Oct 5, 2015 | Annual Conference, Events
Rethinking Communication in a Resurgent Asia
According to an ancient Chinese proverb, To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without root.
An old Philippine proverb says, Sino man ang hindi marunong lumingon sa kanyang pinang-galingan, ay hindi makakarating sa kanyang paroroonan. (He who does not think back on his past, will not arrive at his destination.)
We invoke this ancient Asian wisdom to warn, as we lunge headlong into today’s fast-changing world, that non-Asian communication theories, sophisticated gadgets and apps are not the panacea to the world’s problems. The solutions are in us.
We in AMIC and in Asia need to rediscover our roots, somehow buried under our feet as we run mindlessly forward. We have imbibed non-Asian ways, and adopted foreign communication theories, methodologies and practices as we studied abroad, and brought them back to Asia to teach to our young students who would one day become our disciples.
We preach that communication and culture are inextricably linked. But have we studied or developed Asian theories of communication based on Asian culture? Very little. In this coming 2016 AMIC annual conference we suggest that we pause and look back to where we came from.
We need to rediscover our “Asianess” amidst a resurging Asia. The Asian Development Bank has reported that if Asia continues its current growth trajectory, by 2050 it will regain the dominant economic position it held some 300 years ago, before the industrial revolution. In this scenario Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) will reach $174 trillion (or half of the global GDP) from $17 trillion in 2010.
A resurging Asia must also be seen in terms of new challenges characterized by inequalities, conflicts, climate change, unsustainable practices, and corruption. Beyond the tools of mass communication, are there distinct Asian communication strategies which can effectively address these challenges that threaten the resurgence of Asia?
Let us rediscover our Asian past so that we can confidently move into our future.
Sep 8, 2015 | Annual Conference, Events
The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) has successfully conducted its 24th International Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on June 10-13, 2015.
Hosted by the American University in Dubai (AUD), the Conference carried the theme Communicating in an eAsia: Values, Technologies, and Challenges. It was AMIC’s first time to hold its annual conference in the Gulf region. The event was widely covered by the Dubai media.
The Conference was honored by the presence of university officials led by President Lance de Masi, Provost Jihad Nader and Associate Dean Carol Moufarrej.
The Conference was attended by about 180 participants, two-thirds of whom were foreign delegates from various continents, including Asia-Pacific, North America, and Africa.
The conference featured three plenaries and 31 parallel sessions. (See Highlights and Papers here.)
Speakers
The keynote speakers were Ms. Erin Burnett of CNN, and Professor Philip Seib, Vice Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
The AMIC Distinguished Forum was also held, with the theme Communication and Media Education in an ‘e-Century’: Future Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges.
Speakers for the AMIC Distinguished Forum were leading educators Dr. Janet Wasko (University of Oregon, USA/President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research), Professor Ang Peng Hwa (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore/President-elect, International Communication Association), Mr. Daoud Kuttab (Community Media Network/International Press Institute, Jordan), Professor Binod Agrawal (TALEEM Research Foundation, India), and Dr. Juhad Nader (Provost, American University in Dubai) as confirmed panelists.
The UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue, with the theme Changing Roles, Shifting Perceptions:Gender and Diversity in the Digital Environment, was also held as a special section during the Conference.
Speakers in the UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue included Dr. Abeer Al-Majjar (American University of Sharjah, UAE), Dr. Pirongrong Ramasoota (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), Professor John Lent (Temple University, USA) and Associate Professor Pradip Thomas (University of Queensland, Australia).
Special breakout sessions were also include in the conference, with the themes Media and Health in Asia: Exploring a Core of Asian Cultural Issues(with Dr. Muneo Kaigo of University of Tsukuba, Japan, as session chair), and Challenges for Emerging Media in the Arab World (with Dr. Moussa Barhouma, AUD).
The plenary closing session was held with the theme E-Communication in the Arab World: Technologies, Opportunities and New Frontiers.
AMIC Asia Communication Award
During the Conference, AMIC honored three communication icons with the AMIC Asia Communication Award. These were Juan L. Mercado (2014 awardee), and Dr. Alan Hancock and Prof. David Robie (2015 awardees).
While he was cited in 2014, Mercado received the AMIC Communication Award only this year. The 2014 International Conference slated to be conducted in Bangkok, Thailand was cancelled following the May 2014 coup in this country.
AMIC also recognized the significant contributions of three institutions that nurtured and sustained the organization in the past 44 years—the Government of the Republic of Singapore, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and Nanyang Technological University.
Eminent Filipino communication scholar Dr. Crispin C. Maslog took over from Arun Mahizhnan as chairman of AMIC’s Board of Directors.
With his appointment, Dr. Maslog comes full circle at AMIC. He was part of a select group of Asian scholars and practitioners who conceptualized AMIC in Singapore in 1971.
Annual General Membership Meeting
AMIC convenedits Annual General Membership Meeting on June 11, during which the members agreed to ratify the earlier decision of the Board of Directors to transfer the AMIC headquarters from Singapore to Manila, Philippines.
