Seamlessly Mobile?: Mobile Communication @ a Crossroads
2011 International Communication Association (ICA) Preconference
Workshop
Mobile phones are becoming
increasingly adept as ubiquitous tools that serve purposes beyond that
of mere voice communication. How we conceptualize mobile-mediated
communication alongside computer-mediated communication is less distinct
as access to the Internet becomes more integrated into mobile phone
devices. Are people moving toward a more seamless integration of mobile
and computer media as supporting their communication needs? Is the
integration of the Internet into mobile phones shifting how people
conceptualize what it means to be "online" vs. "offline"? Does this
shift in mobile communication bear any social consequences?
This
preconference will provide a venue for innovative scholars from around
the world who are doing research in the area of mobile communication. It
will give them a chance to gather and discuss the challenges that this
shift in the use of mobile phones poses not only for the users but for
those doing research on mobile communication. We welcome abstracts that
will focus on the following areas related to these provocative
questions:
- Patterns of mobile phone use and differences related to gender, age, lifestyle, culture, and/or access
- Ethics and social responsibility of use, shifts in social expectations of remote vs. co-present others
- Threats to privacy and issues of surveillance as they relate to technological innovations like GPS & location devices.
- Research design and methodological challenges, including finding venues for one's work
- The expansion of online and offline social networking and its demands
- Technology, design, and accessibility issues/challenges/expansion and development (i.e. emerging markets)
- Perceptions of use and imagining use beyond current capabilities (i.e. mobile fantasies, mobile art, mobile personalities, mobile witnessing/activism)
Abstracts
of no more than 500 words are due by November 8, 2010. Please send them
along with your name and contact information to
Katie.cumiskey@csi.cuny.edu. Accepted abstracts will be notified by
November 29, 2010. Final papers will be due April 1, 2011.
Lead Organizers:
Dr.
Kathleen M. Cumiskey, Associate Professor, Psychology Department,
Director of Social Media Lab, College of Staten Island/CUNY, Staten
Island, NY USA;
Katie.cumiskey@csi.cuny.edu
Dr.
Richard Ling, Head of Group Digital Culture and Mobile Communication,
IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen S, Denmark; rili@itu.dk
Dr.
Scott Campbell, Assistant Professor and Pohs Fellow of
Telecommunications, Department of Communication Studies, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA;
swcamp@umich.edu
Dr. Lee Humphreys, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; lmh13@cornell.edu
Dr.
Yi-Fan Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and
Theater Arts, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA; Y5Chen@odu.edu
