NU-Q to lead expanded engagement at IAMCR 2025 in Singapore
Doha
Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will play a leading role at the upcoming International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) 2025 conference, set to take place from July 13 to 17 at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, expanding its scholarly presence at one of the world's most prominent gatherings of communication scholars and practitioners.
This year's conference theme, 'Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet', focuses on the need to address environmental crises through inclusive, interdisciplinary communication strategies. It will examine how various narratives can inform global responses to environmental and social challenges.
'IAMCR has always been a space where serious global conversations happen, and it's especially meaningful for us to be part of shaping those conversations with voices from the Global South,' said Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar. 'I am proud to see our faculty, students, and postdocs sharing bold, timely research that not only reflects our commitment to academic excellence, but also speaks directly to some of the most urgent issues of our time.'
Building on last year's strong participation, Northwestern Qatar faculty, researchers, and students will present a broad range of work aligned with the conference's core themes, particularly emphasizing perspectives from the Global South. As part of the university's expanded engagement as a Gold Sponsor, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) will host a booth throughout the event, in which it will showcase its scholarly output and works.
Highlights of this year's participation include:
Dean Kraidy will chair and serve as discussant for the panel 'Arab Digitalities: Towards an Epistemology of the Digital from the Arab World,' featuring papers by Assistant Professor Heather Jaber and Chafic Najem, global postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern Qatar (#IAS_NUQ).
Jaber will also present on ethical consumption and digital culture in a separate panel on sustainable media practices.
Harsha Man Maharjan, a global postdoctoral fellow #IAS_NUQ, will contribute two papers: one on digital ID policy in Nepal and another on faith-based resistance to biometric systems in India.
Assistant Professor Shehram Mokhtar will explore the role of music in extractive economies in Pakistan's Thar region, and Assistant Professor Scheherazade Safla will examine Black women's podcasting in South Africa.
Clovis Bergère, director of #IAS_NUQ, will present on youth protest and performative resistance in Guinea.
Bergère will also chair a panel on on dissent and contestation in constrained spaces, in which Nejem will present 'Digital Carceral Mobilities: Mobility and Smuggled Mobile Technologies in Prisons.'
Two Northwestern Qatar alums, Annastazia Ng'ambi and Mahnoor Ahmer Ansari, will present their research on journalism in Zambia and gendered time practices on TikTok in Pakistan, respectively.
This year's participation at IAMCR builds on Northwestern Qatar's growing presence at leading academic forums around the world, most recently at the 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), where faculty, students, and researchers led critical discussions on the Global South. Through its expanded engagement at IAMCR, the university continues to amplify original scholarship from the region.
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3 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
NU-Q to lead expanded engagement at IAMCR 2025 in Singapore
Tribune News Network Doha Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will play a leading role at the upcoming International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) 2025 conference, set to take place from July 13 to 17 at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, expanding its scholarly presence at one of the world's most prominent gatherings of communication scholars and practitioners. This year's conference theme, 'Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet', focuses on the need to address environmental crises through inclusive, interdisciplinary communication strategies. It will examine how various narratives can inform global responses to environmental and social challenges. 'IAMCR has always been a space where serious global conversations happen, and it's especially meaningful for us to be part of shaping those conversations with voices from the Global South,' said Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar. 'I am proud to see our faculty, students, and postdocs sharing bold, timely research that not only reflects our commitment to academic excellence, but also speaks directly to some of the most urgent issues of our time.' Building on last year's strong participation, Northwestern Qatar faculty, researchers, and students will present a broad range of work aligned with the conference's core themes, particularly emphasizing perspectives from the Global South. As part of the university's expanded engagement as a Gold Sponsor, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) will host a booth throughout the event, in which it will showcase its scholarly output and works. Highlights of this year's participation include: Dean Kraidy will chair and serve as discussant for the panel 'Arab Digitalities: Towards an Epistemology of the Digital from the Arab World,' featuring papers by Assistant Professor Heather Jaber and Chafic Najem, global postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern Qatar (#IAS_NUQ). Jaber will also present on ethical consumption and digital culture in a separate panel on sustainable media practices. Harsha Man Maharjan, a global postdoctoral fellow #IAS_NUQ, will contribute two papers: one on digital ID policy in Nepal and another on faith-based resistance to biometric systems in India. Assistant Professor Shehram Mokhtar will explore the role of music in extractive economies in Pakistan's Thar region, and Assistant Professor Scheherazade Safla will examine Black women's podcasting in South Africa. Clovis Bergère, director of #IAS_NUQ, will present on youth protest and performative resistance in Guinea. Bergère will also chair a panel on on dissent and contestation in constrained spaces, in which Nejem will present 'Digital Carceral Mobilities: Mobility and Smuggled Mobile Technologies in Prisons.' Two Northwestern Qatar alums, Annastazia Ng'ambi and Mahnoor Ahmer Ansari, will present their research on journalism in Zambia and gendered time practices on TikTok in Pakistan, respectively. This year's participation at IAMCR builds on Northwestern Qatar's growing presence at leading academic forums around the world, most recently at the 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), where faculty, students, and researchers led critical discussions on the Global South. Through its expanded engagement at IAMCR, the university continues to amplify original scholarship from the region.
