06/28/2024

2025 CSCA Convention - Women’s Caucus ... Call for Papers and Panels

WOMEN’S CAUCUS
Call for Papers and Panels

Central States Communication Association (CSCA) 

Annual Convention – Cincinnati, OH

April 1 - 6, 2025

Widening the Scope

The CSCA Women’s Caucus invites submissions of competitive papers and panel proposals examining the role of gender in communication studies. Our caucus has a long history of community engagement and activism, and we welcome submissions that address the intersection of civic concerns and how they impact women’s lives. We welcome a range of topics, and we especially encourage members to address issues related to the convention theme, Widening the Scope. Let’s come together to share our scholarship and stories, collaborate, and celebrate!

The Women’s Caucus is dedicated to the exploration of multiple feminisms and the ways in which intersectionality shapes identity and difference. Feminist scholarship that intersects with issues of race, class, sexuality, age, and ability are strongly encouraged. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Emotional labor, mental health, trauma dumping
• Childbirth and gender roles, including inequities and race (e.g., Black American doulas, partnerships with Health Communication)
• Healthcare access, with a focus on class issues (potential co-sponsorship with the ERICC Caucus)
• Teaching challenging subjects amidst administrative pushback (e.g., teaching women’s studies without discussing gender)
• Addressing the demographic cliff, student retention, and the impact of firing DEI roles; supporting instructors in supporting students, and navigating legislation and funding issues
• Decolonizing academic structures, problematizing self-disclosure
• Gendered and racialized terms in various fields, such as engineering
• Interdisciplinary collaboration and the challenges within the
• Wine culture/beer culture, self-care, and the impact of consumerism/capitalism on well-being
• Menopause and perimenopause
• Gendered social expectations in job hiring, critical etiquette, and presenting oneself in professional settings (potential collaboration with Organizational and Professional Communication, Instructional Resources, or Popular Culture)

We strongly encourage submissions that reflect a diversity of perspectives and institutions. Co-sponsorship between other CSCA interest groups and caucuses is highly encouraged.

Awards: The Women’s Caucus issues a Top Paper and Top Student Paper award, both of which come with a $50 reward.  

Submission Guidelines

Papers:

• Only complete papers will be considered.
• Papers must conform to APA 7^thedition guidelines and be prepared for anonymous review.
• Papers must include a title and a brief abstract.
• Papers must not exceed 25 double-spaced pages (not including title page, abstract, references, and appendices)
• Inclusive Scholarship Award
• If you would like your paper to be considered for the Inclusive Scholarship Award, type - -INCLUSIVE SCHOLARSHIP" in the upper right hand corner of the title page.
• To be considered as an exemplar of inclusive scholarship the paper must demonstrate academic rigor in the examination of communication and historically marginalized communities/populations.
• If you would like to be considered for this award, please clearly articulate, in at least one paragraph in your abstract, how the respective scholarship explicitly addresses equity and inclusion.
• Additionally, be sure to select the Inclusive Scholarship option when you submit your paper.

Paper Panel Proposals:

• Paper session panels must include a panel rationale (maximum 500 words) and abstract (maximum 100 words) for each paper.

Discussion Panel Proposals:

• Discussion panels must include a panel rationale (maximum 500 words) and a brief abstract (maximum 75 words) as it would appear in the conference program describing the program.
• You are strongly encouraged to include a brief abstract (50 words or less) of each participant’s perspective or what they add to the discussion.

Submission Deadline & Information:

All media requests must be made at the time of submission. Please only request media if it is essential to your presentation, as media requests will be closely examined before approval. Laptop computers will not be made available for presentations.

Submissions for CSCA 2025 must be received by 11:59 PM (CDT) on October 5, 2024.  Send submissions electronically through our CSCA online submission system site. Submitters should be certain that all potential presenters create a profile in the CSCA online submission system site as part of their submission. Membership in CSCA is not required to create a profile.

Any questions can be directed to Dr. Amanda Grace Taylor, the chair and program planner for the Women’s Caucus, at ataylor@abet.org.