Southern States Communication Association (SSCA)
The Southern States Communication Association will host its 93rd Annual Convention in St. Petersburg, FL, April 12-16. Learn more and register HERE.
SSCA Announces New Officers:
- Pat Wheaton, Georgia Southern University, was elected 2nd Vice President. He will plan the 34th Theodore Clevenger, Jr. Undergraduate Honors Conference in Frisco, TX in 2024 and SSCA's 2025 program for Norfolk, VA.
- Kevin Bryant, Clemson University, is the new Strategic Communication Director for SSCA.
- Carl Cates, Arkansas State University, will be the 2024 conference program planner. Next year’s theme is "Communicating Belonging."
2023 Convention Keynote Speaker:
Mary Stuckey, Pennsylvania State University, will be the keynote speaker for the SSCA Awards Luncheon. See this year's SSCA award winners at www.ssca.net.
In Other SSCA News:
The association revamped its strategic plan around 2020 and focused on DEI initiatives and access for faculty and both graduate and undergraduate students. We restructured our Administrative Committee to include our newly approved DEI standing committee - currently chaired by Dr. Antonio Spikes from Coe College. We also saw the creation of two new divisions, Identity, Inclusion, & Social Justice Division and Health Comm Division.
Inspired by NCA models, we will host SSCA Officer Scholar Hours at future conventions to open up transparency, accountability, and communication channels for our membership. We are also exploring a lottery travel scholarship for student attendees, as well as new incentives for programs for those who are underrepresented or underserved. We also want to note that our efforts are ongoing to address problems surrounding our host sites as travel-related restrictions increase. This year's planner and First Vice President Ann E. Burnette has assembled a spotlight panel that will focus on Florida's tumultuous political climate while we meet in St. Petersburg.
Western States Communication Association (WSCA)
2024 Convention – Reno, Nevada
February 23-26, 2024
Conference Theme: “Possibilities”
Issues and concerns of diversity, equity, and social justice continue to be major struggles in the U.S. and beyond. Discourses around social movements (i.e., Black Lives Matter, Stop Anti-Asian Hate, Reproductive Justice, LGBTQ+ Rights, and more) have sensationally resurfaced the last few years during the COVID-19 pandemic, once again highlighting historical inequalities and injustices. Still, the philosophical assumption guiding these social movements points to the collective imagination of futures where people must be free from the normative sets of power that organize ongoing histories of exclusion, marginalization, and disenfranchisement. Ultimately, the question is: why can’t we be who we are? Answering this question requires remembering the past through historical approaches to present moments, spaces, and contexts.
Our 2024 WSCA conference theme, “Possibilities,” asks participants to critically think in diverse and innovative ways about paradoxes of possibilities (and impossibilities) moving toward the future.
Shinsuke Eguchi, Ph.D., University of New Mexico
WSCA President Elect and 2024 Primary Program Planner
Calls: Proposals (competitive papers, programs, pre-conference sessions, workshops, Foundational Course Conference, Undergraduate Scholars’ Research Conference, and Graduate Students Workshop & Graduate Programs Open House
- Competitive Papers (deadline: received by 9/1/23) – Submit to interest group via WSCA 2024 attendee interactive system.
- Program Proposals (deadline: received by 9/1/23) – Submit to interest group via WSCA 2024 attendee interactive system.
- Pre-Conference Workshop Proposals (deadline: received by 9/1/23) – Submit to pre-conference via WSCA 2024 attendee interactive system.
- Foundational Course Conference (deadline: received by 9/15/23, extended deadline) – Submit to foundational course conference (Coordinator Dr. Gloria Pindi (gpindi@csusm.edu) via WSCA 2024 attendee interactive system.
- Undergraduate Scholars’ Research Conference (USRC) (deadline: received by 12/01/23) – Submit to undergraduate scholars’ research conference (WSCA Second Vice President Dr. Pavithra Prasad - pavithra.prasad@csun.edu) via WSCA 2024 attendee interactive system.
- Graduate Programs Open House (deadline: received by 12/15/23) – Interested programs may reserve a table online at www.westcomm.org. Contact, WSCA Second Vice President, Dr. Pavithra Prasad (pavithra.prasad@csun.edu) and/or Executive Director with any questions.
To learn more about submission to interest groups, visit the WSCA website.
Eastern Communication Association
LPH Top Student Paper Award
Student: Devianna Smith
Institution: Boston College
Chapter: Delta Zeta
Advisor: Donald A. Fishman
Paper: “Spaces Matter: Examining the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Implications of Social Spaces on Women of Color Navigating Law School and Post-Graduate Endeavors”
Central States Communication Association
LPH Top Student Paper Award
Student: Julie Butler
Institution: Illinois College
Chapter: Gamma Omega
Advisor: Anna Wright
Paper: “’My Professor Always Treats Us Like Read People:’ Examining the Relationship Between Class Subject Taught and Teacher Immediacy Behaviors”