By Nicole Cheah, Digital Journalism Undergraduate | July 9, 2024
De Carvalho and Burth attending the ICA 2024 Opening Reception on June 20. | De Carvalho, Burth, Santia and 3rd year Newhouse PhD student Jocelyn McKinnon-Crowley at Burleigh Head National Park in Queensland, Australia.
CODE^SHIFT members Martina Santia, Raiana de Carvalho, and Shannon Burth represented the lab and the Newhouse School last month at the 74th Annual International Communication Association Conference, where they presented their research work to communications scholars from around the world.
This year’s conference was held in Gold Coast, Australia from 20 to 24 June, with the theme being Communication and Global Human Rights.
The CODE^SHIFT team spent a week in Australia, where they spoke at numerous presentations about their research projects. This included “The Role of Media Literacy and Identities in Youth Civic Engagement and Media Activism,” as well as “Exploring Audience Responses to Outdated Cultural Depiction Labels on Older Entertainment Media: A Mixed-Methodological Study.”
Santia said, “I had a wonderful time at ICA Gold Coast this year. Not only did I reconnect with old colleagues and friends, but I also met many remarkable scholars who are doing incredible work in the communication field. I felt inspired and energized, even though most of my days were filled with presentations, research discussions, and delightful receptions in the evenings. I attended panels on many different topics, asked tons of questions, and took full advantage of the opportunity to build my network.
On a different note, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the privilege of visiting Australia for the first time and seeing its natural beauty— from the long white beaches and botanical gardens to the enchanting wildlife sanctuary with koalas and kangaroos. I must admit that every moment was delightful and unforgettable, but the cherry on top of the cake was sharing this experience with two amazing CODE^SHIFT members, Raiana and Shannon. Through this long and, at times, exhausting journey, we connected over delicious meals, laughed, and shared countless stories that have brought us closer. Now that the jet lag has worn off and I am back to my research, I am happy to say that I cannot wait for the next ICA in Denver.”
On the final day of the conference, de Carvalho and Santia presented on "Framing the Yanomami: decolonial analysis of U.S coverage of Indigenous people in Brazil during COVID-19," the first paper fully developed within the CODE^SHIFT team.
For first-year PhD student Burth, the trip marked her first time attending the annual ICA conference.
“I have to admit I was a bit intimidated by a conference of this scale, as I am still very new to the field and lack the connections that many others have. Likewise, I was not sure what to expect, since it was an international conference from scholars all around the world,” she said.
“As I now reflect on my experiences, I can say that I return to Syracuse excited and energized about research. This is for a few different reasons. The first, of course, because I heard a lot of great research and always find myself inspired after hearing from incredible scholars. But on another level, I felt energized as a young scholar. While many of my fears were reasonable, not knowing many people at the conference and being an unknown person, I was surprised that those fears also excited me. In particular, I was reminded that academia and conferences is about building connections, making dear friends, and finding like-minded people to collaborate with. I now realize it just takes time to get to this space and I soon will have friends from around the world.
I also found this fear flipped on its head with my travel companions. After traveling for 15 days with Martina, Raiana, and Jocelyn (all Newhouse researchers, the first two fellow CODE^SHIFT members), I am excited to see them at future conferences, always stay in touch, and collaborate with them for years to come. We made some unforgettable memories, in a beautiful place! Australia was absolutely beautiful and a place that I never expected to be blessed enough to travel to. In sum, ICA 2024 has left me energized and excited to grow and connect in this discipline. Likewise, I am so grateful that I was able to travel to such a beautiful place, alongside some dear friends.”
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