Call for Proposals

Embracing Change

 Since the time of Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, scholarly communication inquiry has often reflected a perspective white, male, and Western. From theories of persuasion to models of human interaction, this body of work has yielded important insights into and understanding of the human condition and the role communication and media play within it. Yet, in the intervening millennia, the world has changed dramatically, especially in the domain of the media of communication, and new perspectives and ideas have emerged to help transform the communication and media discipline.  Contributions from diverse and inclusive scholars across the Global South and beyond are reshaping the field. Still, recent years have seen enormous push-back throughout society in the West and elsewhere, questioning these contributions and even the very legitimacy of the views, ideas, and scholarship espoused. Books have been banned in schools and public libraries, and curricula that teach Black history or the LGBTQ+ experience have been outlawed in schools and higher education.

The annual conference of the New York State Communication Association invites participants to consider new concepts, questions, approaches, methods, or theoretical frameworks, and explore how these musings may contribute to a richer, more diverse, inclusive, and changing discipline of communication and media inquiry. Scholars, practitioners, and students are encouraged to examine how their areas of study in communication and media intersect with or contribute to understanding the changing nature of communication inquiry. Those who seek to banish contributions embracing change often rest on a false assumption: that we are playing a zero-sum game, and that engaging change means excluding more traditional views and perspectives. In fact, a more accurate metaphor is that human communication knowledge is an infinitely expandable pie, and that by embracing change, the pie can grow, become more flavorful, and even more nutritious.

We welcome submissions of completed papers, panels, roundtables, fishbowl conversations, student posters, and other innovative and engaging programs. Work related to the conference theme is encouraged, including matters of social justice, along with a range of communication topics from a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.

Keynotes
This year’s conference will feature two exceptional keynotes. Dr. Pamela Pruitt, Grammy-winning Motown songwriter, will join us in a fireside chat discussing music, communication, and change on Friday night, October 17.  Dr. George A. Pruitt, President Emeritus of Thomas Edison State University, will reflect on lessons drawn from his book, Emergence of Adult Education and the Birth of Distance Learning.

Submission Guidelines
Completed paper submissions should be no more than 25 double-spaced pages (not inclusive of title and bibliography pages) and should not include any identifying information. The author, affiliation, and contact information should be provided separately in the body of the submission email. Papers should include a running head with an abbreviated title. Any standard style is permitted. Completed paper submissions from undergraduate and graduate students will be considered for student paper awards. Student submissions should indicate “undergraduate” or “graduate,” along with an abbreviated title in the running head.

For all other presentation formats, including panel proposals, posters (students only), roundtables, fishbowls, and other innovative programs, please include the title, the lead contact or panel chair, the participants/authors, affiliations, contact information, and a description of the panel, poster, roundtable, etc. For each paper in a panel or roundtable proposal, please include a title, a list of authors, and abstracts of no more than 125 words for each presenter.

Statement of Professional Responsibility
A statement of professional responsibility should be included on the first page of all paper/panel/roundtable submissions, or in the email accompanying video/audio files, and should state the following: “In submitting the attached paper/panel proposal, poster or roundtable, I/we agree to present at the 2025 NYSCA conference if it is accepted. I/we further recognize that all who attend and present at NYSCA’s annual meeting must register and pay the required fees.”

Contact Information
Direct inquiries and email submissions to John V. Pavlik, Department of Journalism and Media Studies, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, at NYSCA2025@gmail.com

Deadline
All submissions and proposals are due no later than midnight EST on June 6, 2025.
Muchas gracias!

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