Dean and CEO of Northwestern University in Qatar Marwan M Kraidy speaking during conference’s flagship session.
Doha, Qatar: Scholars from Northwestern University in Qatar will contribute research, creative scholarship, and academic leadership at the 2026 International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference, taking place June 28–July 3 in Galway, Ireland.
Bringing together researchers from around the world, this year’s conference explores the theme Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation, examining how media and communication illuminate questions of inequality, identity, power, and social change across diverse global contexts.
Northwestern Qatar will contribute through faculty research, Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) initiatives, postdoctoral scholarship, undergraduate research presentations, and institutional engagement, reflecting the university’s commitment to advancing evidence-based scholarship centred on the Global South. The university community will participate across more than a dozen conference sessions, ranging from paper presentations, a plenary address, multimodal exhibitions, to international collaborations.
“IAMCR is one of the leading global forums for advancing communication and media scholarship,” said Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern University in Qatar. “It is especially meaningful to see our faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate students exemplifying NU-Q’s commitment to academic excellence through scholarship that engages with the most pressing global questions and contributes perspectives from the Global South to international conversations.”
Faculty members will present research spanning artificial intelligence, digital identities, journalism, political economy, media history, communication technologies, geographical and cultural representation. Their work reflects the breadth of scholarship emerging from Northwestern Qatar while contributing perspectives rooted in regions and communities that remain underrepresented in global communication research.
Dean Kraidy will also serve as a plenary speaker during one of the conference’s flagship sessions, Communicating Peace in an Era of War, joining international scholars in examining the role of communication amid contemporary global challenges.
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) will maintain a significant presence throughout the conference. Alongside presentations by faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate fellows, the Institute will serve as an official Digital Sponsor, hosting a conference booth showcasing its publications, research initiatives, and opportunities for international collaboration.
Postdoctoral scholars will present research examining biometric citizenship in Nepal and the temporal dimensions of carcerality in Lebanon, while #IAS_NUQ Director Clovis Bergère will share findings from his ongoing work exploring youth and digitality in Guinea-Conakry. Together, these projects demonstrate the Institute’s interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary issues through perspectives grounded in the Global South.
