The 18th Communication in the Millennium (CIM 2021), which was held in cooperation with Atatürk University and Anadolu University, took place with the participation of national and international communication scientists.

In the symposium, which was organized alternately between Turkey and the United States, communication academics made presentations within the scope of the determined sessions. CIM 2021, hosted by Atatürk University this year, gathered between 26-27 October with the participation of scientists at 25 universities from 9 different countries of the world and 75 universities from Turkey.

Imad Alsyouf, T. Serra Gorpe, Michael L. Kent, James Curran, Sahar Khamis, Glenn W. Muschert, Massimo Ragnedda, RS Zaharna, Nicholas Cull, Henry Jenkins chaired the sessions of the the symposium, whose mission is to develop dialogue between academicians working in the field of communication. A total of 171 information presentations were made from 86 different universities, 8 of whom were abroad. Of the 36 sessions held, 8 were held in English and 29 in Turkish.

Current Issues and Problems in the Field of Communication were Discussed

Commenting on the symposium, CIM 2021 Organizing Committee Chairman and Atatürk University Corporate Communications Director Assoc. Dr. Besim Yıldırım said: “The CIM symposium, in which academicians in the field of communication strengthened their connections with each other, has become an important organization that enables academics in Turkey to interact with their colleagues around the world, beyond being just a scientific event. In this context, the symposium, in which both the developments in the field of communication and ideas for the solution of current problems are discussed, is also important in terms of shedding light on current issues. On the one hand, traditional media-oriented studies are kept updated in the context of changing social conditions, on the other hand, the field of interest and activity of communication sciences varies with digital/new media-oriented studies. In the light of these developments, it is aimed to continue the methodological, theoretical and conceptual discussions by gaining new dimensions within the scope of CIM 2021, where this year's theme is determined as 'Digitalization'.

Yıldırım, who said that these studies provided great opportunities for scientists by encouraging multidisciplinary studies in the field of communication, thanked Atatürk University Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı. He thanked all the participants and the Scientific Research Projects (BAP) Coordination Unit.

Various Panels were Held in Many Communication-Focused Fields

Organizing Committee Co-Chair and Anadolu University Communication Sciences Faculty Journalism Department Head Prof. Dr. Erkal Yüksel, on the other hand, emphasized that the popular and fundamental problems of the field of communication were discussed within the scope of the event, which was created to develop an innovative and inspiring dialogue between communication experts and practitioners. He also stated that the the participation rate of the symposium was high, underlining that panels covering areas such as digital literacy, artificial intelligence, digital diplomacy, and digital communication were organized with the aim of encouraging efforts to contribute constructively to the field of communication and its development.

Symposium Dedicated to Donald Lewis Shaw

The International Communication Symposium, whose aim is to prepare a platform to encourage studies that will contribute to the field of communication of national and international scientists, was held for the first time in 2003 at the University of Texas at Austin. Donald Lewis Shaw, who made important contributions to the field of communication sciences, was commemorated at the CIM 2021 symposium. Due to his death in 2021, this year's symposium was attributed to Donald Lewis Shaw by the symposium commission members.

The symposium ended with the closing speech of Atatürk University Evaluation Committee.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE – 02.11.2021