call for papers

[Anita Taylor]

Participants in the I-GALA list group may find the following paper call sent by Guo-Ming Chen, gchen at etal.uri.edu of interest.  ANITA TAYLOR

Call for Papers
The 15th IAICS International Conference on Cross-Cultural Communication
 
Theme: Intercultural Communication and Collaboration within and across Sociolinguistic Environments
 
September 18-20, 2009
Kumamoto Gakuen University, Japan
 
The continuing globalization of the world brings ever-increasing opportunities to share knowledge and ideas across sociolinguistic boundaries. This is not simply a matter of the world becoming smaller or more alikeon the contrary, recognition and respect of diversity have become prerequisites in face of the need to understand and get along with each other. Moreover, intercultural sensitivity and accommodation are necessary for successful collaboration towards exchange and resolution of global issues.
 
The importance of effective communication across different environments has long been recognized; however, it is becoming more apparent that the need for enhanced communication skills to share ideas effectively even within the same sociolinguistic environment is posing an ever increasing challenge. This is at least partly due to the relative decrease in face-to-face communication that has become a dangerous side-effect of the bewildering increase in methods of global communication and the speed of change in the environment itself. The challenge of successful cooperation not only across but also within sociolinguistic and cultural boundaries, then, remains in the limelight today.

This year's conference aims to bring together experts in cross-cultural communication studies with a focus on recognition of the changing communicative environment in which we live and work, with the hope that new ideas and opportunities for collaboration will result. As an interdisciplinary conference on human communication across cultures, the suggested paper topics, therefore, cover a wide range of communication related themes. The following are potential paper topics:
Approaches to intercultural communication study
Business communication across cultures
Communication accommodation
Communication and globalization
Communication education
Computer mediated communication
Conflict and negotiation
Crisis management
Cross-cultural adaptation
Cultural and linguistic diversity
Cultural identity and globalization
Digital communication
Ethnicity and communication
Group or organizational communication across cultures
Harmony and diversity
Health communication across cultures
Information technology and culture
Interpersonal/intercultural communication
Intercultural / global communication competence
Language and cultural education
Language and media
Language and society
Language attitude
Language change and language stability
Language policy
Media and culture
Media literacy
Rhetoric studies
Risk communication across cultures
Theory of intercultural communication from different perspectives
Research methodology in intercultural communication studies
Translation theory
Verbal and nonverbal communication across cultures
 
Guidelines for Submission
Categories: Abstracts and panel proposals may be submitted.
* Abstract, 150-200 words in English, including affiliations, email addresses and mailing addresses for all authors. See the sample format of the abstract below.
* Panel proposal reflecting the conference theme may be submitted. All panel proposals should provide a 100-word rationale and 150 word abstract of each panelist's paper, mailing addresses and email addresses of all panelists.
Deadline: Please submit the abstracts and the complete panel proposals online as an MS Word attachment by May 15, 2009. Completed paper should be done by the time of the conference. Authors will be informed at the conference where to send the completed paper and when the deadline is for the consideration of being published in one of the two issues of the IAICS journal, Intercultural Communication Studies, which will be devoted to conference papers. All submissions will be carefully reviewed.

Conference language: International English
Organizational website: http://www.uri.edu/iaics/
Submission to: Judy Yoneoka and/or Yuko Takeshita at iaics2009 at kumagaku.ac.jp
 
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Guo-Ming Chen, Professor
Department of Communication Studies
University of Rhode Island
10 Lippitt Road, Davis Hall
Kingston, RI 02881, USA
Tel: 401-874-4731/Fax: 401-874-4722
URL: http://www.uri.edu/personal/gmchen/
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