Centering the Human: Communication in an Age of Uncertainty
The theme for ICA 2027 invites scholars to reflect on the nature and aims of communication research in a time shaped by the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, and set against the backdrop of intensifying global crises, growing authoritarianism and democratic backsliding, geopolitical instability, and climate emergency. Learn more about the theme.
Topics and Issues:
What new methodological and theoretical frameworks are needed to study communication in rapidly changing environments?
How do technological, geopolitical, environmental, or epistemic uncertainties shape communication practices and institutions?
How is artificial intelligence reconfiguring human agency, creativity, and labor in communication? What are the main challenges and opportunities of these transformations?
In what ways are communication systems implicated in democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, polarization, and struggles over trust and legitimacy?
How are conditions of uncertainty unevenly experienced and mediated across different social and global contexts, and what role does communication play in structuring these inequalities?
What are the implications of global crises (including climate change, conflict and health emergencies) for human communication, broadly understood?
How do cultural, affective, and embodied dimensions of communication shape experiences of, and responses to, uncertainty?
What role can communication scholars play in fostering more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures?