CNM Graduate Research Conference (gCON) 2021

17th September 2021, Fully Virtual Sessions

The Organizing Committee of gCON 2021 invites papers and presentations from all graduate students in the Communications and New Media (CNM) and Cultural Studies in Asia (CSA) program at the National University of Singapore. The conference is a safe space for budding scholars to share and get constructive feedback on their research, and reflects the support and camaraderie of our student community.

Call for Submissions

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year has forced a surge in the use of digital technologies, which changed the way we study, work, and play. The reconfiguration of our social practices speeds up the digital transformation of our society. Additionally, the flourishing media and technology consumption during the pandemic continues to significantly affect our everyday culture. As a result, we live in a reality where the differences between the physical and the digital are blurred. Against the backdrop of this inevitable relationship between humans and digital technologies, many social issues have been discussed: the unequal access to digital media and technology intensified social inequalities; the mandatory contact-tracing apps raised debates over data privacy and agency; the infodemic exacerbated the crisis of social trust and cyber-nationalism; the extensive use of media platforms and applications affected our wellbeing. All these events reveal the vital and ubiquitous role of media, technology, and culture in today’s tumultuous time.

In light of these discussions, this year’s CNM Graduate Student Conference (gCON 2021) will be hosting keynotes on rediscovering the power of media, technology and culture in a post-pandemic world. The two keynote addresses will explore these topics from academic and industry perspectives in the hopes of elaborating theoretical and practical approaches that we can hopefully adopt as we tackle these inquiries.

Please Note: The conference theme is only reflective of our esteemed keynote speakers. For graduate research student CFP contributions all topics are welcome.

We invite individual submissions from CNM graduate students to participate in the upcoming gCON 2021! Note that all topics are welcome. Discussions can be on new research ideas and working papers on topics related to media, communication, and cultural studies. We also encourage CNM graduate students to submit research proposals and manuscripts for peer review. The best paper and research proposal will win prizes! Paper abstracts can explore the following themes, but not limited to these. Please email [email protected] for any questions.

• Health and risk communication
• Science communication
• Artificial intelligence & human lifestyles
• Game studies
• Digital media & information studies
• Digital cultures
• Digital activism
• New media & social change
• Digital economy & labour

Submissions

• Please submit an 150-250-word abstract by 8th September 2021
• Please include a 100-word biographical note with each submission
• In order to be considered for the full-paper or full-proposal prize category, email the manuscript (approximately 2500 words) to [email protected] by 8th September 2021.
• Submissions must be either single-authored or first-authored (for multiple-authored papers) by a CNM and/or CSA graduate student.

If you are ready to submit your abstract for the conference, please click on the "Submit a proposal" button below.