The Department of Communication at Michigan State University is pleased to announce Communication Science Futures, a new conference created to bring together leading scholars to address pressing issues and emerging trends shaping the future of interdisciplinary social scientific research into human communication and social behavior. This "un-conference" will feature keynotes by leading communication scholars, provocative working group sessions designed to ignite scholarly debates and foster cross-cutting collaborations among participants, and an interactive research presentation poster session for students and early career researchers. Communication Science Futures will take place May 30th-June 1st, 2024 on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing. Submissions will be considered on a rolling basis until April 15th, 2024.

• Dates: May 30th - June 1st, 2024
• Location: East Lansing, Michigan
• Cost: Faculty: $225, Graduate Students: $125.

About the Conference

Traditional conferences and workshops are invaluable venues for sharing research, networking, and accomplishing related goals, but they often lack the unstructured time and space needed to address pressing research challenges. In recent years, progress in a number of fields has benefited from the creation of non-traditional conferences such as “un”-conferences, hackathons, and summer schools. These conferences, rather than emphasizing one-way transfer of information from presenters to participants, center interactive collaboration, conversation, and problem-solving efforts.

The primary objectives of Communication Science Futures are: (a) to provide a venue for conversation concerning pressing challenges and opportunities facing the field of communication; (b) to create opportunities for communication scholars to share knowledge regarding skills, best-practices, and resources for conducting rigorous social scientific research into human communication processes and effects; and (c) to facilitate the development of collaborative relationships among researchers whose work examines similar topics but who may be located in different academic fields (or sub-fields).

Communication Science Futures will be organized around a series of Working Group Sessions. These sessions will consist of a panel of brief presentations followed by extended breakout discussions between presenters and participants aimed at addressing a “big picture” challenge or opportunity within the field. These working group sessions will be aligned with one of three themes:

Futures in Research

Forces, trends, or topics shaping the future of communication research. Topics in this theme could include, but are not limited to:

• Emerging Technologies: Exploring how new digital platforms and AI are reshaping communication research.
• Interdisciplinary Approaches: Integrating insights from psychology, sociology, and data science.
• Real-World Applications: Discussing the role of communication research in addressing salient individual, social, and societal challenges.

Futures in Theory

Issues and advancements in theory building and testing. Topics in this theme could include, but are not limited to:

• Complexity and Dynamics: Developing and refining theories regarding the emergent, dynamic nature of communication processes and effects.
• Theory Evaluation: Approaches for evaluating and comparing competing theories, or for (in-)validating existing theories.
• Formalizing Theories: Implementing methods for computationally and/or algorithmically formalizing communication theories.

Futures in Methods

New methods for collecting, analyzing, and reporting communication data. Topics in this theme could include, but are not limited to:

• Computational Techniques: Advancements and best practices in text/image analysis, digital trace data, and other “big data” methods.
• Alternative Strategies for Evidence Generation: Highlighting non-traditional strategies for generating evidence for and against hypotheses, including Bayesian methods, machine learning, etc.
• Research Design & Management: Sharing skills, tips, and techniques for designing research and managing/analyzing/reporting data.

In addition to these working group sessions, Communication Science Futures will host a poster session and a limited number of “Data Blitz” sessions aimed at providing students and early career scholars with the opportunity to present and receive feedback on in-progress research.