NCA Hosts 104th Annual Convention in Salt Lake City
Last month, more than 4,500 communication scholars convened in Salt Lake City for the NCA 104th Annual Convention. This year’s program was planned by NCA First Vice President Star A. Muir under the intentionally and playfully ambiguous theme, “Communication at Play.”
The Opening Session, sponsored by Routledge, Taylor & Francis, featured the renowned historical figures Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Paula McKenzie, Bethune-Cookman University), Abraham Lincoln (David Zarefsky, Northwestern University), Sojourner Truth (Chelnisha Dangerfield, Chattahoochee Technical College), and Marshall McLuhan (Thom Gencarelli), and discussing what makes a nation great and which touchstones, in these turbulent times, we can look to for help in moving forward in positive ways.
This year’s Carroll C. Arnold Distinguished Lecturer, Joshua Gunn, presented “Gunplay,” which explored the dark side of play and investigated the communicative dimension of our national obsession with guns.
On the final evening of the convention, before presenting this year’s NCA Awards, President Ronald L. Jackson II addressed members on the topic of “Markers, Monuments, and Metaphors: Charting NCA's Legacies,” which explored a virtual NCA historical trail and significant milestones in the association’s development.
The convention also featured a Graduate School Open House, Exhibit Hall, NCA Job Fair and PrepTalks, and more than 1,200 sessions and business meetings designed to allow attendees to share ideas, present new research, and network with colleagues across the discipline.
Thank you to all who participated in this year’s convention! For more information, visit natcom.org/convention, and check the #NCA18 hashtag on Twitter to see what attendees were discussing and sharing during the convention. View our photo highlights album on Facebook, and stay tuned for videos and other updates in the coming weeks. And, start planning now to attend next year’s convention, to be held November 14-17, 2019 in Baltimore, MD.