Conferences

AUSACE 23rd Annual Conference
Call for Papers
October 25-28, 2018—University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Connect. Tawasal. Communicate.

Cross-cultural communication is the essence of the global society. As new communication hardware and software change sometimes overnight to facilitate communication across borders – and across continents – it is easy to either overlook or to overstate the role of new communication technologies. The Age of Instant Information, scrutinized in last year’s AUSACE conference, brings seismic changes to the nature of communication, and challenges media professionals to re-think the very nature of their occupations. Communication academics, as well as journalists, advertising professionals, and public relations professionals now have to elucidate challenges and opportunities afforded by new communication means: What is the role of multiculturalism in the current media landscape? How do the media connect with their audiences in a multicultural global society? How do advertising and public relations specialists engage their audiences through communication? What are the effects of the new media and communication landscapes on creating and sharing meaning in the new global society? What are the best ways to study new communication phenomena? What recent problems confront the communication researcher in the new media landscape?

We invite you to ponder such questions and to share your ideas with a growing community of scholars during this year’s AUSACE conference, proudly hosted by the Department of Communication at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, between October 25th-28th, 2018. Interested faculty and student scholars are invited to submit abstracts or papers fitting this year’s theme: Connect. Tawasal. Communicate. Suggested areas of investigation include, but are not limited to:

• Online cross-cultural communication
• Global Strategic Communication: Advertising and Public Relations across cultures
• The impact of culture on language and communication
• Cultural diplomacy
• News agendas: Global media and their audiences
• Representations of foreign cultures in local media

Submission guidelines:

• You are invited to submit either completed papers or abstracts. Completed papers should be 6,000 to 8,000 words-long, not including the title page and the list of references. Abstracts should be 150 to 300 words.
• Submission deadline: May 1st, 2018. If you submit an abstract, please submit the completed paper no later than August 15th, 2018, in order to be included in the conference program.
• Submissions must be in PDF format. Authors will be notified by email by May 15th, 2018, if their submission has been accepted.
• Please direct submissions in English to: [email protected]. Please direct submissions in Arabic to [email protected].
• Submissions should follow the latest edition of APA style in the paper’s format, in-text citation, and references/bibliography.
• Please make sure your submission includes:

• Paper title
• Your full name
• Institutional affiliation
• Current position
• Mailing Address
• Contact Email
• Phone number
• Abstract/Paper proper.

Registration fees:

Faculty: $150; Students: $100

Hotel Information:

Home2Suites by Parc Lafayette

1929 Kaliste Saloom Road

Lafayette, LA 70508

www.parclafayette.home2suites.com

337-706-8610

About Lafayette:

Lafayette is a medium-sized city of about 127,000, located in South Louisiana, USA, about mid-way between New Orleans and Houston. It supports a thriving arts community and symphony, and is served by a regional airport with frequent direct connections to the international hubs of Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston. New Orleans is a 2.5-hour drive away and across the beautiful Atchafalaya basin – one of the most unique and picturesque landscapes of the country

The Lafayette area was settled chiefly by Cajuns, who were American history’s first “boat people,” expelled by the British from Nova Scotia 263 years ago. The French culture makes South Louisiana different from the rest of the South. French is still spoken in the smaller towns, in feed stores and barber shops. The university plays a key role in documenting and preserving the unique Cajun and Zydeco culture of the area. Lafayette was voted as the best college town in the nation in a 2014 poll by USA Today. Cultures that are prominent in the region and celebrated on UL Lafayette’s campus include African-American; Creole; Lebanese; Hispanic; Korean; and Vietnamese, making the community a truly diverse setting for higher education.

AUSACE Annual Conferences

The most significant event of the AUSACE year is the annual international conferences, hosted by member universities across the Arab world and in the United States. The conferences have established and nurtured a community of scholars, professionals, students, families and friends. Each conference gives AUSACE members an opportunity to advance the research, service and teaching goals of the association. Since the founding conference in 1995, the association’s members have hosted annual conferences in:

  • Cairo, Egypt (2017)
  • Tangier, Morocco (2016)
  • Doha, Qatar (2015) — photos
  • Irbid, Jordan (2014)
  • Tangier, Morocco (2013)
  • Atlanta, Georgia, USA (2012)
  • Beirut, Lebanon (2011)
  • Kuwait (2010)
  • Cairo (2009)
  • Richmond, USA (2008)
  • Dubai, UAE (2007)
  • Tangier, Morocco (2006)
  • Kuwait City, Kuwait (2005)
  • Cairo, Egypt (2004)
  • Dubai, UAE (2003)
  • Beirut, Lebanon (2002)
  • Atlanta, USA (2001)
  • Yarmouk University, Jordan (2000)
  • Beirut, Lebanon (1999)
  • Cairo, Egypt (1998)
  • Amman, Jordan (1997)
  • Tangier, Morocco (1996)

If your university is interested in hosting a future conference, please email the AUSACE president, Dr. Hesham Mesbah: mailto:[email protected]