Communicating for a Multivocal World
Thursday 17 July | 15:45 – 17:45
The closing plenary is aimed at promoting horizontal communication among scholars representing different cultural and intellectual perspectives. In the best traditions of IAMCR, the plenary will engage in a conversation among panellists who have close connections with other international professional communication associations and forge possibilities of finding ways to embrace difference with dignity, in an increasingly polarised world.
Panel Chair & Moderator
Daya Thussu
Daya Thussu is the President of IAMCR. He is currently Professor of International Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, University of London.
Panellists
Cees Hamelink
Dr. Cees Hamelink is honorary president of the IAMCR- studied psychology of religion and moral philosophy in Amsterdam and worked as journalist, policy adviser and researcher in many different institutions and countries. He was consultant to several intergovernmental organisations, among them FAO and UNESCO and to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. He was adviser to many governments on the planning of national communication policies. He received several life-time achievement awards for his contribution and commitment to programmes for social change. He is emeritus professor of international communication at the University of Amsterdam. In 2010 he was appointed Athena Professor of Global Health and Human Rights at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. He is also honorary professor at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado Hidalgo in Mexico.
Jack Qiu
Professor Jack Qiu is the Chair and Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), where he directs the Asian Communication Research Centre (ACRC). His work focuses on digital media and social change, particularly in Asia and the Global South. Professor Qiu publishes in both English and Chinese, with some of his works translated into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. He is an elected Fellow of the International Communication Association (ICA) and a recipient of the C. Edwin Baker Award for the Advancement of Scholarship on Media, Markets and Democracy. He also served as a Past President of the Chinese Communication Association (CCA).
Andrea Medrado
Dr Andrea Medrado is a Senior Lecturer in Global Communications and the Co-Director of Research for the Department of Communications, Drama and Film of the University of Exeter in the UK. She is also Co-Vice-President of IAMCR. Andrea is currently a Co-Investigator for the Project “The Social Foundations of Cryptography”, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK, and a Principal Investigator the Project “AIM: AI from/in the Margins”, funded by the INCT DSI Consortium in Brazil. She recently published the book “Media Activism, Artivism and the Fight Against Marginalisation in the Global South” (2023), co-authored with Isabella Rega. She has also published widely in academic journals, such as Big Data & Society, Information Communication & Society, and Tapuya. Her research interests include South-to-South communication, media activism and artivism in the Global South, critical AI and data studies, ethnographic and participatory methods.
Ramon Guillermo R. Tuazon
Ramon Guillermo R. Tuazon is the Secretary-General of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Inc. (AMIC). From 2020-2024, he served as Communication Specialist at UNESCO Office in Yangon. He assumed the same post from 2012 to 2014.
Mr. Tuazon was president of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) from 2007-2020.
He brings over 35 years of experience in communication planning, management, and evaluation.
He was co-author of Media and Information Literacy: Curriculum for Teachers (UNESCO, 2011); Media and Information Literate Citizens: Think Critically, Click Wisely 2nd edition (UNESCO; 2021) Myanmar Journalists’ Toolkit in Cultural and Ethnic Reporting (UNESCO 2023); and Towards a MIL Competency Framework in Myanmar (UNESCO 2020). He has made contributions to numerous international publications focusing on MIL, Safety of Journalists, and Freedom of Expression.
Mr. Tuazon teaches communication subjects in several Philippine universities. He received his Master in Communication Management from the AIJC.
Ylva Rodny-Gumede
Professor Ylva Rodny-Gumede is currently the Head of the Division for Global Engagement and a full Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Johannesburg. She holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University as well as an MA degree in Politics from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and an MA in Journalism from Cardiff University in the U.K. She also holds a certificate in Executive Leadership from the Johannesburg Business School, South Africa. Ylva has held fellowships at Universities in South Africa and abroad, including London School of Economics, Duke University in the U.S and University of Aarhus in Denmark.
