Reasons Why

Reasons Why

Reasons Why You MUST ATTEND
the 2023 AMIC Annual Conference

ASIAN MEDIA INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE (AMIC)
29th ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Theme: TALK ASAP: Africa-Asia Pacific Dialogue on Communication Issues

Acting Deputy SG

Acting Deputy SG

AMIC Acting Deputy Secretary-General Named

The Board of Management of AMIC has appointed Maria Sophia B. Varlez as acting Deputy Secretary-General effective February this year.

As ADSG, Varlez will assist Secretary-General Ramon R. Tuazon in coordinating the annual institutional and individual membership drives, preparing the annual, medium, and long-term plans and programs, coordinating with Taylor and Francis on the list of publication subscribers, and planning and managing the AMIC annual conference. She will also help in resource generation, partnership-building, and program management.

Before joining AMIC, Varlez was Director of the Professional Development Program of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC), and worked with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation for over 21 years, assuming various positions under the Corporate Affairs Group. She is currently a freelance communication consultant handling copyediting, teaching, and related activities. (END)

WEBINAR Miike

WEBINAR Miike

Webinar in Asiacentricity and Communication Theory

Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, in partnership with Far Eastern University (Manila) and Universitas Padjadjaran (Indonesia), will hold the webinar, Asiacentricity and Theorizing Asian Communication: Current Status and Future Directions, on 07 July 2023 (Friday) at 2 pm – 3.30 pm (Singapore Standard Time). The speaker is Dr. Yoshitaka Miike, Professor of Communication at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and a foremost scholar of Asian theories of communication. Dr.Miike is co-editor of the Handbook of Global Interventions in Communication Theory (2002) and The Global Interventions (2008 and 2014).

What is Asiacentricity? Why is it important for the future of Asia? In this webinar, Dr. Miike will explain the intellectual origins and development of Asiacentricity, offer its new definition, and discuss its metatheoretical visions and methodological implications. He will then assess the past achievements of Asian communication theory as a field in terms of its areas of investigation, geographical scope, and comparative focus, and suggest directions for the future.

Deadline for pre-registration is 05 July 2023. Please pre-register FOR FREE at Pre-Registration Form.

Binod Tribute

Binod Tribute

BINOD C. AGRAWAL: A Personal Tribute to a Teacher, Mentor and Friend

By Dr. Chandrabhanu Pattanayak 

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Dr. Binod Agrawal passed on 28th of March 2023, after suffering  a far-too-long decline in health.    

Dr. Agrawal for many decades taught  people to  communicate, research and teach for a living. No doubt this piece will be just one of a compilation of tributes from generations of communicators and researchers, teachers and students of Dr. Binod Agrawal.

Binod’s death has me thinking about mentorship, how important it is and how wrong we get the concept. We write a ton about the importance of mentors. Yet, there’s a commercial, artificial and transient nature to mentorship. We select a mentor based on an individual challenge or circumstance. What’s more, we delude ourselves into thinking that we can “pick” a mentor, like a sweater or ripe mango. 

True mentorship, though, is deeper, and it’s something that chooses you. It’s a relationship, deep and lifelong — even generational.  I had never realized that until Binod died. 

My relationship with Binod C. Agrawal started as a colleague when he invited me to be the Dean and later the Pro-Vice Chancellor to his Vice Chancellor of the newly established Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya, back when people were shorter and lived closer to the sea. He was a giant of a man – not very tall in stature, but a giant nevertheless in the world of Anthropology and Communications. 

He spoke softly with a kind of accent that suggested a simple view of the world, though only fools would take that as a simplicity of intelligence. He knew his work. He shared his experience. When it came to sharing his knowledge, he was generous to a fault. Binod was quiet, steady and supportive of others always. In his quiet way he leaves a strong legacy. 

His legacy speaks to the values of kindness and acceptance and serves as a reminder of how to treat each other. We are so grateful for his life, his legacy and his loving presence in our lives. Our lives were touched by an angel. Binod, you have earned your wings.  This tribute is written on behalf of every person that knew and loved you. 

I spent six years working alongside him, building a new University, learning the skills needed to actually work. The philosophy, dare I say the nobility, of the craft of teaching and research was there, but, to Binod, none of that mattered if you weren’t doing your job right. I finally, came out of that University being more prepared to face the world than I had ever been even though I had spent many years in North American Universities studying and learning the trades of teaching and Research.  But what I learnt from Dr. Agrawal in those six years and the years that followed were much more enriching and enlightening.  I also left the University with a friend. Since then Binod never left me. 

He lived in Ahmedabad at his home with his family but never forgot to call me at least once a week merely to enquire how I was doing and what new projects I was working on.  We would chat for a while and he would say goodbye never forgetting to ask after my father and the rest of the family. 

I  should have appreciated those calls more. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that Binod probably was the only person alive who read every word I had ever put to page at least since I had known him.  He honoured my work with his thoughts and feedback. He continued to teach and mentor young students and scholars at various Universities and institutions, long after we had both left the University in Dehradun. We were an unlikely pairing. We disagreed on everything political.   

