Call for Papers
Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for the Eleventh International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, the annual meeting of the Communication & Media Studies Research Network, taking place 1–2 October 2026 in Singapore and online, in partnership with our host institution, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). This year’s conference is held alongside the annual meeting of The Image Research Network, highlighting intersecting concerns across media cultures, visual practices, communication technologies, and cultural meaning-making. The Network offers an interdisciplinary forum for examining the role of media and communication in society—from everyday media cultures and emerging technologies to the complexities of media policy, literacies, industries, and infrastructures. We welcome proposals that explore how media shape and are shaped by social, cultural, political, and technological contexts.
In 2026, our special focus “The Image as Advocate: Shaping Cultural Conversations” examines how visual media act not merely as reflections of the world but as active agents in it. Images intervene: they document injustice, amplify marginalized voices, reframe dominant narratives, and inspire new forms of solidarity. As technologies evolve and the circulation of images intensifies, so too does the need to critically assess how they shape public consciousness and cultural meaning. This focus invites exploration of how visual forms—across analogue, digital, and emerging mediums—operate as tools of advocacy within distinct cultural contexts and across borders.
Alongside the Special Focus, the conference welcomes proposals addressing the Network’s annual themes: Media Cultures; Media Theory; Media Technologies; Media Business; and Media Literacies.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, bringing in-person and online participation together in a single integrated environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages on CGScholar Event (KX), where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections and where delegates can participate in discussion before, during, and after the event.
In-person presentations, live online sessions, and asynchronous contributions are interwoven into one shared program. Regardless of participation mode, everyone has access to the full schedule, session media, and a growing digital archive.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their work for possible publication in The Journal of Communication and Media Studies, or in the Communication & Media Studies Book Imprint. Both outlets offer options for traditional and Open Access publication.
Membership and Community
We welcome new and returning members to the Communication & Media Studies Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year. Membership provides access to our online Knowledge Experience, a shared scholarly environment connecting preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Members can access conference updates, calls for papers, programs, archives, and journal and book content, and share their own work through peer-facilitated community review.
Membership is also activated through our in-person conferences and events, where participants meet, exchange ideas, and build collaborations with our host partners. Membership sustains the Network and ensures continued access to its programs, archives, journals, and books.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Singapore or online—for this year’s annual meeting of the Communication & Media Studies Research Network. Together, we will explore how media, technologies, messages, and images shape contemporary social life and cultural transformation.
The 2026 conference is convened by:
Dr. Eric Freedman (English-language Chair, Communication & Media Studies Research Network),
Dr. Jesús Miguel Flores Vivar (Spanish-language Chair),
Lisa Winstanley (Local Conference Chair, Nanyang Technological University),
the Local Conference Committee,
and, in recognition of the joint gathering, the Chairs of The Image Research Network:
Cátia Rijo and Ana María Sedeño Valdellós (Research Network Chairs, The Image Research Network).