The World Communication Association
Invites you to join us in Tallinn, Estonia for our Biennial Conference

Call for Papers, Panels, and Abstracts
2027 Biennial World Communication Association Conference
June 10-14, 2027
Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

Theme: From Song to Society: Exploring the Power of Communication to Shape Culture, Community, and Change

Estonia’s history provides a powerful example of communication’s capacity to preserve culture, unite communities, and shape social change. During the late 1980s, thousands of Estonians gathered to sing traditional national songs in a series of peaceful demonstrations that became known as the Singing Revolution. Through collective voice, shared cultural memory, and public expression, Estonians helped mobilize support for national self-determination and ultimately contributed to the restoration of independence. The Singing Revolution stands as a compelling reminder that communication is not merely the transmission of information, it is a process through which identities are formed, communities are sustained, and societies are transformed.

Inspired by this legacy, the conference theme, “From Song to Society: Communication, Culture, and Collective Identity,” invites scholars, practitioners, and students to explore the communicative processes that connect individuals to communities, cultures to histories, and voices to social change. As globalization, migration, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence continue to reshape human interaction, questions of identity, belonging, participation, and collective action remain central to understanding contemporary communication.

The conference seeks to examine how communication creates, maintains, challenges, and transforms collective identities across local, national, transnational, and digital contexts. Drawing on Estonia’s unique position as a society that has successfully balanced cultural preservation with technological innovation, participants are encouraged to explore the relationships among communication, heritage, language, memory, community, and social transformation. We welcome research that investigates how communication shapes cultural identity and collective memory, facilitates intercultural understanding, influences organizational and political life, supports health and wellbeing, and contributes to resilience during periods of uncertainty and change. We are particularly interested in scholarship that examines emerging forms of communication in digital environments, the role of communication in addressing global challenges, and the ways individuals and communities negotiate increasingly complex and interconnected cultural realities.

Bringing together scholars from across communication studies and related disciplines, this conference provides an opportunity to reflect on communication’s enduring role in shaping societies, from the collective songs that helped define a nation to the digital networks that connect communities across the globe. In doing so, we seek to advance understanding of how communication continues to influence culture, identity, and social life in the 21st century.

Topic Areas: The conference encourages submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• cross cultural/intercultural communication
• non-violent communication
• organizational communication and business communication
• culture and communication (power, politics, cross border issues)
• health communication
• discourse
• linguistics and communication
• culture and media
• political communication’s, rhetoric, & peace communication
• visual communication of peace & conflict
• international media’s role in peace communication
• risk and crisis communication

Submission Guidelines:
Please submit your abstract (150-words) and/or full paper (APA format, maximum 25-pages) as well as panel proposals via e-mail to: (wcasubmission@gmail.com) by December 15, 2026. Questions and inquiries can be directed to cheng.zeng@ndsu.edu

Online synchronous participation: If you wish to present in online synchronous sessions, please indicate that in your submission email.

More information on presentations of papers will be forthcoming on the WCA website. Information about the conference, hotels, registration, and the post-conference tour will be added to the WCA website in October: https://wcaweb.org

For information about our association, please visit the WCA website as well.

*Registered family members may enjoy lunch and coffee breaks and can participate in the opening, the closing, and the Taylor and Francis receptions.