The Philippine Women’s University-Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (PWU-AIJC) consortium will host the new headquarters.
In his letter to the AMIC members, Secretary-General Tuazon said that while AMIC’s transition is fraught with daunting challenges, he hopes continuous dialogue will bind the members together and strengthen the organization. He thanked the members for their continued support since his interim appointment in September 2014.
He also reiterated AMIC’s gratitude to AUD for hosting the conference and “for coming forward at a crucial time when AMIC needed help in boosting its membership andin expanding its frontiers to other parts of Asia.”
………….
Photos of the 2015 AMIC International Conference can be viewed at:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1n8JBgUuzs3fmw2RzlldzBUaW0zbkpIRmRGUFhoaEV6UHpSQzBaVERtaG50WEl0TUY5MnM&usp=sharing
Credit should be given to the AUD.
Dec 12, 2014 | Annual Conference
ASIAN MEDIA INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE (AMIC)
24th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
in partnership with the American University in Dubai (AUD) Dubai, United Arab Emirates
10-13 June 2015
2nd CALL FOR PAPERS
The submission of abstracts for the 2015 AMIC Conference in Dubai has been extended until 05 February 2015. Notification of acceptance is on 05 March 2015.
The theme of the conference is Communicating in an e-Asia: Values, Technologies, and Challenges.
FORMAT FOR ABSTRACTS
Abstracts should be submitted via email to conference@amic.org.sg. Indicate your proposed conference stream in the subject line of your email. Please choose from the following:
- Communication and society
- Cultural impact of ICTs
- Social media and society
- Youth and the Internet
- e-Learning, trends and possibilities
- Media and a free press
- Communication and marginalized communities
- ICTs and development
- The ‘knowledge society’
- Future of communication technologies
- Remote/island societies and new technologies
- Media and gender
- Society and new media
- Education and new technologies
|
- Development communication and social change
- Broadcasting: past and present
- Freedom of expression in transition societies
- Media history
- Communication theory and ethics
- Environment, climate and communication
- Print media: past and present
- Socio-political development and media
- Cross-cultural influences and developments
- Policy and communication
- Media empowerment
|
The E-mail should include the following:
- Paper title
- Author name, designation and institution
- Short biography of author (100 words)
- Paper abstract (500 words)
For more information, please visit the AMIC website, www.amic.org.sg. You may also contact the following:
Mr. Ramon R. Tuazon
Acting Secretary General
r.tuazon@amic.org.sg
rrtuazon722@yahoo.com
Ms. Ivy D. Alcantara
Office Manager
jlalcantara@amic.org.sg
![Invitation Letter for AMIC Dubai 2015 from AUD]()
Dec 9, 2014 | Annual Conference, Events
Dear AMIC Board of Directors and Members,
On behalf of the American University in Dubai, I would like to extend a warm invitation for you to join us in June 2015 here in Dubai for the 24th International AMIC Conference. The Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC) is pleased to have been selected to host this prestigious conference.
The call for papers has already been launched, and we request for you to help us distribute this notice far and wide. The official conference website, along with the compendium social media, will allow us to communicate with each other over the next several months. This website will serve to provide pertinent information concerning the conference and the city of Dubai. We also hope to be able to answer any questions you may have via interaction on the social media sites.
The success of the conference depends chiefly on the quality of participation and the dynamics of the discussions that our forums elicit. We hope that you will be able to join us for this unique opportunity to strengthen our understanding of “e-society” in Asia. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to meet and share our understandings.
On behalf of the local organizing committee, I once again extend an invitation for you to join us in June 2015. We look forward to welcoming you to “The Centre of Now” – our beautiful city of Dubai.
Ali M. Jaber,
Dean, MBRSC
Dec 4, 2014 | Annual Conference
ASIAN MEDIA INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE (AMIC)
24th AMIC Annual Conference
Communicating in an e-Asia: values, technologies and challenges
In partnership with
American University in Dubai (AUD), Dubai
10 – 13 June, 2015
Globally, the last decade has seen exponential growth in the use of mobile technologies and the Internet. From e-mail to e-governance, e-commerce to e-learning, Internet usage has changed the way the world communicates.
At the forefront of the electronic and digital revolution in Asia has been the mobile phone. Recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) statistics indicate that in the period from 2005 to 2013, mobile (cellular) phone subscriber numbers in the Asia-Pacific region have soared from 833 million to 3,547 million users. The era of an e-Asia has dawned.
CONFERENCE STREAMS (INCLUDING):
| communication and society |
cultural impact of ICTs |
| social media and society |
youth and the Internet |
| e-learning, trends and possibilities |
media and a free press |
| communication and marginalized communities |
ICTs and development |
| the ‘knowledge society’ |
future of communication technologies |
| remote/island societies and new technologies |
media and gender |
| society and new media |
education and new technologies |
| development communication and social change |
broadcasting, past and present |
| freedom of expression in transition societies |
media history |
| communication theory and ethics |
environment, climate and communication |
| print media, past and present |
socio-political development and media |
| cross-cultural influences and developments |
policy and communication |
| media empowerment |
|
EVENT DETAILS
