Decisions about submissions for the Gold Coast conference have been made and communicated. Big thanks to everyone who submitted papers and proposals, and participated in the time-intensive and laborious review process. We are fully aware of how much work so many colleagues and ICA staff have put in the process, and greatly appreciate your efforts.
We are thrilled about the level of interest in the conference. We received 4631 In-Person Individual submissions, 1039 Remote Individual submissions, and 246 Session Proposals submissions. The acceptance rate is 37.6%, which is higher than 2023 Toronto (33.10%), but lower than 2022 Paris (43%).This is largely because we had far more available physical rooms in Paris - 36 rooms in Paris compared to this year's 27 rooms.
I am excited about the opening and closing plenaries. Following the land acknowledgment, we will have a wonderful panel with Drs. Mary Graham (U of Queensland), Rosalind Croucher (Australian Human Rights Commission), and Libby Lester (Monash U) to discuss communication and global human rights, the conference theme. The closing plenary will feature conference theme co-chairs, who generously participated in the review process. Both sessions will explore key research and policy issues at the intersection of communication and human rights in Australia and the world.
The rest of the conference program is shaping up nicely, too. Among important and timely papers and sessions, I want to highlight the following Sponsored Sessions: "Empowering or Endangering? Mobile Media and Human Rights," "Scholars at Risk: Dangers, Patterns, Resistance," a memorial panel for Cindy Gallois, and a panel on the Encyclopedia of Communication. We are working on several panels on indigenous scholarship that will be confirmed in the next weeks. We are also planning several social events that will be added to the program soon.
Also, we will have a great line-up of conference theme panels. Here are the titles: "WhatsApp, extreme speech and the global challenge of human rights violations;" "Justice by digital open source research: Examining key issues and challenges from human rights practice;" "Crisis of human rights in India: The mediated mobilization of Hindu authoritarian nationalist violence;" "Health as human right: Centering equity in health policies & communication;" "Communication and human rights in global religious contexts and movements;" "Disability rights are human rights: Disability research across communication studies; and "Empowering or endangering? Mobile media and human rights."
Confirmed film screenings include: Beyond the Straight and Narrow: Queer and Trans Television in the Age of Streaming; Fly in Power (a documentary about Asian migrant massage and sex work); and Ani Cholying Drolma - Mission Impossible (the story of Choying Drolma, a child of a forced marriage and a victim of domestic violence, who embarks on global music journey).
Finally, I wanted to remind those interested in taking tours in Gold Coast, to start planning. The conference page in the ICA website has helpful resources, such as information on our airline partner and how to book a subsidized-fee shuttle from Brisbane to Gold Coast. You will receive a confirmation email after completing your registration that has many helpful links.
A quick reference guide is below: