Communication and Inequalities in Context

ICA26 Theme Call for Papers

PDF version   ●   Division/Interest Group Calls for Papers

The ICA 2026 conference theme invites critical reflection on the dynamics between communication and inequality and its tensions across different social, cultural and geographical backgrounds. As such, it is a call to engage with research exploring the deep divisions and existing interpersonal, institutional, and structural inequalities in our societies.

Individual submissions and session proposals can be submitted to the annual conference through the ScholarOne submission system until Monday, 3 November at 12:00 Noon Eastern (ICAHQT). Only online submissions will be accepted for the conference. Specific questions regarding a Division or Interest Group (DIG) program should be directed to the program planner for that DIG. All submissions and proposals should be written in English. Read through all the Division and Interest Group Calls for Papers.

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VCSD @ #ICA25

Congratulations to our awardees at the Annual ICA Conference 2025 held at the Hyatt Regency (main conference venue) in Denver, CO, with the theme of Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research:

#ICA@75 #ICA25 #VCSD

Top Student Paper:
Pixels of Prejudice: Decoding Embedded Biases in AI-Generated News Imagery and their Implications for Visual Journalism—Toward an Algorithmic-Mediated Visual Framing by Menna Elhosary (City St George’s, University of London)

Top Faculty Paper:
Disrupting Inclusion: Seeing Disability in a Public Education Campaign by Kuansong Victor Zhuang (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Outstanding Journal Article Award:
Landcare and landscapes and accidental beauty: failing digital technologies and the gaze of child researchers by Alexandra Lasczik, Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Maia Osborn, Lisa Siegel, and Marianne Logan (Southern Cross University, Queensland, Australia) — published in the journal Visual Communication

Top Dissertation Award:
Military Power in an Information Battlefield: Revisiting the Role of Images in Human Rights Contexts by Anat Leshnick (Information Society Project at Yale Law School)

Rockstar Reviewer:
Manatalah Soliman (Edith Cowan University)