Call for proposals 2026
The Media Education Research (MER) Section invites the submission of abstracts for its 2026 conference, to be held from 28 June to 2 July 2026 in Galway, Ireland, hosted by the University of Galway.
The deadline for submission is 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC.
Download this call for papers as a PDF file
Theme
IAMCR conferences cover a wide range of topics defined by our thematic Sections and Working Groups (S/WG). Each year, a central theme invites participants to engage in shared reflection across these diverse areas, fostering dialogue and collaboration.
The 2026 central theme, Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation, addresses the complexities of contemporary media systems in a polarised and interconnected world. By interrogating the tensions between centrality and marginality—whether geographical, cultural, political, or conceptual—this theme aligns with IAMCR’s commitment to fostering critical and inclusive dialogues across diverse perspectives.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
Working in the seams of educational, cultural, and social sites, educators, librarians, community activists, media makers, journalists, and communications researchers are positioned in a unique manner to address central, challenging local and global issues, while also working alongside individuals and groups to help develop and nurture media competencies, conceptual frames, and ethical comportments. Media education settings offer space for critical reflection and provide practical strategies to groups and individuals to engage with media in their daily lives. Media education involves teaching with and about media from a participatory perspective, therefore connecting people. It draws widely upon social, cultural and technological conditions, situates learners and instructors in the broad context of their lived realities, and treats media as pedagogical resources and means of expression. Media education is a privileged space from which to investigate media and communication peripheries, connections and transformations.
The Media Education Research (MER) Section is calling for papers related to the conference's main themes from the perspective of ongoing situated research or theoretical developments.
The abstracts can follow a range of directions such as:
- How should media education address new and evolving cultural, political, technological, environmental, and ethical challenges?
- How are neo-colonial and global South challenges and approaches contributing to media education? How do we decolonize media education?
- How does media education enable peripheral voices/issues and address inequalities?
- How does media education help us engage with algorithms, datafication, platforming and/or artificial intelligence?
- How does media education respond to mis- or dis-information and hate speech?
- What role does children’s and youth media play in media education?
- How are media production initiatives shaping global and/or local communities?
- What critical media education projects are happening today, locally and/or globally?
Expectations: MER may call upon participants to review submission proposals from other colleagues.
Exclusions:
Journalism education proposals can be sent directly to the IAMCR Journalism Research and Education section.
Ed Tech research on ICT use in classrooms and distance education can be directed to ISTE and other such conferences.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts for papers to be presented in person should be between 600 and 800 words. They must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 28 November 2025 through 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Abstracts submitted by email will not be considered.
It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group. The same abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting the same work to multiple Sections or Working Groups may be removed entirely from the conference programme.
Most MER proposals are for both single-authored or multi-authored papers. There are special procedures for submitting Panel Proposals (4-6 papers that address a single theme). Please provide a 200-300 word rationale for the panel as a whole. Also, be sure to include a common term or acronym in the title of all panel papers that identifies them as part of the panel.
Evaluation criteria
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
- Technical merit
- Readability
- Originality and/or significance
- Use of or contribution to theory
- Depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission
- Relevance to the section and current trends or controversies in its field
Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria.
Languages
The Media Education Research Section accepts abstracts only in English. Full conference papers can be submitted in English or Spanish.
Statement on use of AI tools
MER recognises a difference between AI-assisted versus AI-generated proposals (and conference papers). Please do not submit AI-generated proposals.
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Intention to attend
Each abstract submitted to IAMCR represents a real cost to the Association and contributes to the workload of volunteer reviewers and organisers. As the number of submissions each year far exceeds the available presentation slots, we ask authors to submit only if they genuinely intend to attend and present their work at the conference if accepted.
Correspondence
Be sure to use the same e-mail address in all of your correspondence.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit proposals is 3 February 2026, at 23:59 UTC. Other key dates. Dates are subject to change.
About the Media Education Research Section
Learn more about the work and scope of the Media Education Research Section.
Contact the Section
For further information about the conference and the status of your submission, consult the IAMCR Galway 2026 website.
Any other questions, including submission procedures for the Media Education Research Section, can be directed to the heads of the Section.
Chair: Michael Hoechsmann: mhoechsm@lakeheadu.ca (English/Spanish)
Vice-chair: Rayén Condeza Dall'Orso: rcondeza@uc.cl (Spanish/French)
