ICA President Eun-Ju Lee (Seoul National University) Newsletter Column
Looking Back, Looking Forward:
It might not have been evident to my ICA friends, but I absolutely LOVE compliments. I want to express my gratitude to everyone who shared, during and after the ICA23 conference, both in-person and online, how much they enjoyed our annual gathering. Thanks to your dedicated leadership, active participation, and selfless service, #ICA23 was a remarkable success – not just in terms of the record-high number of in-person attendees, but also the quality of individual programs. I cannot thank the Division and Interest Group planners, Theme Committee Co-Chairs, Regional Hub organizers, and Local Host Committee members enough for working tirelessly for months behind the scenes. Once again, my heartfelt thanks go to our amazing ICA Headquarters staff, led by Executive Director Laura Sawyer, who truly is "the answer to all your problems." Personally, it felt like the first REAL conference since the COVID outbreak, and I was tremendously encouraged and invigorated by your presence and words of support.
For conference highlights, the Opening Plenary commenced with a land acknowledgement and blessing from Elder Kevin Myron of the Toronto Council Fire, followed by a ceremonial dance. Subsequently, Drs. Sarah Banet-Weiser, Pablo Boczknowski, and Joseph B. Walther engaged the audience in a vibrant discussion on what authenticity means from diverse scholarly perspectives and how communication scholarship can promote authenticity both within and beyond academia. In the Closing Plenary, dedicated to indigenous scholarship ("Authentic Indigenous Scholarship and Its Relevance to the Communication Discipline") and moderated by Dr. Srividya Ramasubramanian, we had the privilege of hearing from eminent indigenous scholars Drs. Candis Callison, Mohan Dutta, Chelsea Gabel, and Melina Webber, who shared their scholarly experiences and insights into how we can address the deep-rooted challenges associated with pursuing indigenous scholarship moving forward.
In his Presidential Address, the now Immediate Past President Dr. Noshir Contractorannounced the establishment of six Global Chapters as well as the launch of the Global South and Regional Scholarship Development Fund. This fund specifically aims to "support and cultivate communication and media scholarship across the Global South and under-represented regions." Having the opportunity to witness his exemplary leadership firsthand, especially his unwavering efforts toward the true internationalization of ICA has been an immense privilege. As his successor, I am thrilled to carry forward his legacy.
Based on the feedback from #ICA22 attendees regarding technology-related issues, we decided to make approximately 35% of the sessions hybrid events at #ICA23, supported by professional A/V teams. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this approach worked very well, except for the hotel's internet outage encountered on the first day. We are eager to learn more about your experiences and receive suggestions for future conferences. By the time you're reading this, I trust that most of you will have already completed the post-conference member survey!
Believe it or not, planning for #ICA24 is already underway, with the conference theme of "Communication and Global Human Rights" proposed by the President-Elect Dr. Silvio Waisbord. I'm pretty sure that ICA will continue with our new tradition, the ICA Ice Cream Social, which turned out to be incredibly popular. We definitely hope NOT to make a tradition of starting the morning's first session with a fire alarm! ☺.
Link: https://www.icahdq.org/blogpost/1523657/490863/President-s-Column-Looking-Back-Looking-Forward
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Tom Mankowski
ICA
Washington DC
United States
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