05/18/2017

ECA 2018 - Call for Papers: 2018 James C. McCroskey & Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference

2018 James C. McCroskey & Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference

Theme for Eastern Communication Association 2018 Convention is: Building Bridges

Conference dates: Wednesday, April 25, 2018-Sunday, April 29^th

Location: Omni Hotels, 530 WILLIAM PENN PLACE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

USC Co-Planners: Robert Sidelinger, Oakland University,
and Brandi Frisby, University of Kentucky

Submission Deadline: December 8, 2017

Call for undergraduate submissions: We invite you to attend and present at the 8th annual James C. McCroskey and Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference (USC) to be held concurrently with the ECA’s 109^th annual. USC sessions are typically scheduled from Thursday through Saturday. The USC will center on the convention theme, Building Bridges and focus on the following questions: How can we build bridges within our discipline? How do we communicate and engage others when the bridges are broken? What are ways in which communication creates opportunities for new connections and for building new bridges? What can we gain by fostering communication among our many communities in order to promote further connection?                                                                                    

The USC conference will feature the best research from undergraduate communication students. All submissions will be blind-reviewed. Submissions must be free of track changes and track comments. Student are limited to two different submissions:

• Competitive Paper Presentations-This is recommended for finished papers (20 pages max.). These submissions will be formal presentations - authors explain research in a 10-minute oral presentation. Several papers will be presented together around a common theme. These presentations will be followed by a response from a communication scholar. Due to logistical limitations, some papers may be accepted for presentation as a poster (see below).
• Panel Discussions-This is recommended for topics/issues that adopt a timely communication issue or convention theme where discussion is more appropriate by several authors (preferably from different institutions).
• Poster Presentations-This is recommended for research in progress seeking input or for projects that would benefit from a visual display. Posters are required, but presentations can include digital displays as supplement. The posters should be able to stand alone in case the digital display fails.

Faculty, please begin to think about your students’ work that may apply to the convention theme and could fit into one of the submission options. Students, think about the opportunity to interact with your peers and communication professionals at a conference.

Please, visit http://www.ecasite.org/aws/ECA/pt/sp/convention_students for further submission guidelines. Email questions or submissions to undergraduateconferenceECA18@gmail.com