My association with Dr. Agrawal was from much before this.  As a young boy, I had seen him come to our house in Mysore and work with my father during the SITE programme, when he used to work as a young social scientist at ISRO and my father was the Director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages.  

He had great respect for my father as he for Binod.  In the 1980’s the International Conference on Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences was held in India, in Delhi and Mysore, under the Chairmanship of my father where Binod acted as the Organizing Secretary.  Many years later we held the AMIC Annual Conference in Delhi where Binod was the Chairperson and I was the Organizing Secretary.  He never lost an opportunity to point this out. He was my greatest ally in person and in profession and I bow to him. 

I am sure that many would write about his herculean achievements as a student at University of Wisconsin at Madison and his massive volume of work after his return to India in various capacities, but my note here is a more personal one. 

I have travelled to many a conference and meeting with him and without him, I have published research papers following his footprints and sometimes walking away from them, but I always found him by my side.  Binod introduced me to the world of “Religion and Social Communications” by making me a part of the Asian Research Centre for Religion and Social Communication.  After I met him, he made me life member of AMIC and encouraged me to take more active part in its activities.  Since then I have been a constant in these groups as I have been in many others that Binod introduced me to.  

We not only disagreed on politics but often had grave disagreements about the future of Communication Research in India and Asia at large. I saw limitless possibilities in what new technology could provide, and how we needed to look into our own traditions if we had to create a national discourse.  His position was always one of inclusion of all theoretical frameworks.  I’m not sure I ever moved him, and I’m also not sure he was ever really wrong.  This was his style to never really dismiss anything at face value. 

Which brings us back to mentorship. Binod Agrawal was, at his heart, a caring man with a love for Communication, a tendency toward meandering storytelling, an insatiable desire to teach. Until now, I never realized that so many of those words could describe me. My eyes tear writing about it, just thinking of the honor and the unworthiness of it all. Binod was also a devoted friend and a loving father, two areas where I recognize I need a lifetime of improvement to earn that comparison. 

There is irony in my writing a piece about his death. In retrospect, legacy often is a discussion about the past, forgetting the impact on the present and, more importantly, what is to come. I am blessed at having the planet’s finest mentor, and mentorship, no matter how we describe it, is at bottom a dedication to a lifetime of formation. It is a gift, and, like all presents, it is best shared than held close. To appreciate a mentor, one must commit to being one, happily bearing that responsibility. To honor Binod, I need to be as good of a mentor to others as I can, unhindered by my own imperfections and shortcomings. 

That means getting back to work. I hope I measure up to the job.

AMIC Convenes Country Representatives

AMIC Convenes Country Representatives

AMIC Board Welcomes Country Reps

To actively engage country representatives in ongoing and future programs and projects, AMIC held two separate meetings with country representatives on 10 and 17 June 2023.

On 10 June 2023, AMIC Board of Directors Chairperson Crispin C. Maslog welcomed country representatives and encouraged them to be involved in activities such as the AMIC Awards, webinars, book publishing, etc. He invited the country representatives to attend this year’s  29th AMIC Annual Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, which is co-hosted by  Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) and Far Eastern University (FEU).

Guests during the 10 June meeting were Dadang Rahmat Hidayat, Dean of UNPAD’s School of Communication) and Ari Agung Prastowo, Public Relations Studies-Faculty of Communications, who is member of the conference planning committee.

During the two meetings, AMIC Secretary General Ramon R. Tuazon presented AMIC accomplishments in 2022 and the programs/projects for  2024. Among them are a book on Communication Research Methods and Tools: The Asian Perspective, the AMIC Asia Communication Award for Young Leaders, the AMIC Communication Excellence Awards (ACE) which recognizes communication campaigns and tools that significantly contribute to the attainment of social good in the Asia Pacific region, and the AMIC Centers of Excellence which recognizes outstanding initiatives in  Agriculture Communication, Science Communication, Health Communication, Community Media, and Gender and Communication.

AMIC Acting Deputy Secretary General Ma. Sophia Varlez gave an update on the preparations for the 29th AMIC Annual Conference with the theme, TALK ASAP: Africa-Asia Pacific Dialogue on Communication Issues. This is scheduled on 28-30 September 2023. Ms. Varlez encouraged the country representatives to campaign for more abstract submissions and for participation in the conference. She reported that there are seven plenary and 17 parallel sessions. A number of keynote and plenary speakers have already confirmed including Dr. Maslog, Dr. Yoshitaka Miike, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Dr. John Lent, Dr. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, Prof. Dr. Atwar Badjari, Dr. Ronny Adhikarya, Dr. Mor Seck, Prof. Alf Nilsen, Prof. Dr. Eni Maryani, Laxman Datt Pant, and Prof. Danilo A. Arao.

During the meetings, SG Tuazon announced that the AMIC Secretariat will invite country representatives and members from underrepresented Asian countries from Central Asia, Northern Asia, and Western Asia. A quarterly meeting is also envisioned to serve as a platform for sharing of country or institutional programs by the country representatives.