Attending the annual conference of the National Communication Association is generally exciting because of the opportunity to present new research, (re)connect with colleagues from across the discipline and buddies from grad school, and of course explore a new city. New Orleans isn’t exactly “new” to me, seeing that this was my third trip there, but it’s always an exhilarating place to visit, so I’m not complaining. 😁
This year, I co-presented a paper with my old student, Dr. Christine Nyawaga, from her dissertation, examining how Black STEM workers manage their identities online on their company’s enterprise social media (ESM) platforms. The paper is currently being revised for a second round of revision to a national journal, so hopefully we’ll have a great announcement to share on that in a few months!
I also appeared on two stellar panels. At the first panel, sponsored by NCA’s Organizational Communication Division, we talked about Precarity, Security and Resilience with Emergent Digital Organizing. The second panel, which I organized for the Environmental Communication Division, addressed how Communication research and expertise could be better centered in multidisciplinary and funded projects on environmental health. The conversations with audience members were superb for both panels!
I also served as a mentor for the Organizational Communication Division’s research escalator session, providing feedback on three great works in progress by emerging scholars.
Over all, this was a highly fun and productive conference and I’m looking forward to the next one!
Rahul Mitra 