06/26/2025

CSCA 2026 Convention - Activism, Communication Ethics, & Social Justice Interest Group Call for Submissions

Activism, Communication Ethics, & Social Justice Interest Group
Call for Submissions for 2026 CSCA Convention

 Submission Deadline: October 10, 2025, 11:59 pm CDT
Click here for directions for using the online submission system

 Central States Communication Association (CSCA) Annual Convention-Minneapolis, MN
April 14^th -19^th, 2026
Translate!

What to submit.

You are invited to submit competitive papers, panel discussions, and performance sessions to the Activism, Communication Ethics, and Social Justice (ACES-J) interest group for the 2026 CSCA Convention in Minneapolis, MN.

This year’s conference theme of Translate! speaks to the essence of the ACES-J Interest Group, stated in our bylaws “Our group centers on issues regarding inclusivity/exclusivity, voice, power, privilege, and inequality among other related interests.”

Who can submit.

Faculty, students, independent scholars, and community members are encouraged to submit and attend the convention. In the spirit of Translate! – institutional, community, and cross-interest group partnerships are particularly welcome, as we focus on how to connect our discipline with those around us. The ACES-J Interest Group especially invites scholars and activists to propose panels that invite local advocates, activists, and other community members to participate in dialogues around issues of social justice pertinent to Minneapolis or relevant to our interest group’s purpose.

Connecting to the Theme.

All submissions relevant to the ACES-J essence are welcome. However, here are some ideas on ways to connect to the conference theme and location:

• Focus on the aftermath of direct experiences with police brutality and racial injustice, including translating calls for police reform, accountability, and systemic change within state and city governance.
• Examine the communication strategies used by activist groups in Minneapolis to “translate” the energy and urgency of street protests into sustained and tangible progress toward social justice.
• Highlighting collaborations between local universities, health care institutions, and grass roots organizations to ‘translate’ data into effective and ethical community interventions.
• Minnesota is known as “The Land of 10000 Lakes” – what role should communication research play in water activism?
• Minneapolis peoples’ lived experiences with social injustice and efforts to address them, in formats such as first-person narratives, music, poetry, or other performative modes.
• Discussion of narratives, voices, or knowledges getting “lost in translation”

Submissions that foreground the voices of marginalized or vulnerable groups, underrepresented scholars, non-academic activists, and public intellectuals are especially encouraged.

Non-conformist Work.

We recognize that some of the most innovative and impactful work being done by communication scholars transcends traditional means of categorizing and organizing scholarship. This interest group provides a space to share and celebrate exploratory, transdisciplinary, or otherwise non-conformist work that deals with issues of activism, ethics, and social justice from a communication perspective. This can include a variety of work, including but not limited to applied work on professional ethics, explorations of activist endeavors, and/or critical performances.

Paper Submissions.

• Papers may use any methodological or theoretical perspective (critical, rhetorical, qualitative, quantitative) and any formalized, consistent citation type (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Paper submissions (including polished scholarship-in-progress submissions) are limited to 30 double-spaced pages (excluding references, cover page, abstract, and appendices).
• Paper submissions must include a title and a brief abstract.
• The names of authors and all identifying information should be removed from the paper.
• Students should include the term “STUDENT” on the upper right-hand corner of the title page.
• If the paper will be a student debut, please type “DEBUT STUDENT” on the upper-right hand corner.
• To be considered a graduate student debut paper, the author must be a graduate student, the paper must have single authorship, and the paper must be the author’s first paper to CSCA.
• The interest group will award the top paper and top student paper – only papers are eligible for these awards.

Inclusive Scholarship Award.

• The Inclusive Scholarship Award is sponsored by the CSCA Equity & Inclusion Committee (EIC). Its purpose is to highlight the most promising work by scholars in the areas of equity and inclusion.
• If you would like to be considered for the Inclusive Scholarship Award, please clearly articulate, in at least one paragraph in the abstract, how the respective scholarship explicitly addresses equity and inclusion.
• Additionally, be sure to select the Inclusive Scholarship option when you submit your paper.
• The top qualifying paper from this division will be forward to the Equity and Inclusion Committee and qualifying authors will receive notice that their paper is being considered for the award.

Panel Proposals.

• Panel proposals should outline a rationale for the panel, provide an overview of the goals of the panel, and describe the panelists.
• Panel proposals may follow a traditional discussion-based format, may involve performative elements, may involve local community members in a dialogue to understand and address issues of injustice, or may be presented in any other creative format.
• There will be strong preference given to proposals that include panelists from multiple institutions and contexts.
• Panel submissions must include the following:

(a) title

(b) description (75 words or less)

(c) rationale (75 words or less)

(d) a complete list of participants along with their institutional affiliations, contact information, and CSCA membership status.

• Panels should also include titles and brief abstracts (150 words or less) for each paper or explanation of each participant’s purpose/perspective.

Creative Works.

• To facilitate vibrant, generative, and robust dialogues and monologues, we also welcome independent submissions using creative, performance, artwork, crafts, poetry, or other embodied methods.
• Create an abstract of sorts: include a title and describe the work you will be presenting or performing in detail as well as how it fits within the mission of the ACES-J interest group.

Other Things to Note.

• Submission Deadline: Oct. 10, 2025 11:59pm CDT.
• Send submissions electronically through our CSCA online submission system site.
• All potential submitters are encouraged to create a profile on the CSCA online submission system site. Membership is not required to create a profile. This will make later steps in the process much easier.
• All technology requests must be made at the time of submission. Please only request media if it is essential to your presentation, as media requests will be closely examined before approval.
• Laptop computers will not be made available for presentations.

Contact.

Any questions can be directed to Heather Walters (heatherwalters@missouristate.edu), the chair for CSCA’s Activism, Communication Ethics, and Social Justice Interest Group.