Call for Papers

Special 'Disability and Diversity' issue of
Australian Journal of Communication (vol. 30, no. 3, 2003)

Edited by

Dr Gerard Goggin, Centre for Critical & Cultural Studies, Uni. of Queensland
Dr Christopher Newell, AM, School of Medicine, Uni. of Tasmania

Deadline for submissions: Friday 5 September 2003



Diversity has become an important preoccupation in communication studies.
Rhetorics of diversity are being used to question some of the assumptions shaping models, metaphors, and practices of communication. Surprisingly, discussions of diversity have yet to be adequately informed and cross-fertilised by the ferment of the rethinking of disability and its
meanings.

To stage such an encounter, this special issue of the Australian Journal of Communication (issue no. 3, 2003) seeks to provoke debate, discussion, and reflection regarding 'Disability and Diversity'.

What are the implications of new critical, interdisciplinary work on disability in the humanities and social sciences for our understanding of communication? What challenges does disability pose for traditional notions of communication, and our disciplinary paradigms, concepts, and methods in
communication, media, cultural, organizational, and policy studies? What are the new forms of knowledge, research questions, and implications for pedagogy and policy posed by the scholarly, popular, and political conversations now underway about disability?

How are we to think about diversity as if disability really mattered? In designing and reconceiving communication for diversity, how do we genuinely begin to consider people with disabilities? How do we understand the representations of disability in different media forms, genres, and institutions, and how do these relate to the project of understanding diversity in communication?

We welcome original and thought-provoking submissions on the topic of 'Disability and Diversity' from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives and institutional locations (academic, policy, or practitioner).

Deadline for submissions is: Friday 5 September, 2003.

Potential contributors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with previous issues of the Australian Journal of Communication (AJC), and to discuss their ideas with the editors.

Information on AJC and its submission guidelines:

'Australian Journal of Communication' is a refereed international journal that publishes original papers on human communication research, theory, and practice (general editor: Dr Roslyn Petelin, School of English, Media Studies, and Art History, University of Queensland).

Interdisciplinary or specialist papers are welcomed. Papers should be in one of the following ranges: paper - 3000 to 5000 words; short paper - 1500 to 2500 words.

Papers under review for publication elsewhere or previously published are not eligible for consideration. Three copies of papers should be submitted. All contributions are subject to 'masked' review, so that, while the title paper should contain the contributor's name and institutional affiliation, the contributor should not be able to be identified within the text. The title of the paper should be repeated at the top of the first page of the type.

All contributions should conform to current APA documentation style and to guidelines for inclusionary language. Contributions should also be accompanied by a 50-100 word abstract.

For further information or submissions, contact:
Dr Gerard Goggin, Centre for Critical & Cultural Studies, UQ
(g.goggin@uq.edu.au; 0428 66 88 24)
Dr Christopher Newell, School of Medicine, Uni. of Tasmania
(christopher.newell@utas.edu.au; 0418 545 611)