided they offer good quality and interesting, novel perspectives in their respective methodological nature.

Criteria for Evaluation: Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of: theoretical contribution; methods; quality of writing; literature review; relevance of the submission to the work of the Religion and Communication Working Group; originality and/or significance.

Contributing to the conference: Lyon23 and OCP23

There will be two ways of joining IAMCR2023:

If you are not able to or don’t want to join the face-to-face conference in Lyon but do want to submit an online-only paper, submit your abstract to OCP23 only. If accepted, you’ll later submit your full paper to the online platform, which will be open for discussion from 26 June to 5 July.
If you do want to join the face-to-face event, submit your abstract to Lyon23 and OCP23. If accepted you’ll submit your paper to the online platform and present it at the face-to-face conference.

Guidelines for abstracts

Abstracts submitted to the Religion and Communication Working Group should have between 300 and 500 words and must be submitted online here. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.

The deadline to submit abstracts is 9 February 2022 at 23h59 UTC.

It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should an author submit more than two abstracts as a single author or as the lead author of a co-authored paper and no author will submit more than one abstract to the Religion and Communication Working Group. The same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one section or working group. Any such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected.

Proposals for panels can only be submitted to Lyon23 and OCP23. Panel submissions must include an abstract for each paper submitted here and a description & supplemental information submitted via this form on the conference website

See important dates and deadlines to keep in mind