Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Call for Papers-Argumentation Conference on Science Communication

Call for proposals
Conference: Between Scientists & Citizens: Assessing Expertise in Policy Controversies
June 1-2, 2012
Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Keynote speakers:
Sally Jackson, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Massimo Pigliucci, Lehman College, CUNY

We are increasingly dependent on advice from experts in making decisions in our personal, professional, and civic lives. But as our dependence on experts has grown, new media have broken down the institutional barriers between the technical, personal and civic realms, and we are inundated with purported science from all sides. Many share a sense that science has lost its "rightful place" in our deliberations. Grappling with this cluster of problems will require collaboration across disciplines: among rhetorical and communication theorists studying the practices and norms of public discourse, philosophers interested in the informal logic of everyday reasoning and in the theory of deliberative democracy, and science studies scholars examining the intersections between the social worlds of scientists and citizens.

For this conference, we invite work from across the disciplines focused on argumentation, reasoning, communication and deliberation, with special emphasis on:
* lay assessment of expertise and expert testimony
* detection of and response to distorted science and "manufactured controversy"
* pedagogies for developing critical thinking about science in controversies
* roles scientists and scientific information play in civic deliberations and policy-making
* transformation of arguments as they travel between technical, personal and civic spheres
* expert testimony as a source of knowledge
* roles of traditional journalism, new media, "boundary organizations" and "trading zones" in constructing public knowledge of science
* design of institutions for providing trustworthy advice on controversial issues
* special problems of communicating scientific information in health, organizational, legal, crisis, risk and other contexts

We expect to publish proceedings in an electronic format.

For consideration, submit a 250 word abstract with an additional 5-10 item bibliography, and a separate cover page with complete contact information, to GPSSARG@gmail.com by October 31, 2011. For further information, consult the conference website at https://sites.google.com/site/gpssarg/, or contact Jean Goodwi
n (goodwin@iastate.edu).

Call for Papers-Western Communication Conference

The 2012 Western States Communication Association’s annual convention will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from February 17th -21st.

WSCA Submission Deadline

The September 1st WSCA submission deadline is only a few weeks away! We are looking forward to another great conference at WSCA, and strongly encourage you to submit your work to the Interpersonal Communication Interest Group. Program proposals and paper submissions in interpersonal communication (research, theory, application, and/or pedagogy) that relate to the 2012 conference theme, “Striving for Social Change,” are especially encouraged. For more information about this year’s theme and convention, please go to http://wscanews.org/. An ICIG email address is setup for paper/panel submissions and conference related questions/comments at ICIG@live.com.

Call for papers-Central States Conference

The Central States Communication Association will be held next spring in Cleveland--Here is the call for papers from the Interpersonal Division:

INTERPERSONAL AND SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION
INTEREST GROUP
2012 Call for Papers
The Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Interest Group is accepting papers and panel proposals for the 2012 CSCA convention to be held in Cleveland, Ohio (March 28 – 31, 2012). We welcome submissions from undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty of all academic ranks. Submissions are encouraged that address the conference theme: “Connecting in Cleveland: Exploring Intersections that Unite a Discipline.” For information on the 2012 convention, please visit the CSCA website at www.csca-net.org. We will feature a "top competitive paper" panel as well as present a monetary award and certificate to the top student paper and a certificate to the top debut paper.
We accept a variety of submission formats and topics. In addition to traditional formats, we encourage innovative panels that provide for interaction between the panelists and audience members. Theoretical essays, empirical reports, teaching workshops, roundtable discussions, spotlight and dialogue sessions, debates, seminars, high density programming, methodological and pedagogical issues are all welcome. Given the theme of the convention, we encourage submissions that address key intersections across divisions. If you would like assistance or are interested in contacting and/or coordinating with other divisions, creating a short course, or putting together a “special topics” panel, please contact Jordan Soliz prior to the submission deadline.
Please note the following Guidelines for Submission for competitive paper and panel proposals:
Papers will be submitted to blind review, must conform to APA standards, and require a detachable title page that allows authorial identity/identities to be concealed. Include the name(s) of authors, indicate if the author(s) is/are CSCA members, institutional affiliation(s), and contact information on the title page. Remove or mask all identifying author references in the text of the paper.
Students submitting papers should clearly mark the title page of their paper as a STUDENT submission (on such papers, all authors should be graduate or undergraduate students at the time of submission). First time submitters should clearly mark DEBUT on the title page of the paper.
Panel proposals must include a panel title and the name of person responsible for the program, as well as names, institutional affiliations, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of each panel participant. Also indicate if each participant is a CSCA member. A rationale for the panel should be included as well as a 200 word abstract for each paper or explanation of each participant's purpose/perspective should also be included. Panel proposals must adhere to the 2012 CSCA Panel Proposal Request Form.
As you prepare your submission, please keep in mind that the only A/V equipment available will be a computer-compatible projector. All other equipment, including computers, DVD players, televisions, and so forth, must be provided by the panelist.
Submit papers and panel proposals *electronically* as MICROSOFT WORD or .PDF attachments to Jordan Soliz at jsoliz2@unl.edu.

Deadline: Submissions must be received electronically by September 30th, 2011. Only complete papers and/or program proposals will be considered.
If you have any questions or need additional information please contact:
Jordan Soliz
Associate Professor
Department of Communication Studies
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588402-309-9449
jsoliz2@unl.edu