Asia’s best were featured as keynote and plenary speakers and moderators in the 30^th Annual Conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC). Two non-Asian public intellectuals, but with strong links to Asia, completed the list of plenary speakers and moderators.  Below is the Who’s Who in the plenary sessions:

PROFESSOR SHAHBAZ KHAN is the Director of UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia and UNESCO Representative to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and the People’s Republic of China.

SHOUXUN LIU is Vice President of the Communication University of China. 

YAN SUI is Distinguished Professor of the Changjiang Scholars Program of the Ministry of Education of China, convener of the 8th Discipline Evaluation Group for Journalism and Communication under the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, Vice Chairman of the Academic Committee at the Communication University of China, Dean of the School of Journalism, and Editor-in-chief of Modern Communication.

FUTAO HUANG is a Vice Director and Professor at the Research Institute for Higher Education at Hiroshima University, Japan. He has significantly contributed to the field of the internationalization of higher education.

JANETTE MALATA-SILVA is the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of the Philippines – Los Baños, and also serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities.

ROMYEN KOSAIKANONT is Director, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre in Higher Education and Development. 

MAYOR JEANNIE N. SANDOVAL is the Mayor of Malabon City, National Capital Region, Philippines and Chairman of the Board of Regents of the City of Malabon University (CMU). Some of her local government projects have received recognitions for innovation and social impact.

CHANDRABHANU PATTANAYAK is the Director of the Institute of Knowledge Societies, an interdisciplinary institute dedicated to research and education on the interface between modern technologies and traditional knowledge systems.

YUEZHI ZHAO is Humanities Chair Professor and Director of Research Center for Marxist Perspective on Journalism and Journalism Education Reform at Tsinghua University, China. She is also Professor Emeritus, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, Canada, and a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada.

SAULE BARLYBAYEVA is with the Faculty of Journalism of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. In 2019, S.H. Barlybayeva was awarded the State Award of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Medal for Labor Valor and was awarded Best University Teacher of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2007 and 2018.

KARLYGA MYSSAYEVA is an associate professor in the Journalism Department at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstan. She had stints at Ohio University, a George Washington University and Oklahoma State University, and Strasbourg University in France.

FERNANDO dl. PARAGAS is the Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UPCMC) and a Professor at its Department of Communication Research. Dr. Paragas is the Convenor of the Program on Higher Education Research and Policy Reform at the UP Center for Integrative Development Studies.

DAYA THUSSU is President of the International Association of Media & Communication Research (IAMCR). He is Professor of International Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, University of London.

S M SHAMEEM REZA is a Professor of Mass Communication and journalism at the University of Dhaka. Besides his extensive contributions to the field of communication and media scholarship, he is known as a leading social advocate for democratization of community media, and communication for change.

GUY BERGER is Professor Emeritus, Rhodes University, South Africa; Distinguished Fellow Research ICT Africa; and DigiPol Fellow at the University of Liverpool. He was a senior director at UNESCO.

SADIA JAMIL is an Assistant Professor and Director of Research at the School of International Communications, The University of Nottingham in Ningbo, China. She is the Chair of the Journalism Research and Education Section of the IAMCR.

MOHAMMAD SAJJAD YASA is a war journalist, researcher, and writer renowned for his reporting and engagement with conflict zones, particularly in Afghanistan. Yasa was awarded the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Memorial Medal in Afghanistan.

BIDU BHUSAN DASH is an Associate Professor and Acting Dean at the School of Mass Communication, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT). He is a scholar of Communication Studies in South Asia.

DANILO ARAÑA ARAO is an associate professor of the Department of Journalism at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC). He is also a special lecturer of the Department of Journalism at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). He is the editor of Media Asia.

DADANG RAHMAT HIDAYAT is the Dean of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia. He served as the President of the Indonesian Communication Scholar Association (ISKI).

JACK LINCHUAN QIU is Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology, Chair, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Before joining NTU, he was a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and National University of Singapore.

JOHN A. LENT is the first AMIC Asia Communication awardee in 2006. He taught journalism and mass communication in the United States of America and several Asian countries. Prof. Lent pioneered in the study of development communication and mass communication and popular culture, comic art, and animation, in Asia.

MIRA K. DESAI is Head, Department of Extension and Communication In-charge Head, Department of Food Science and Nutrition SNDT Women’s University, India

PROFESSOR PENG HWA ANG is the current chairman d’honneur of AMIC and was Chairman of AMIC from 2004 to 2013. He teaches at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was President of the International Communication Association in 2015, the first Asian so elected. He is currently editor of the Asian Journal of Communication.

Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC)

Pursuing Knowledge Sharing through Internationalization in Higher Education

The AMIC 2024 Beijing Conference (hereinafter ‘the conference’) acknowledges that higher education is now moving towards internationalization and transnationalization.

Internationalization involves integrating international perspectives, experiences, and activities into the core functions of a higher education institution (HEI), namely teaching and learning, research, and community engagement. Transnationalization involves establishing physical campuses or academic programs in countries outside the institution’s home country.

The conference participants recognize that pursuing internationalization and transnationalization, especially among HEIs offering communication and journalism programs in Asia, is beneficial for all. It is enthused by the desire to highlight Asian paradigms and theories; facilitate sharing and/or exchange of education resources; offer world-class and quality higher education for all; and globalize or increase interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and societies.

