Relevance

The 60th Annual ICA Conference

Sept. 27-28, 2024

Des Moines Area Community College—Urban Campus

For over sixty years, the ICA has been supporting communication educators and scholars. Much has changed over these decades—technological advancements, societal shifts, etc.—yet enhancing effective communication skills has never been more relevant.

With the theme of Relevance, this conference will explore how we adapt our teaching and learning to stay relevant through the evolution of the communication field. Possible panel topics include adapting communication strategies to changing audience preferences and societal trends, exploring how emerging technologies influence communication channels and content, and navigating the tension between staying relevant and maintaining ethical standards. We welcome any contributions that get people thinking about and discussing communication research and pedagogy.

The 60th Annual ICA Conference will explore these and other communication issues. We will also celebrate 20 years of the Jon G. Hall Online GIFT Forum. The conference will be held September 27-28, at Des Moines Area Community College’s Urban Campus in Des Moines, Iowa.

We welcome faculty and students from all areas of communication education, including K-12, Community College, Undergraduate, and Graduate levels. We encourage submissions from all of these groups.

Submissions are encouraged in the following categories:

·         Research—Completed research papers may be submitted for presentation and response from a communication scholar. Research papers should use APA 7th edition format and not exceed 25 pages excluding title and references.

·         Research in Progress Roundtables—Submit an extended abstract of 500-750 words to get feedback from other scholars. If desired, this could become a writing group after the conference. 

·         Graduate Student Debut Papers—ICA is a great place to start the journey to academic presentation. The same rules for research submission apply. 

·         Discussion Panels or Roundtables—An overall abstract not to exceed 250 words should summarize the topic of the panel. 

·         GIFTS or Teaching Short Courses/Workshops

·         Other formats as appropriate for presentation—An overall abstract not to exceed 250 should describe the format and presentation.

Submission deadline is Friday, June 14, 2024 at 11:59 pm CDT. Program planner is Aimee Langager (anlangager@dmacc.edu). Submissions can be made directly to the program planner or to the general ICA email account at iowacommunication@gmail.com.