Call for Papers – Flux: Communication in a Rapidly Changing World

21st Annual Communication Graduate Caucus Conference

March 5-6, 2026 | In-Person Delivery at Carleton University

Deadline for Submissions: November 15th, 2025

The world is changing. Long-standing systems, traditions, and institutions are being called into question by the rapidly evolving shape and reach of political, technological, and social power. We find ourselves thrown into markedly unknown and unstable territory. Thus, the question emerges: when all that we think we know is in flux, how best might we, as scholars of communication and media, seek to measure, analyze, and understand the world?

2026 marks the 21st anniversary of Carleton’s Communication Graduate Caucus (CGC) annual conference. For over two decades, this student-run event has fostered a vibrant and collegial environment where graduate students across disciplines and regions can connect, collaborate, and showcase their research. This next iteration honours the legacy of this conference as a vital platform for academic exchange and community building.

This year’s theme is Flux: Communication in a Rapidly Changing World. To be in flux is to be in a state of constant change or transition; for things to be changing or unstable; to be in movement, transition, and lacking fixedness. From politics to technology, all aspects of media and communication are undergoing transformations. With this theme, we aim to assess how this fluxive moment affects the ways we think and communicate with one another.

We invite like-minded scholars to act as guides in helping navigate a world in flux. We particularly welcome abstracts from out-of-province or international participants, as well as those who identify as part of marginalized communities. We encourage contributions relating but not limited to the following topics and issues:

The intersection of communication with the proliferation of generative AI tools
The role of social media in the face of increasing censorship and partisan control
The imperial core’s increasingly voracious consumption of material resources and
resultant consequences for the Global South
The increasing perilousness of the economy and felt scarcity of sustainable work
Shifting norms and beliefs around gender, gender roles, sexuality, motherhood, etc.
The eradication of consensus in digital spaces and its impact on real-time physical spaces, organizing, and events
The shape, approaches of the Land Back movement in the face of rapid colonial power
fluctuation
The global rise of fascism

Delivery: The 21st CGC Conference will take place fully in person to connect emerging and established scholars in a lively conversation consistent with the conference’s theme of Flux. The conference will take place at Carleton University in Ottawa on March 5th and 6th, combining innovative discussions and socializing events.

Submission Guidelines: We welcome proposals for 15-minute individual presentations (these may be co-authored). All submissions should include a 200-500 word abstract with a title and brief description of the topic’s relevance to the conference theme, the author’s full name(s), and current academic affiliations. We also ask for a short biography of 50-100 words and contact information for the presenter(s).

We encourage both traditional and non-traditional works (i.e. essays, photographs, videos, audio clips, etc.). If submitting a research-creation or non-paper proposal, please include a description of how you would like to showcase your work and an outline of the technical requirements needed for the presentation.

If you wish to submit a proposal for a pre-constituted panel, please include a proposal of approximately 600 words detailing the panel description, a title, the panel’s connection to the conference theme, each participants’ contribution to the discussion, and any technical requirements. Please also include a short biography of 50-100 words and the contact information for each panel presenter. Please note that panel presentations are scheduled to be no longer than 60 minutes to allow for a concluding 15-minute Q&A session.

Please submit your proposals to: cgcconference@outlook.com

Please address email with the following subject line: CGC Conference 2026 – Applicant
Submission. Within your email please provide: Name, pronouns, biography (50-100 words) and abstract (200-500 words, PDF document).

The submission deadline is November 15th 2025.

The 21st annual CGC Conference provides graduate students with the opportunity to present their work to an audience, receive valuable feedback from a range of research communities, and foster their own professional development. Our goal is to foster an environment where emerging and established scholars and professionals may engage in meaningful discussions related to the widely interdisciplinary communication and media studies field.

Upon acceptance to the conference, all presenters are invited to submit a full paper to be considered for a Communication and Media Student Paper Prize if they wish. More details will be sent to accepted speakers.

Mikaila Cober, Quinn-Evelynn Drummond, Emmanuella Onyeme Ifeoma, Bennett Mitchell

CGC 2025-2026 Conference Committee

cgcconference@outlook.com

About the CGC Conference

Hosted at Carleton University in Ottawa, the CGC Conference is one of the longest-running graduate conferences in Canada, attracting student researchers of all disciplines from across the country. The theme of the conference varies year to year to accommodate a variety of topics related to the field of communications. Past conference keynote speakers include:

Watch Dr. Mia Consalvo’s 2016 keynote:

Watch Dr. Kate Crawford’s 2015 keynote:

Watch Dr. Jack Halberstam’s 2014 keynote:

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