World Communication Association Comes to Kyrgyzstan in August

July 18, 2017

The World Communication Association’s 2017 biennial international conference will be held at the American University of Central Asia’s new campus on August 2-6, 2017. From around the world, 100 scholars of communications, journalism and media studies, as well as journalists and media professionals, will be coming together to discuss and debate the theme, “World Conflicts and Disasters: Communication, Culture and Resolution”.

"The conference, which is being organized by the American University of Central Asia’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, “marks the first time to our knowledge that an academic event of this scale dedicated to communications, journalism and media studies has been held in Central Asia. It is a wonderful opportunity for our region to contribute intellectually, as well. We have a very unique media context that can provide many important insights for scholars and professionals around the world,” says department chairwoman, Dr. Elira Turdubaeva.

“The World Communication Association is the world’s second-largest communication studies organization. Its membership comes from across North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, but until this August, all of its biennial conferences had been in ‘developed’ societies. Kyrgyzstan and the American University will be breaking new ground,” explains Christopher Schwartz, a lecturer with the department.

Prestigious guests include Dr. Seon-gi Baek, president of the World Communication Association and chair of the Department of Journalism and Communication Studies at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea’s oldest and foremost institution of higher learner, and Dr. Stephen Hartnett, president of the United States’ National Communication Association and director of the Puksta Fellows Program of the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado-Denver.

“I am very happy that this kind of worldwide conference will be held in a Central Asial country. Communication is the best way to resolve worldwide conflict and disaster. Even though [conference participants will] start from academic perspectives, we will try to apply these perspective to real-world situations,” says Dr. Baek.

Indeed, the plenary session scheduled for August 3^rd is dedicated to “World Conflicts, Discontents and Discourses”, and presentation topics include, “Crisis in the Korean peninsula: North Korea’s threats, media coverage and frame, and international implications: A Comparative study on news coverage of South Korea, North Korea, China and the US” by Dr. Baek, and “Discourse analysis of media coverage of July conflict 2012 in Khorog, Tajikistan” by Gulazor Gulmamadova from the American university of Central Asia.

For press accreditation and interviews, journalists may contact Christopher Schwartz: schwartz_c@auca.kg

 For more information, including how you can to attend the conference, please visit the conference website: http://wcaweb.org/conference/2017-wca-conference/

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