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Los Angeles, California – Bill Threadgill picked through the ashes of his home in Altadena, California, where he lived for 15 years, pulling out copper pipes and setting them aside to sell. Only his chimney and two porch pillars remained standing, but nothing else. A wildfire had burned the whole structure to the ground. Even before flames swept through the area, his family had struggled to make ends meet. 'We've been stretched financially,' Threadgill, a handyman and caregiver, said through his N95 face mask. On January 7, the Eaton Fire ignited in the nearby mountains, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Fanned by hurricane-force winds, the fire damaged or destroyed more than 5,700 structures and killed at least 16 people. It was one of a series of blazes that tore through the Los Angeles area over the last week and a half, intensified by climate change. All told, nearly 12,000 buildings have been consumed, and 25 people killed. The fires could become one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history, with experts estimating $250bn in damage. While multimillion-dollar homes were destroyed in the wealthy Pacific Palisades area, the working-class neighbourhood of Altadena was also devastated. Some of the victims were elderly or disabled and could not flee. Threadgill himself lived with and cared for a 73-year-old friend whom he considers family. She was in short-term convalescent care at the time of the fire. She has no home to return to. As he walked through the debris, he searched for his calico cat, Catra. 'I hope that she got out, because I left the back door open for her to get out,' he said. He looked at the spot where his front door used to be. 'Won't be entering here like this no more. Never again,' Threadgill said. 'Uprooted unexpectedly. It's devastating.' A home near the mountains Nestled near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena is a proud African American and immigrant community. Of its 42,000 residents, 58 percent are people of colour. The community started to take shape in the 1960s. Large numbers of Black families had left the US South and moved westwards, as part of a trend known as the Great Migration. Altadena was one of the few neighbourhoods in the area where African Americans could obtain housing loans at the time. Over the years, prominent Black artists would settle in the community, including Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier and famed science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Butler, who is buried in the nearby Mountain View Cemetery, wrote a novel called Parable of the Sower, which took place in Los Angeles against the backdrop of raging wildfires — something locals and fans of the book have drawn parallels to during the current crisis. Today, 18 percent of Altadena residents are Black, a markedly higher percentage than in neighbouring Pasadena. On January 7, the neighbourhood was under a red flag warning, signalling conditions were perfect for fires. The weather was warm. The vegetation was unseasonably dry. And the Santa Ana winds were blowing strong. That day, when the Eaton Fire ignited in the mountains, Threadgill felt relaxed. 'I was 100 percent [certain] that the fire up in the hills was not gonna come down here,' he said. Then the wind kicked up and blew the flames towards his home. As he gathered bags of possessions and loaded them into his truck, he could feel the heat of the flames. 'As I was walking down the street, embers were under my feet, so I really had to run at that point. And the rest is history. It caught fire,' he said. Community support Down the street from Threadgill, Elisa Gonzalez and her husband arrived home from vacation on January 7 to a cloud of smoke over the city. They began unpacking, but when the wind picked up, they repacked their bags and evacuated. When they returned the next day, they saw the house next door had burned down. Embers still smouldered across the neighbourhood. But Gonzalez noticed several community members were in her back yard, spraying her house with water. She credits them with saving her home. 'It was amazing. I couldn't believe that people around the neighbourhood were just doing whatever they could to save the structures that were left,' she said. Threadgill was one of the people who hosed down houses on their street after losing his own home. 'I was doing everything that I could to help,' he said. While it's not yet clear what ignited the Eaton Fire, some residents who lost their homes are suing Southern California Edison, alleging that the utility company's electrical equipment sparked the fire. They also claim it was negligent to run electricity through the utility's power lines during a red flag warning. 'It really upsets me to know that it could have been negligence on their part,' Gonzalez said. 'That gets me really upset, thinking that it could have been prevented.' Rebuilding a future Despite the devastation, Gonzalez emphasised her gratitude for her neighbours. 'The community has been amazing. The community saved our house,' Gonzalez said. As she spoke, two women wearing N95 masks pulled up in a car and offered her food. They explained that they live in the neighbourhood and want to help. 'It's been like this all week,' Gonzalez explained as she accepted soup, sandwiches and pasta. Mutual aid efforts have popped up across Altadena. At the nearby Pasadena Community Job Center, day labourers put out a call for supplies the Wednesday after the fires started. Hundreds of volunteers showed up to distribute donations to wildfire victims and clean up debris. On Sunday, Doungdao Riccardi, a chef at a popular Thai restaurant in Altadena, went to the job centre to stock up on food to take home. Her restaurant is in an evacuation zone and has remained closed to the public. Riccardi said she didn't know how long the restaurant would stay shuttered. 'I feel so sad for everybody.' Her husband had two recent operations — open heart surgery followed by eye surgery — and cannot work at the moment. Until the fires, she was their sole breadwinner. Now her paycheque has vanished. Riccardi moved from Thailand to the US in 1993. The following year, she experienced the Northridge earthquake that hit Los Angeles. While that experience was scary, she said the fires rattled her even more. 'It's hard for me to sleep, because this really hit hard. I've never seen something like this. The fire really shocked me a lot,' she said. Riccardi is eligible for unemployment benefits and plans to apply for them this week. 'I hope we can reopen again,' she said of the restaurant. Her boss, she added, is 'going to try to reopen, but nobody can go up there. It will take time.' As for Threadgill, he wants to rebuild his home in the same place. 'We would definitely do that, definitely want to rebuild.' His daughter has started an online fundraiser to help him. 'I don't want to leave here. Altadena's wonderful,' he said.
