Complete Story
09/08/2016
ECA 2017 - Call for Papers - Communication and Technology Interest Group
ECA 2017 Convention
Communication and Technology Interest Group Call for Papers & Panels
108th Annual ECA Convention
Freedom To … Freedom From
Boston, MA
The Omni Parker House
March 29 - April 2, 2017
Submission Deadline: October 15, 2016
No city in the United States is associated more with the tensions inherent in the concept of <freedom> than Boston, the site of our 2017 convention.
Although the “Freedom Trail” that passes only twenty feet from the door of our convention hotel tells a story that Boston – and the United States – seeks simple <freedom>, its two endpoints show that <freedom> is no simple thing.
The Massachusetts State House on the southern end negotiates daily the tension between governmental regulation and individual liberties. The USS Constitution on the northern end embodies the nation’s history desire for freedom from foreign aggression through its freedom to use military force. The Boston Common was used as a grazing ground, where there was freedom from livestock fees, but also freedom to enact the tragedy of the commons. Boston was home to the first Liberty Tree, an elm near Boston Common that was a site where everyday people sought freedom from the Stamp Act in 1765 and where British soldiers enacted their freedom to make this tree an object of ridicule and a site of punishment. Samuel Adams preached revolutionary freedom from British taxes, even while his cousin John Adams argued that even British soldiers have the freedom to demand a fair trial. Boston’s Justice William Cushing ruled in 1781, that “all men are born free and equal” to demand that Bostonians of African descent be released from slavery, even as slaveholders and legislators sustained laws that that allowed the freedom to hold slaves until the end of the Civil War. Throughout the Civil War, the first Red Scare of the 1920s, the busing and desegregation struggles of the 1970s and 80s, and to today in dozens of other examples, Boston has been a place where <freedom> has been a contested ground.
Our presence in Boston invites us to consider how the tensions in <freedom> are also present in our discipline.
What does communication give us the <freedom> to do? What does it give us <freedom> from? What are the uses and abuses of free communication? When have others used their freedom to communicate to prevent freedom from other forces? And, when have we used the freedom to communicate to gain freedom from these forces?
These are the kinds of questions our papers, panels, short courses, and other activities can explore.
Submission of Completed Papers
Individual submissions of complete papers should include the following elements:
- The word “Debut” marked on all papers written by authors who have not presented previously at a regional or national convention.
- A detachable title page with the title of the paper and the author’s affiliation, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. Please include the contact information for everyone who is on the paper (name, affiliation, address, phone #, & e-mail). You do NOT need to send the cover page as a separate file. **
- A one-page abstract on the second page.
- A statement of professional responsibility on the second page.
** If the paper has multiple authors, please indicate who will be presenting at the convention.
Submission of Program/Panel Proposals
- Submission of program/panel proposals should include the following elements:
- A thematic title for the program.
- Names of the chair and respondents (if any). Chairs should not also be designated as respondents.
- Names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and institutional affiliations of all participants.
- Titles and abstracts for each paper or presentation.
- A program copy (no more than a 75-word description) as it should appear in the final program.
- A detailed rationale for the program/panel.
- A statement of professional responsibility.
Possible Ideas
During our annual business meeting, a number of possible ideas were discussed:
1) A debate about <freedom> within our interest group.
2) Possibility of bringing in outside panelists who could explore the convention theme.
Please send your submissions and/or inquiries to malwina.buldys@temple.edu. All submissions should be submitted as either a .doc/.docx, .odt, or .pdf file.
Remember, the deadline for submissions is October 15, 2016.
I look forward to meeting you and to a successful conference.
Sincerely,
Malwina Buldys
ECA 2017 Communication and Technology Interest Group, Vice-Chair
School of Media and Communication
Temple University
malwina.buldys@temple.edu
Statement of Professional Responsibility
The following statement MUST be included with every submission of a paper or panel in order for it to be eligible for review. If it is not attached with a submitted document, the chair is responsible for obtaining a completed copy of this form prior to the paper/panel being officially programmed for presentation at the convention.
In submitting the attached paper or proposal, I/We recognize that this submission is considered a professional responsibility. I/We agree to present this panel or paper if it is accepted and programmed. I/We further recognize that all who attend and present at ECA’s annual meeting must register and pay required fees.
Come and help us enact <Freedom>!
