Call for Competitive Papers and Complete Panel Proposals
and unCONVENTIONal! SUBMISSIONS
The Media Ecology Association at the 94th Annual Convention of the National Communication Association
San Diego, California
Friday through Monday, November 21–24, 2008
The theme for the 2008 National Communication Association convention is:
unCONVENTIONal!
Submission Deadline: February 13, 2008 (no exceptions)
Submission Method and DeadlineTypes of Submission
NCA Convention Audio-Visual Equipment Policy
MEA/NCA Program Co-Planner:
Thom Gencarelli – thom.gencarelli@manhattan.edu
The Media Ecology Association, an official affiliate organization of NCA, invites submission of competitive papers and complete panel proposals addressing critical, methodological, research, and/or theoretical issues in media ecology: the study of the leading or defining role of technology and technique, modes of information, and codes of communication in human affairs (e.g., language and culture, technology and culture, orality and literacy, medium theory, media history, the symbolic structure or grammar of communication media and its implications, etc.).
Submission Method and Deadline
Online submission will be accepted through the All Academic system on or before Wednesday, February 13, 2008 (NO exceptions). The please use the link for the NCA 2008 convention online system at All Academic, Inc. . Please follow NCA’s online convention submission/review guidelines.
Types of Submission
Interested colleagues are encouraged to submit competitive papers or complete panel proposals that address the convention theme as it relates to the study of media ecology. (Conformity with the NCA convention theme is, of course, not a requirement for submission.) The MEA program will accept the following three types of submission: (1) papers, as in competitive papers; (2) complete panel proposals in the form of Common Theme Paper Presentations and Roundtables; or (3) unCONVENTIONal! submissions intended to extend and reinforce the NCA’s and MEA’s presence on the national scene.
Competitive Papers. All competitive papers should be between 20 and 25 pages and have (a) a title; (b) a 250–500-word abstract; and (c) no personal identification of the author in the abstract or throughout the paper. (Please remove all personal identification before uploading the document online.) Competitive papers will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: (a) firm grounding in the established literature; (b) sound arguments with well-substantiated ideas; (c) clear expression of ideas; (d) clear media-ecological orientation; and (e) contribution to the general understanding of media ecology. If your submission is a student and/or debut paper, please be sure to indicate this.
Finally, submitters should indicate their willingness to present as part of a Scholar-to-Scholar (S2S) program session. We have been asked to schedule our top papers panel twice: once in the traditional format and once as an S2S--which would allow more convention attendees to see and hear the cream of our crop. This would also give us an additional panel slot.
Complete Panel Proposals.
There are two types of program panels: Common Theme Paper Presentations and Roundtables.
Common Theme Paper Presentations are comprised of a group of panelists with titled presentations centered upon a common theme. This type of panel does not list an abstract in the final printed convention program because the titles of the individual presentations indicate the topic for discussion. Instead, proposers of this first type of panel must submit a rationale. Complete panel proposals of this type will therefore include: (a) a panel title describing the panel’s overall focus; (b) a list of names of the panel chair, presenters, and respondent (if any), with their affiliations; (c) the title of each paper on the panel; (d) an abstract of no more than 75 words for each paper; and (e) a rationale of no more than 250 words for the program panel.
Roundtables are comprised of a group of panelists who discuss a specific topic that is described in an abstract that will also be printed in the convention program. These panelists do not title their presentations. For this type of panel, submitters may use the exact same text for both the abstract and rationale if they do not wish to create a separate rationale. (Reviewers will use the rationale when evaluating this type of panel.) Complete panel proposals in this format will therefore include: (a) a panel title describing the panel’s overall focus; (b) a list of names of the panel chair and presenters, with their affiliations; c) an abstract of no more than 250 words; and (d) a rationale of no more than 250 words.
All complete panel discussion or paper session proposals will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: (a) solid organization and preparation, with clear indication of the focus and rationale of the panel; (b) clear, strong integration/coherence among the topics of the individual papers or presentations; (c) interest to MEA members; (d) clear media-ecological orientation; and (e) contribution to the general understanding of media ecology.
unCONVENTIONal! program submissions.
unCONVENTIONal! submissions are intended to bring representatives from allied organizations (of national prominence) to the NCA Convention to: (a) participate in a panel where plans for collaboration between NCA and the allied association are articulated and tasks for carrying out the plan are assigned; (b) attend NCA Convention events so they can learn more about us to report back home to their associations; and (c) participate in a panel discussing how their work might be of benefit to NCA members. (Note that the NCA has set aside funds to help defray travel costs and convention registration for these invited guests.)
Anyone with an idea for such an unCONVENTIONal! submission should contact the program planner directly: thom.gencarelli@manhattan.edu
In following with the unCONVENTIONal! theme, all submitters are also asked to consider creative collaborations and co-sponsorship with other units.
All complete papers, panel proposals, and unCONVENTIONal! submissions should be sent in one of the following file types: Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, or .pdf. Compressed or Zip files will not be accepted. NO submissions will be accepted after February 13, 2008.
The MEA has seven panel slots available for this convention. As a standard practice, panels comprised of competitively-refereed and accepted complete papers will receive priority ranking and scheduling privilege. Also, since we have limited panel allocations and hope to engage more of our colleagues in the MEA’s program, we urge all prospective contributors to send in only one submission--one complete paper or participation on only one proposed panel. (Note also that NO submissions may be made to more than one unit.)
Pre-registration Policy
Note that all First Authors, Chairs, Respondents, and Individual Participants who have had papers or panel proposals accepted, or who are listed for participation in the NCA Annual Convention, MUST PRE-REGISTER in order to participate. Any individual who has not pre-registered for the Annual Convention will NOT appear in any version of the published or posted Convention Program.
The Pre-registration deadline is Wednesday, August 6, 2008.
NCA Policy: Audio-Visual Equipment
NCA policy entails providing reasonable A/V support of presentations at its annual convention. However, equipment requests must be kept to a minimum because of their high cost. Submitters must therefore adhere to the following guidelines.
A/V equipment requests should be made at the same time as the paper or panel’s submission, and will be screened by the program planner. As a general rule, the more sophisticated the equipment, the more it costs to rent. Presenters/submitters should therefore keep their requests as simple as possible. NCA will normally approve requests for the following: easels, flip charts, audiocassette player/recorders, overhead projectors, slide projectors, and VCRs. NCA will NOT normally approve requests for more expensive equipment such as PCs, camcorders, laser pointers, satellite links, teleconference equipment, LCD panels/projectors, video data projectors, or CD players.
Individuals may, of course, elect to rent equipment for/at the convention at their own expense.