IAMCR Newsletter | July 2015
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The Australian and New Zealand Communication Association - ANZCA
Diana Bossio, President
As we approach the halfway point of another busy year, it gives me great pleasure to report on some of the fantastic events and initiatives that ANZCA has implemented so far.
Firstly, ANZCA was proud to support the inaugural West Australian Communication Culture and Media (WACCM) symposium at Curtin University on Friday 13th February. The event was attended by almost 60 scholars, watching more than 30 postgraduates from Curtin, UWA, ECU and Murdoch present their research in three different streams. The main panel event: “The Future Directions Panel” with Prof John Hartley, Prof Lelia Green, Assoc Prof Ingrid Richardson and Prof Philip Mead was also particularly engaging Special thanks also to ANZCA executive member Michele Willson, who coordinated the symposium, with assistance from Debbie Rodan and Terence Lee and Rod Cover. Two more follow-up events are scheduled over the next 12 months (November 2015 at ECU and Feb 2016 at Murdoch) and interested WA scholars should contact the organisers for more details.
ANZCA was also pleased to support the, “Digging the Data” seminar, co-hosted by the University of Sydney’s Department of Media and Communication (MECO). The seminar focused on the emerging field of digital research methods and featured guest speakers including Professor Gerard Goggin, Dr Jonathon Hutchinson, Dr Tarren Wills, Dr Rowan Wilken, Dr Peta Mitchell, Professor Axel Bruns, Dr Tim Highfield, Dr Jeremy Hammond, Mr Ravi Glasser-Vora and Dr Cate Dowd. Organiser of the event, Dr Jonathon Hutchinson said that this exciting event began a dialogue about the future of digital research methods. This has resulted in the formation of a working group that will provide a platform for a digital methods panel discussion and workshop at the ANZCA conference.
Finally, this time of year is always busy as the Association prepares for its annual conference. In July, ANZCA will present its annual conference in Queenstown, New Zealand: Rethinking Communication, Space and Identity will be held from 8-10 July with postgraduate and early career researchers welcome to join the free pre-conference event on 7 July. Five fantastic keynote speakers will present at the conference, including: Professor François Cooren from the University of Montreal, Professor Steven Livingston from the George Washington University, Professor Caroline Haythornthwaite from the University of British Columbia, Prof Katharine Sarikakis from the University of Vienna and Julian Carver, the manager of Canterbury Spatial Data Infrastructure at Land Information New Zealand. The keynote program will also include a special presentation and workshop on communicating science from Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Australian Climate Council. You can now register for the conference at: http://www.arts.canterbury.ac.nz/conferences/anzca/.
The conference will also be a significant event because ANZCA will be the first local launch of its journal, Communication Research and Practice. The journal’s international launch occurred in May at the ICA conference in Puerto Rico and garnered significant attention from international scholars. Conference attendees in Queenstown will be able to see the first issue of the journal, which includes esteemed scholars such as: Professor Robert Picard, Professor John Hartley and Dr Rowan Wilken. My congratulations and thanks to Editor Terry Flew, who has worked tirelessly to deliver a journal with international scope, great content and academic quality.
AMIC Conference heralds changing of the Guard
Ramon R. Tuazon, Acting Secretary-General
The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) has successfully concluded its 24th International Conference (10th-13th June) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference was hosted by the American University in Dubai (AUD).
With the theme Communicating in an e-Asia: Values, Technologies and Challenges, the event was attended by about 180 participants, two-thirds of whom were foreign delegates from various continents including Asia-Pacific, North America, and Africa. It was the first time for AMIC to hold its annual conference in the Gulf region. The conference featured three plenaries and 31 parallel sessions.
AMIC Dubai 2015 honored three communication icons for the AMIC Asia Communication Award—Juan L. Mercado (2014 awardee), and Dr. Alan Hancock and Prof. David Robie (2015 awardees). AMIC also recognized the significant contributions of three institutions that nurtured and sustained the organization in the past 44 years—the Government of the Republic of Singapore, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and Nanyang Technological University.
During the event, Mr. Arun Mahizhnan stepped down as chairman of the Board of Directors. He was replaced by eminent Filipino communication scholar Dr. Crispin C. Maslog. We recognize Mr. Mahizhnan’s long years of distinguished service to AMIC as chairman and member of the Board of Management as well as chairman of the Board of Directors.
With his appointment, Dr. Maslog comes full circle at AMIC. He was part of a select group of Asian scholars and practitioners who conceptualized AMIC in Singapore in 1971.
We also convened our Annual General Membership Meeting on 11 June, during which the members agreed to ratify the earlier decision of the Board of Directors to transfer the AMIC headquarters from Singapore to Manila, Philippines. The Philippine Women’s University-Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (PWU-AIJC) consortium will be hosting the new headquarters. The AGM agreed to revisit this decision after three years.
While the challenges facing AMIC’s transition may be daunting, continuous dialogue will be crucial in binding the members together and strengthening the organization. I look forward to your sustained commitment to AMIC in the years to come, and I wish each of you the best as you pursue your respective endeavors.
(Note: IAMCR President, Prof Janet Wasko, was an invited speaker in the prestigious AMIC Distinguished Forum at the AMIC conference, while IAMCR Vice-President, Associate Professor Pradip Thomas, was invited to present a paper in the UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue session.)
ALAIC at IAMCR in Montreal
Delia Crovi Druetta, President
The Latin American Association of Communication Researchers (ALAIC) will participate at the IAMCR Conference in Montreal. The association will run a panel with the participation of prominent experts of the region. This region includes an important number of both national associations and scholars who, during the last 40 years, have headed key debates in the field of communication.
The ALAIC panel at IAMCR in Montreal will make visible a plurality of issues and interests about communication systems and practices at both national and regional levels in Latin America. These perspectives respond to specific historical, cultural and social frameworks and will be centered among other issues on the discussion of power, freedom of expression, hegemony and the role of education in the changes within our field.