Faculty members in the departments of Communication and Journalism and Media Studies and students in the Ph.D. Program in Communication, Information, and Media are participating in the 74th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference. The conference is scheduled from June 20–24 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Australia; the theme is “communication and global human rights.”

The International Communication Association has over 4,000 members globally and aims to advance the scholarly study of human communication by encouraging and facilitating excellence in academic research worldwide. According to the ICA Conference website, the purpose of this year’s theme is threefold: “to take stock of the contributions of communication scholarship to the study of human rights; to foreground current research and practice; and to outline promising directions for communication studies.”

SC&I faculty and doctoral students are taking part in multiple paper, panel, and research escalator sessions as follows.

On Saturday, June 22:

• Associate Professor of Communication Matthew Weber, high-density paper presentation: “A Comprehensive Approach to Mapping Local News Ecosystems”
• Director of the Ph.D. Program and Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Melissa Aronczyk (session chair), paper presentation, "Evident Deception: Historical Methods for Climate Accountability”
• Doctoral student Casey Randazzo, Assistant Professor of Communication Sarah Shugars, and Professor of Communication and Chair of Communication Marya L. Doerfel, paper presentation: “Navigating Displacement Online: The Effects of Versatility and Housing Displacement on Social Tie Formation in Online Neighborhood Threads”
• Assistant Professor of Communication J. Sophia Fu and doctoral student Katherine Scrivani, high-density paper presentation, “Mapping the Landscape of Online Discourse on Climate Change-displaced Populations: A Topic Modeling Analysis with BERTopic”
• Melissa Aronczyk panel presentation, “When Corporations Care: A Reassessment of the Debunking Paradigm in Environmental Communication”

On Sunday, June 23:

• J. Sophia Fu, high-density paper presentation: “Locus of Integration, Mission Drift, and Organizational Innovation: The Case of Social Enterprises in Taiwan”
• Doctoral student Eunbin Ha and Sarah Shugars, research escalator: “AI’s Role as Mediator: A Comparison of Toxicity between Human and Machine-Generated Responses”
• Doctoral student Jesse Scinto, research escalator: “Distributed Leadership and Organizational Resilience in Higher Education: Small World”
• Assistant Professor of Communication Yonaira Rivera and doctoral student Nicole Mendoza, paper presentation: “‘Es Mi Comunidad, Soy Yo Misma’: Contextualizing Promotoras’ Dual Identities When Navigating Health (Mis)information on Facebook and WhatsApp”
• Assistant Professor of Communication Dajung (DJ) Woo, chair, and Matthew Weber, participant: Organizational Communication Research Escalator
• Dajung (DJ) Woo and doctoral student Rachel Acosta, top paper in Organizational Communication presentation: “Getting Socialized but Trying Not to Get Stuck: Early Career Professionals’ Liminality in Dual Socialization Processes”
• Associate Professor of Communication Matthew Matsaganis, chair, and Associate Professor of Communication Jeffrey Lane, panel presentation: “Blue Sky: Strengthening Communication’s Voice in Inter-Disciplinary Dialogue Around the Future of Cities”
• Matthew Weber, co-chair, Computational Methods Business Meeting

On Monday, June 24:

• Professor of Communication Kathryn Greene, Associate Professor of Communication Maria Venetis, and doctoral students Liesl Broadbridge and Lauren Lee, high-density paper presentation: “Supporting the Support Person: Oncologists’ Roles in Reducing Support People’s Uncertainty and Facilitating Psychological Adjustment.”

For more information on SC&I’s programs, visit our website.