Student and Early Career Representative for the ICA Visual Communication Studies Division (2024–2026)
I had been a casual academic for five years during my PhD studies, and I know first-hand how challenging it is to establish yourself as an early career researcher. One of my movitations has been to find ways to support early career researchers and PhD students. That's why I took on the role of Student and Early Career Representative for Visual Communication Studies Division at the International Communication Association (ICA) in which I serve rom July 2024 to July 2026. I feel grateful to represent the public face of the organization, and as such, act as a good steward on behalf of ICA and contribute to fostering international collaborations for PhD students and early career researchers. Some of my early contributions include:
Designed social media posters to boost our Division's social media engagement during the 74th Annual ICA Conference on the Gold Coast, Australia, 20–24 June 2024.
Organized an informal get-together for PhD students in our Division during the 2024 ICA Conference.
Helped a PhD Student in our Division to organize a writing group to find peer support during thesis writing.
More to come.
Are you a PhD student in visual communication / digital media / multimodality and need support? I can connect you with various communication research groups in Australia and Europe. Drop me an email at n.laba@unswalumni.com. Please also see ICA's The Link, the platform where you can "connect with peers to share strategic advice, solve challenges and develop new approaches".