CFP: 6th Annual Doctoral Consortium of the Communication and Technology Division of the International Communication Association (ICA)

Call for Proposals

The consortium brings together PhD candidates working on Communication and Technology to give them the opportunity to present and discuss their research in a constructive and international atmosphere. The goals of the event are to provide feedback and advice to participating PhD candidates on their in-progress research thesis. Moreover, the doctoral consortium will provide the opportunity to meet experts as well as fellow PhD candidates from different backgrounds working on related topics.

During the consortium, students will be invited to present their work, following which they will receive feedback from their fellow students and faculty participants, all of whom will have read the proposals in advance of the Doctoral Consortium. In addition, at least one faculty participant will be assigned to respond in detail to each proposal. Besides the presentations of proposals, there will also be discussion of other topics such as ethics, research methods, publishing the thesis, and positioning one's work for the job market.

Submission Process

Applicants must be advanced to candidacy, and have their dissertation proposal topic previously approved by their committee. Ideally, students will be in the early stages of their dissertation, where feedback would be helpful in refining and advancing their work. To apply, students must submit a proposal describing their research.

Submissions must be related to the working area of the Communication and Technology Division of ICA. A description of the division's primary interests can be found in the last section of this call.

Proposals must identify a significant problem (or problems) in the field of research, briefly outline current knowledge of the problem domain, and clearly formulate a research question, or specify hypotheses to be tested.

Proposals should outline the research approach, methods, and any results obtained so far. Submissions should be between 3000 and 4000 words (excluding references and appendices), and must include name and affiliation of the PhD candidate.

Applications should be accompanied by a short letter of recommendation from the advisor or member of the dissertation committee stating how the PhD candidate can benefit from participation in the Doctoral Consortium.

The proposal and letter of recommendation must be submitted as one PDF document and sent as an attachment in an email to Benjamin Detenber at tdetenber@ntu.edu.sg. The deadline for submission is 1 February 2014. Submitted proposals will be reviewed by the members of the program committee based on significance of research, specificity of research topic and/or questions, clarity of writing, and degree to which student can benefit from expert guidance and feedback.

To help ensure the consortium best meets the needs of its members, limited financial assistance is made possible by the CAT Division. Please note in your application if you would like to be considered for financial support to cover your costs for participation in the CAT Doctoral Consortium (this support would cover only the $75 participation fee and not travel to the conference).

About the Communication and Technology Division within ICA

The Communication and Technology (CAT) Division is concerned with the role played by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the process of communication. It is committed to enhancing theory and methodology pertaining to adoption, usage, effects, and policy of ICTs. Areas of research include human-computer interaction, computer-mediated communication, mobile communication, and other technologically mediated social interaction and networking in all contexts (interpersonal, group, organizational, societal/cultural) and at all levels of analyses. CAT invites papers that make an innovative and original contribution to our understanding of ICTs, with the primary focus on communication aspects of particular technological characteristics. Papers in which technology is not a specific object of investigation but is instead the context or backdrop for a communication study should be directed to other ICA Divisions.

As part of CAT, the Doctoral Consortium welcomes papers that follow any and all disciplinary approaches (psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and policy studies, among others) and all methodological orientations (quantitative, qualitative, critical, cultural, historical, legal, and institutional, among others).

Organization

Once a proposal is accepted students can register through the ICA website. Costs for participation are 75 US$ per person. After acceptance, students are encouraged to submit updated proposals (maximum 5000 words, excluding references and appendices) for review and comment.

Program Committee (faculty mentors)

Benjamin H. Detenber, Nanyang Technological U, Singapore (Program Director)
Marjolijn Antheunis, U of Tilburg, Netherlands
Jesse Fox, Ohio State U, USA
Lee Humphreys, Cornell U, USA
Klaus Bruhn Jensen, U of Copenhagen, Denmark
Veronika Karnowski, Ludwig-Maximilians U, Germany
Nicole Krämer, U of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Louis Leung, Chinese U, Hong Kong
S. Shyam Sundar, Pennsylvania State U, USA
Sabine Trepte, U of Hohenheim, Germany
Joseph B. Walther, Nanyang Technological U, Singapore
Mike Yao, City U, Hong Kong