Communicating for Social Impact
The 58th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association
Le Centre Sheraton Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
May 22-26, 2008

The ICA 2008 conference will reflect both the attention to the development and publicizing of communication research that assists different nations, NGOs, community organizations, and other in identifying and combating social problems, and addresses challenges to the meaningfulness of our work and its translation into venues where the people who need this research can access it.  Rather than one or two major plenary sessions, this year’s conference will highlight three or four special sessions in each plenary time slot.  Among those will be panels by ICA Fellows featuring the work of recently selected fellows.

Division-sponsored panels of particular interest include the ERIC’s panel "Changing Networks: New Methodologies in Media and Cultural Diversity Research" addressing the growing complexity in diasporic and migrant connections that are related to different appropriations and forms of engagement with space, political and geographical boundaries and technology, brings with it new methodological challenges.;  and one of ICA’s newest special interest groups, Communication History’s panel "Communication and the Postwar Experience Abstract" exploring history as an enduring theme in communication research and will demonstrate that ‘history’ can mean many things in the study of communication.

An outstanding lineup of preconference workshops will address, "The Long History of New Media," "Mediating Global Citizenship," "What is an Organization? Materiality, Agency, and Discourse," "The Global and Globalizing Dimensions of Mobile Communication, "Remapping Public Media," "Communication and Social Change," "Analyzing Media Industries and Media Production," and "Bridging Scholar/Activist Divides in the Field of Communication."

Other sessions of special interest to ICA student members will include the annual Graduate Student Orientation.  The exhibit area will feature exhibit booths highlighting products, services and publishers important to communication research and action-packed with events including

• Free Wireless Cyber Café
• Plenary Interactive Paper Sessions with authors onsite
• Message Board (available to all attendees throughout the exhibit hours)

ICA’s local planning committee has arranged an amazing variety of activities to round out the conference experience. Our 2008 annual conference in Montreal promises to be one of ICA’s best ever. Vist the ICA website in early March for the complete conference program.