6 days ago
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.
