Etmaal 2023 Call for Papers

The 25th edition of the Etmaal will take place at the University of Twente on February 2 and 3, 2023.

The theme of Etmaal 2023 is ‘Communication in Transforming Societies’. We are living in a time of disruptions and upheavals that affect global and local societies on an unprecedented scale. Some of these shifts primarily affect digital societies, such as with blockchain technologies and the Metaverse, while others like the COVID-19 pandemic, energy crises, and ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East are more immediately tangible in physical societies. Impacts are felt on political, social, environmental, economic, technological, organizational and psychological levels, but the true consequences of these transformations are more difficult to grasp and might lead to unexpected events that were even not foreseen by the people involved with them from the outset. The research disciplines we call communication sciences provide more clarity in these transformations, both in terms of describing the phenomena as well as their consequences. Communication scientists are poised to study what happens at the front of these waves of change, charting human experiences and behavior in a descriptive sense as well as determining the feasibility and effects of individual and social interventions in a prescriptive sense.

In this Etmaal’s call for abstracts, we are open to submissions relating to communication science research in the Netherlands and Flanders, though we especially invite submissions on investigations of the ways in which accelerating (technological) advancements and socio-political disruptions are experienced, applied, and managed by their stakeholders. Submission topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Artificial intelligence applications in automation, art, and popular media
  • Organizational change communication, for instance relating to gig economy labor practices
  • Communication on climate change and the energy transition, as well as energy crises
  • Relationships between mental health and uses and applications of entertainment and social media
  • Promoting resilience and digital inclusion in youth and vulnerable groups
  • Journalistic practices around political shifts, radicalization, and polarization
  • Mediatization and platformization of information flows and corporate influences

Submissions take the form of 750-word abstracts and should be entered through our abstract submission portal at the latest on November 8th, 2022, at 14:00 (2 PM) Central European Time. The link to the submission portal will be shared soon. You are encouraged to include only essential references, as the reference list is included in the word limit. When submitting, please consider the division you will submit to carefully, as that determines which reviewers will be assigned to your submission as well as what session you will present in should your submission be accepted. There is a limit of one first-author submission per attendee along with the expectation that the first author of a submission will present the work once it is accepted. Also, note that you cannot submit the same abstract for review with multiple divisions. Please choose only the division that best fits your work.

There are four different submission types:

  • Standard submission, to be allocated to regular sessions (4 presenters, 1-hour slots) or to high-density sessions (6-8 presenters, 1-hour slots)
  • Work-in-progress or late-breaking submission, where not all parts of a study have been completed but the work will definitely be ready for presentation in February of 2023.
  • Panel proposal submission, which include up to five presenters’ contributions outlined in at most 100 words per contribution, and a 250-word description is given of the panel’s general purpose and cohesion.
  • Research escalator submission, where innovative new studies or research proposals are outlined by early-career researchers (on a Master’s or PhD candidate level) who are looking for a discussion or advice on their ideas from peers and/or established scholars. No studies need to be performed for submissions of this type to be accepted, but they are evaluated for their baseline quality level. Accepted presenters will present for around 5 minutes before opening up group- or plenary discussions or one-on-one meetings with established researchers. This submission type is not open for in-progress work by researchers who hold a PhD.

Please contact the organizing committee (etmaal2023@utwente.nl) with any questions about the theme, submissions and session types. The full call for abstracts is available here: https://www.etmaal2023.net/

The Etmaal 2023 Organizing Committee  consists of:
Dr. Mirjam Galetzka
Dr. Shenja van der Graaf
Dr. Sikke Jansma
Lilian Boerkamp
Pauline Teppich
Dr. Ruud Jacobs