DC Connections

The theme for the NCA 99^th Annual Convention, Connections, seems especially apt given Washington, DC as our locale. Panels for DC Connections will take advantage of the issues and sites of our nation’s capital.  Topics might include explorations of federal architecture, educational issues in the district, lobbying, journalism in the tech age, public memory sites, or the conduct of politics in any of our government’s branches.

Submissions must include a title, a description of the proposal, a list of presenters, and a rationale, including a brief statement of purpose, addressing the importance of the topic and its relationship to DC Connections.  If fees are required (e.g., Metro fare or the price of admission), they must be clearly specified in the proposal. Providing sufficient detail in the proposal is necessary so that reviewers can adequately evaluate the proposal.  Proposals will be reviewed according to the importance, contribution, and scope of the topic to NCA members and the subject theme; and the quality of panel design.  A session that could just as readily be offered within the confines of regular units regardless of the location should be submitted to those units.  The panel need not conform to the traditional academic convention design; the proposed session (as the foregoing suggests) need not occur at the convention hotel. Off-site sessions do raise issues of feasibility as well as cost; however, this DC Connections series hopes to connect to some places in the nation’s capital that are of interest to communication scholars. 

All submissions must be made via NCA Submission Central. Emailed or mailed submissions will not be accepted. Submitters should select “panel discussion” as their submission type. Individual papers or paper sessions will not be considered. For instruction on completing a submission, please refer to the step-by-step “How to Submit” instructions provided in the Convention Resource Library. All submitters are encouraged to review the Professional Standards for Convention Participants prior to submission. 

For questions related to the content of a proposal (especially if it is off-site), please contact Theodore F. Sheckels, Randolph-Macon College;  tsheckel@rmc.edu.