Rationale for Internationalization and Transnationalization

Promoting internationalization and transnationalization among Asian HEIs is driven by an emerging movement toward Asianization or Asiacentricity; digital transformation of Asian communities; and a commitment to diversity, equity, and social inclusion. Asian HEIs are among the global leaders offering communication and journalism programs, and many Asian communication professionals are recognized as world-class educators and practitioners.

The conference highlighted that fostering internationalization and transnationalization among HEIs offering communication and journalism programs in Asia facilitates the sharing of lessons and experiences on adaptable communication strategies and tools which address common development issues and challenges in this continent such as poverty, social justice, and climate change.

Areas for Collaboration and Networking

Many Asian HEIs offering communication and journalism programs have achieved world-class status. Under their leadership, they can provide support to other HEIs seeking to achieve higher education standards.

Recognizing the need for more venues for networking and collaboration, the conference called for increased cooperation among Asian communication professionals, practitioners, and HEIs. These include collaborative programs and activities in such areas as research, publications, capacity building, faculty/student exchanges, access to (online) libraries, regular/offshore course offerings, and dual or joint degree programs, among others.

Anchoring in Current Regional Initiatives

The conference participants noted that initiatives toward pan-Asia internationalization and transnationalization should be anchored in ongoing regional initiatives.

This AMIC 2024 Beijing Conference Declaration acknowledges the recently-issued ASEAN-SEAMEO Joint Declaration on the Common Space in Southeast Asian Higher Education adopted on 25 August 2024, which seeks to uphold quality in the provision of higher education across all ASEAN Member States and SEAMEO Member Countries, improve regional academic mobility, and strengthen solidarity through enhanced higher education in-person mobility of students, scholars and lifelong learners.

In South Asia, policy framework and modalities for regional collaboration and integration are in the agenda of several regional forums such as the Regional Cooperation for Higher Education Development: Options for South Asia held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in June 2023.

In Central Asia, a forum fostering cooperation, knowledge sharing, and resource pooling among Central Asian universities was held in Tashkent in September 2023. During the conference, the report Towards Higher Education Excellence in Central Asia: A Roadmap for Improving the Quality of Education and Research through Regional Integration was presented.

In conclusion, the 30^th AMIC Annual Conference in Beijing, China held from September 24 to 26, 2024 provided a platform for collaboration in diverse areas among HEIs offering communication and journalism programs in Asia. It reaffirmed the commitment to continue dialogue, cooperation, and shared learning toward internationalization and transnationalization of Asian HEIs.

For more information and updates on the AMIC Conference, please visit: https://sites.google.com/amic.asia/30thamicannualconference/home

Contact: info@amic.asia

Communication and journalism educators, scholars, and practitioners will meet at the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing for the 30^th Annual Conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), September 24 to 26 .

This year’s conference theme celebrates the rich and colorful diversity of Asian culture, highlighting one common value, “Asia as a (Knowledge) Sharing Society.” It will take a closer look at how Asian communication and journalism schools can collaborate so that they can reap the benefits of the internationalization of higher education, said Dr. Crispin C. Maslog, chair of the AMIC Board of Directors.   

He added that this year, the 53-year-old AMIC takes a giant step toward achieving its vision “to be truly Asian” as it welcomes colleagues from diverse sub-regions of Asia, such as Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, North Asia, Oceana and the Pacific, South Asia, and West Asia.

The event features four plenary sessions on the following topics: Updates on Internationalization of Higher Education in Asia; Journalism and Communication Education: Asia’s Best Practices; Journalism Issues Across Asia: Commonalities & Differences; and The Bandung Spirit in the Era of AI, Meeting 2.0.

Some 20 parallel sessions will be held, featuring almost 200 papers on Artificial Intelligence, Media and Information Literacy, Health Communication, Environment and Sustainable Development Communication, Communication and Culture, and Freedom of Expression. There will be parallel sessions in Chinese language.

Master classes will feature topics on Gamification for Entertainment and Learning; Mobile and Smartphone Filmmaking; Advance Film Studies with Machine Learning; How to Use Link-Building Techniques to Enhance PR Campaign Visibility and Engagement in Digital Environments; Effective Peer Review; and Academic Journal Publishing.

A memorandum of understanding will be signed to formalize collaboration among higher education institutions in Asia.

During the event, AMIC will also confer the 2023 and 2024 AMIC Asia Communication Award to Dr. Arvind Singhal and Dr. Cherian George, respectively. Established in 2006, the Award and has since been conferred on 23 communication scholars, educators, and practitioners.

The AMIC 2024 Beijing Conference Declaration on Collaboration Among Higher Education Institutions Offering Communication and Journalism Programs in Asia will be adopted at the end of the three-day conference.

The AMIC 30^th Annual Conference also coincides with the 70^th founding anniversary of CUC, the conference host, which has evolved as one of the leading communication higher education institutions in Asia.

Partnering with AMIC for the conference are UNESCO, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Faculty of Communication Arts – Chulalongkorn University, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, City of Malabon University, Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Manipal Institute of Communication, City College of Calamba, Universitas Padjadjaran, Department of Communication Research – UP College of Communication, Ateneo de Davao University, and Visayas State University.